Roasted Chicken With Tomatoes

Roasted Chicken With Tomatoes is a wonderful thing. It brings people together, it fills people’s bellies, and it puts strangers at ease with its homey aroma. The recipe might be simple, but its flavor is rich, and if you don’t mind me saying so, you’ll never find a better recipe for roasted chicken with tomatoes.

Herb-Roasted Chicken with Melted Tomatoes

• Level: Easy
• Total: 2 hr 10 min

• Prep: 30 min
• Inactive: 10 min
• Cook: 1 hr 30 min
• Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

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1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh tarragon

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup plain yogurt

1 6- to 7-pound roasting chicken

2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwiseAdd to Shopping List

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the onion, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, 2 tablespoons dill, the walnuts and garlic in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; pulse until smooth.
2. Stir half of the herb paste with the yogurt in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
3. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin with your fingers; rub some of the remaining herb paste under the skin and the rest on the outside of the bird. Truss the chicken. Place in a roasting pan; roast until the skin turns golden, about 30 minutes.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Baste the chicken with the drippings and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, to the pan. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 degrees, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper; let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.
5. Arrange the chicken and tomatoes on a platter; sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons dill. Serve with the yogurt sauce.

Spatchcocked Chicken with Tomatoes

Spatchcocking — splitting, then flattening a chicken — yields a perfect roasted chicken in less time than a whole one takes. It also exposes more skin, which crisps up nicely at higher temperatures. Click here to learn how. Feel free to use a roasting pan or a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet.

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Recipe Summary

Servings:

4

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 1 spatchcocked chicken
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 unpeeled garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, pierced with a pairing knife
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Season chicken with coarse salt and ground pepper and place, breast side up, in a pan along with garlic cloves. With the tip of a paring knife, pierce the cherry tomatoes. Add to pan and drizzle tomatoes with olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Pour dry white wine and water into pan.
• Step 2Roast chicken until juices run clear when pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees when inserted into thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone), about 30 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, torn if large, before carving.

I’ve Tried Countless Ways to Roast a Chicken—This Is the One I Make Every Sunday

Exactly how to get that juicy, golden brown perfection.

A whole roast chicken is one of those things that can be incredibly delicious or incredibly boring. My own approach to chicken is similar to how I look at tomatoes or pizza: if they’re just so-so, don’t even bother. But when they’re good, they’re really good, and I’ve made countless versions in my quest to find out how to roast a whole chicken.

For example, there’s the method that calls for flipping middway through cooking, or the technique that involves brining in advance, or the one that stuffs all kinds of aromatics under the skin. I’ve tried just about all of them and am happy to report that the best roast chicken recipe happens to be extremely simple. Aside from the basic EVOO + salt and pepper equation, there are three secrets I count on to ensure the juiciest bird with crispy golden brown skin every time.

Read on for how to roast a whole chicken for the best results, and scroll to the bottom for the recipe.

Roast chicken tip #1: Remove the backbone before roasting.

If you’re wondering how to roast a whole chicken in the easiest, fastest way possible, the answer lies in the butterfly technique, also known as removing the backbone. I ask the butcher to remove it when I’m at the grocery store to make my life really easy, but you can totally do it yourself, too. Start by removing the giblets, then rinse the chicken and pat dry. Place your bird on a cutting board with the backbone facing up. It’s easiest to use kitchen shears to cut alongside both sides of the backbone. Discard the backbone, then flip the breast side up and lightly press with your palm to flatten the chicken. You’re ready!

Why butterfly your chicken before roasting? In short, this creates more surface area to come in direct contact with the heat, resulting in the crispiest, golden brown skin, which is what we’re going for. Plus, it cuts your cooking time in half (always a bonus.)

Roast chicken tip #2: Let it rest for 30 minutes.

I know, this seems like a really long time, but trust me: it’s worth the wait and yields the best roast chicken. I’m not sure where I initially picked up this weird little technique, but it really does make a huge difference. When you let the chicken rest after it comes out of the oven, all those wonderful juices redistribute throughout the bird making it super moist and flavorful throughout. “But won’t it get cold?” you might be wondering. I did too, but thankfully, there’s a fix for that. Pop the chicken back in your already preheated oven for five minutes just before serving, which is the perfect amount of time to rewarm without drying it out. Carve and eat!

Roast chicken tip #3: Let the sauce make itself.

One night, Adam suggested that I throw a bunch of cherry tomatoes in the pan alongside our chicken while it roasted. I thought this was a strange idea because I knew the tomatoes would break down and turn to mush at that high of heat—and I was right, but turns out that’s precisely what makes these so good. This one simple move creates a slow-roasted tomato confit that’s almost sauce-like, oozing with a sweetness that complements the chicken and creates a condiment that requires zero effort. Now I amp up the flavor by adding a whole head of garlic, sliced in half (squeeze the cloves onto the chicken for instant garlic paste!), and lots of lemon slices that caramelize in the oven to a candy-like consistency. Yum.

Here, I level up this roast chicken with a cilantro salsa verde that gets drizzled on at the end, but for ease, you could totally skip this step. The tomato, garlic, and lemon combination are flavorful enough to stand alone.