Nothing smells better than a citrus and herb roasted chicken that perfumes the house while it’s cooking. This roasted citrus chicken is a great weekend meal that is big on flavor and perfect for the winter months when citrus is in season.
It also makes a great Sunday supper anytime of year and the beautiful aroma will certainly get people to the table. If you love a delicious flavorful roast, then you’ll love this recipe.
The ingredients for this dish are fairly simple and not complicated.
You will need:
- 1 medium to large whole chicken
- oranges
- lemons
- fresh herbs
- garlic
- potatoes
- chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
Part of the inspiration for this dish comes from when I visited Belgium where you can find rotisserie chicken roasting over potatoes at every street corner and restaurant. The juices that the potatoes pick up make the potatoes so amazing. The juices from the chicken make for the most amazing sauce too.
I added my own twist to the dish with the citrus because it really compliments the chicken juices so well. This combined with the addition of chicken stock in making the sauce for this is what really brings this to the next level.
The steps are fairly easy to make this roasted chicken. If you are not familiar with tying the chicken, here is my favorite site for that: How to tie a chicken.
Here are the basic steps in making this roast chicken:
- Assemble your ingredients
- rub and place ingredients in and on chicken
- tie and tuck the chicken wings and legs so they don’t burn (see my link above for a how to)
- roast the chicken
- make a quick gravy from pan juices
Pretty simple right! If you have never made a roast chicken this is a great recipe to start with. Don’t be intimidated by the tying of the chicken part either.
This recipe has a natural gravy as part of the recipe which makes it so delicious. To make the gravy, the juices from the chicken after roasting are collected and chicken stock is added to that. It then gets reduced on the stove top until it becomes a beautiful light natural gravy.
You will want to make sure not to skip this step because there is so much flavor in this gravy. It is also very easy to do and you make this while the chicken is resting, so you have those extra few minutes to spare!
Since you already have chicken and potatoes in the recipe, a nice fresh Spinach salad would pair nicely with this meal.
This is really a great, easy and special dish to make. Once you are done with the prep work with this dish, the oven does the rest of the work. This is a great meal to treat your guests or family to when you want to serve something special.
Easy Roasted Citrus and Herb Chicken
Equipment
- dutch oven or roasting pan
Ingredients
- One (3- to 4-pounwhole chicken
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 oranges one sliced and one halved
- 2 lemons one sliced one halved
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic smashed
- 4 thyme sprigs plus 1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
- 2 sprigs of oregano
- 2 cups homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth
- 1 bag of baby potatoes whole any kind
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees
- Pat your chicken dry
- Season the inside cavity of the chicken with half of your salt and the pepper.
- Now place half of your orange and lemon slices, garlic cloves, and herb sprigs in the cavity as well.
- Cross the legs one over the other or tie them together with kitchen string to hold the contents inside.
- Tuck the wings underneath the chicken.
- Now rub your olive oil over the top of chicken and then squeeze some orange and lemon over the the chicken and rub the juice into the skin, then sprinkle the chicken with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
- Place your chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan or dutch oven.
- Toss in any remaining orange and lemon slices, garlic, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, potatoes and herb sprigs in the pan.
- Roast until the chicken’s juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a fork or a thermometer registers 160°F (71°C) when inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the size.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
- scoop out your potatoes on to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to stay warm
- While the chicken rests, pour 1 cup of your stock into the roasting pan and with a whisk scrape up any bits from the pan as you mix.
- Now pour this mixture into a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.
- Reduce your mixture by almost half.
- Strain the pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve and pour back into the sauce pan and place over low heat.
- Add the butter and any additional chicken stock that is needed and mix until the butter melts.
- Squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon halves into the pan and cook, stirring, until the juices have thickened a little more and are glossy, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped thyme.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning
- Carve the roast chicken. Now add your potatoes to a large platter topped with the chicken
- Drizzle a little of your sauce over top and serve with the remaining warm sauce on the side.
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