Whole orange and honey roast chicken, an economical main course perfect even for holidays, like the Whole roast chicken with orange and apples or the classic Whole oven roast chicken with potatoes.
On Sundays or holidays it’s always nice to bring something special to the table; it doesn’t have to be expensive dishes, but it must be prepared with lots of love and dedication.
Out of passion came the curiosity to cook a delicious caramelized whole orange and honey roast chicken, golden and cooked whole, which was a big hit during one of our Sunday lunches.
For this recipe I bought the largest chicken I found, that is a little more than 3 kg (about 6.6 lb) and with 8 people we practically devoured it, then I served it with a good side of roast potatoes and brought it to the table.
But now let’s go to the kitchen, let’s discover how to cook a whole roast chicken and roll up our sleeves. First, remember to browse this special dedicated to How to cook chicken and if you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here) .

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Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Medium
Rest time: 15 Hours
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 8-10
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

1 chicken (mine was about 6.6 lb)
to taste salt
to taste spices (thyme, oregano, rosemary, black pepper, etc…)
3 carrots
2 onions
1 tbsp honey
5 oranges

Preparation

You can choose the size of the chicken yourself to make this orange roast chicken. We were ten and chose a 3 kg chicken (which was just enough).
Keep in mind that to cook 3 kg of chicken you need 3 hours, so 1 hour per kg (about 27 minutes per lb).
But let’s get to the preparation…
Buy a chicken, preferably a free-range one (it gets a nice color and is more flavorful), gutted and already cleaned. At home remove any remaining feathers by pulling them off with a sharp tug.
Massage the chicken skin with the salt and spices.
Peel one onion and cut it into 4 parts, peel one orange and take half of it, peel one carrot and cut it in half.
Insert into the chicken cavity the onion, carrots, half an orange, spices, salt and one tablespoon of honey.
Place the chicken on a large baking tray, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and then with two or three sheets of aluminum foil.
Bake at 392°F, positioning the tray on the second rack from the bottom.
Forget about it for at least 90 minutes; during this time the chicken will cook, but thanks to the covering and the trapped steam it won’t burn.
After this time cut the onion and carrots and collect them in a clean baking tray, add the orange juice and a good drizzle of oil, then move the chicken into this clean tray and pour any cooking juices from the first tray over it.
Cover again as before and return to the oven, but from time to time take it out, collect the juices with a spoon and pour some into the cavity and some over the chicken to baste it.
Repeat this step about 5 times.
After the three hours the chicken should be cooked; to be sure measure the internal temperature in the center of the breast, which should be around 176°F.
Remove the covering, baste once more and let it brown for a few more minutes.
If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, judge doneness by the carrots and onions inserted at the beginning of the preparation: if they are cooked (even if not very soft), the chicken will be ready and you can take it out of the oven.
Tips:
– Tie the chicken legs together so it doesn’t deform while cooking (I remembered late, but I managed to save what I could).
– Avoid detaching or tearing the chicken skin; it acts as protection and the meat won’t dry out, staying tasty and juicy.
– Cooking the chicken covered like this prevents the skin from burning or cracking.
– You can replace the mixed spices with a classic savory roast seasoning mix.
If you liked this recipe, also look at:
–Pan-roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary;
–Roast chicken with white wine and potatoes;
–Roast chicken with mushrooms and potatoes (grandma’s recipe).
–Whole oven roast chicken with potatoes.
If it helps, I measured the internal temperature with a thermometer like this: Kitchen probe thermometer.
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