Chicken with roast potatoes is a staple in most countries worldwide. It’s a cheap, simple and time-honored meal. All over the world, roast chicken with potatoes and carrots is eaten by families and friends in homes, pubs and restaurants alike.
The main ingredients you will require are of course chicken and potatoes, but you can also utilize less traditional ingredients in different combinations to vary the taste of your dish. A one-pan roast chicken and potatoes recipe that requires minimal preparation and will have you eating like a celebrity in no time. In this article you will also find the health benefits of eating chicken.
One-Pan Roast Chicken and Potatoes
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:15 mins
- Cook:1 hr and 40 mins
- Easy
- Serves 4
Bring the pan straight to the table and use the juices to make a light, lemony gravy for the perfect summer roast
| Highlight | Nutrient | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| kcal | 670 | |
| fat | 40g | |
| saturates | 11g | |
| carbs | 28g | |
| sugars | 7g | |
| fibre | 2g | |
| protein | 51g | |
| low in | salt | 0.48g |
Ingredients
- 1 ½kg medium chicken
- 6 lemons , halved
- 4 rosemary sprigs
- 2 onions , quartered
- 9 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500g baby new potatoes , halved
- 3 lemon thyme sprigs
Method
- STEP 1 Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Stuff the chicken cavity with 2 lemon halves, 2 rosemary sprigs, 4 onion quarters and some seasoning. Put the chicken into a large roasting tray.
- STEP 2 Crush 3 garlic cloves, then add to a small bowl with the thyme leaves and olive oil, mix, then rub this all over the chicken with some seasoning.
- STEP 3 Arrange the potatoes around the chicken with the rest of the lemons and onions, rosemary and whole garlic cloves, and lemon thyme. Cook in the oven for 1 hr 20 mins, turning the potatoes in the pan once or twice. To check if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thigh with a skewer and the juices should run clear.
- STEP 4 Remove the chicken from the tray and place on a serving dish or board to rest for 15-20 mins. As you lift the chicken, let any juices pour back into the tray. Increase oven temperature to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6 and cook the potatoes for a further 10-15 mins or until tender.
- STEP 5 If you want gravy, use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes from the tray to a serving bowl, then use a potato masher to mash all the juices, lemons, herbs and garlic together in the roasting tray, adding a splash of water if it’s too pulpy. Push this mix through a sieve, taste the gravy and add some more seasoning if you need to. Bring everything into the garden so everyone can help themselves
Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots
A HEALTHY ROAST FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
“This is a classic Sunday dinner that the whole family will love. It’s super simple too. Always try to buy the best quality chicken you can afford – aim for RSPCA-Assured birds as a minimum, then trade up when you can. I’ve seen the way low-standard chickens are kept and I’d never feed them to my kids. ”
SERVES 4
COOKS IN1 HOUR 45 MINUTES
DIFFICULTYSUPER EASY
NUTRITION PER SERVING
- Calories49625%
- Fat15.2g22%
- Saturates4g20%
- Sugars11.3g13%
- Salt0.44g7%
- Protein50.5g101%
- Carbs41.9g16%
- Fibre8.2g-
Ingredients
- 500 g carrots
- 600 g potatoes
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- olive oil
- 1 x 1.6 kg whole free-range chicken
- 1 lemon
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
- Scrub, trim and halve the carrots lengthways.
- Scrub, peel and halve the potatoes, quartering any larger ones. Add to a large roasting tray.
- Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled, then lightly crush with the flat side of a knife. Pick the rosemary leaves, discarding the stalks. Add the garlic and rosemary leaves to the tray.
- Drizzle with oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, then toss well and spread out in an even layer.
- Rub the chicken all over with a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil. Stuff the chicken cavity with the whole lemon and the thyme sprigs.
Place the chicken in the tray, on top of the vegetables. - Reduce the oven temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6, then add the chicken and roast for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove the tray from the oven, use tongs to turn the vegetables over, then spoon any juices from the tray over the chicken.
- Return the tray to the oven for a further 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. To check, pierce a chicken thigh with the tip of a sharp knife – if the juices run clear, it’s done. Otherwise return the tray to the oven, cook for a little while longer and repeat the test.
- Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a board and return the vegetables to the oven for a final 5 minutes to crisp up, if needed.
- Cover the chicken with a layer of tin foil and a tea towel, then leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Using a sharp carving knife, carve up the chicken, then serve with the roasted veg. Delicious with a green salad on the side.
Tips
The beauty of cooking the whole bird, is you’ll have leftovers for more
meals later in the week – shred the meat into stir-fries or sandwiches or
boil up the carcass for chicken soup.
Chicken With Roast Potatoes
This roast chicken and potatoes recipe is so savory and satisfying. Add a simple salad and some wine, and you’ve got an easy dinner party for four to six in one pan.
Why we love this recipe
With so many great ways to roast a chicken, it’s worth noting when one method is so good that you go back to it again and again. That’s what’s transpired between me and this particular oven roasted whole chicken and potatoes for well over a decade. It’s:
- Super-savory and flavorful, with prosciutto, lemon, thyme, and sage (a.k.a. all the best things)
- Beautifully moist and tender, thanks to the compound butter
- Flexible — make it with or without gravy, and add or swap in different vegetables
This recipe makes an excellent family dinner, and I highly recommend it for an easy and cozy dinner party of up to six people. Just add a simple salad and plenty of wine — and maybe a nice fire and some sultry jazz.
I first published this recipe here in 2017, after having cooked and evolved a Jamie Oliver recipe many times since 2008. I’ve since updated the post for clarity and tweaked the recipe to streamline the process.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- One fairly large whole chicken works well here, or you can roast two smaller ones side by side in the same pan. See the section below for my favorite sources for organic chicken.
- You can use diced Yukon Gold potatoes or small new potatoes in this recipe. These days I always use diced Yukons, because they cook perfectly without parboiling. If you’re using whole small potatoes, parboil them in well-salted water for 10 minutes before adding to the pan.
- You’ll zest a whole lemon to use in the compound butter and then tuck the lemon itself into the chicken before roasting.
- If you’re making gravy, you’ll need a nice dry white wine that you like to drink (serve the rest of the bottle with dinner), chicken broth, and flour. To make this recipe gluten-free, either skip the gravy or use your favorite GF flour blend to make it.
Our favorite sources for meat
For years, I’ve been sourcing our meat from Butcher Box. We love this curated meat delivery service, which provides grass-finished beef, heritage breed pork, organic chicken, and more from small farms direct to the customer.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a beautiful dinner of roast chicken and potatoes. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- To make the compound butter, mash together the butter, prosciutto, garlic, sage, lemon zest, and pepper.
- Place the chicken in a roasting pan and separate the skin from the breast to make two pockets. Fill the pockets with some of the compound butter, then rub the rest all over the outside of the chicken.
- Roast for 20 minutes, then add the diced potatoes to the pan and return to the oven until chicken is cooked through.
- Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving. Either spoon potatoes out of pan or return to oven if you want them cooked more. When potatoes are done, make gravy in the roasting pan if you like.
Health Benefits Of Eating Chicken
The staple food of every non-vegetarian, chicken in any form, be it stew, soup or salad is great for your health. The most common poultry in the world, chicken has been domesticated and consumed as food for thousands of years and rightly so. The health benefits of eating chicken are enormous. It is not only a rich source of a variety of essential nutrients and vitamins, it is also reputed to be one of the safest meats available, as it is least associated with any kind of side effects. We list down five more reasons you should bite into your chicken more often.
1) Natural anti-depressant
We have long found comfort in having a big plain bowl of chicken soup, haven’t we? Chicken, like turkey, is high in amino acids, particularly tryptophan, which gives us the comforting feeling. In fact, if you’re feeling depressed, eating some poultry will increase your serotonin levels (a hormone which controls depression) in your brain, enhances your mood and reduces stress, as well as helping you to fall asleep.
2) High in lean protein
Chicken is one of the highest protein suppliers- and not just any protein. It’s full of lean proteins- which are the highest quality proteins and are extremely important for our body growth. These low-fat proteins also play an important role in assisting overweight people in losing weight quickly. As proteins are also known as the building blocks of muscles, chicken is also a great source if you’re looking for muscle build-up.
3) Keeps bone healthy
Chicken also contains phosphorous which, along with calcium, keeps your bones healthy. In fact, it is an excellent food source for men with weak bones. It is also rich in the mineral selenium that cuts the risk of developing arthritis at later stages of life. Want to kick some butt? Simple, eat chicken!
4) Protects against cancer
Eat the bird to keep cancer at bay! Chicken is rich in vitamin B3 (Niacin), a vitamin that is essential for cancer protection. One small serving of chicken can meet your niacin requirements for the entire day. The selenium in chicken is also believed to be protect against cancer.
5) Boosts metabolism
Vitamin B6 encourages metabolic cellular reaction, which means eating chicken will keep energy levels high while metabolism-burning calories can manage to keep you at a healthy weight level. If you are starting to feel a little tired, try eating some chicken to give your body a boost of nutrients, proteins and calories that will also keep your energy levels ringing.
Expert tips and FAQs
Can I add or swap in different vegetables?
Definitely. Either alongside or instead of potatoes, you can dice carrots, celery root, parsnips, turnips, yellow or red onion, and/or fennel. Toss them together before adding to the pan. You don’t need to make further changes to the recipe.
Can I make oven roasted whole chicken and potatoes in advance? What about leftovers?
Whether for a dinner party or family meal, it’s worth cooking this recipe shortly before serving so all the components will be at their best on the first night.
After that, the sky’s the limit. Leftover chicken keeps for a week in an airtight container in the fridge and is wonderful reheated and served in the same way, or remixed into virtually any dish, from tacos to chicken salad. Store potatoes and gravy the same way.