The roast chicken with baked potatoes is one of the most loved main dishes by Italians and beyond! For me, it is the dish that most smells of family and home. No wonder it is the quintessential Sunday main course. Sunday is that special day when the whole family gathers at the table to be together. And roast chicken is the ideal dish to share and enjoy strictly with your hands!
Roast chicken is not complete without potatoes. A side dish that pleases everyone, both adults and children. A great roast chicken can be defined if it has a perfect golden crust on the surface and the meat inside is tender and juicy. Cooking is fundamental to achieve a roast chicken done right! Additionally, you need to flavor the meat with a mix of aromatic herbs to make it tasty and irresistible.
To make this traditional dish, we can use either “farmer’s chicken,” as we call locally raised chickens in Abruzzo, or get it from the butcher. Whether whole or in pieces, it’s fine, but the cooking time will change. For example, a whole local chicken has a longer cooking time compared to one from the butcher.
The cooking time is calculated based on the weight of the chicken. For every kilogram, it takes ABOUT an hour of cooking, so it’s essential to weigh the chicken before cooking it.
But now let’s get to it and prepare the most loved meat dish by both adults and children! The roast chicken with potatoes!
If you also love chicken, don’t miss these delicious recipes!
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: for 4 people
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (whole raw with skin. For 4 people, you need a cleaned chicken of at least 2.2 lbs weight)
- A few tablespoons olive oil
- potatoes (about 28 oz)
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- A few leaves aromatic herbs (sage, bay leaves, etc.)
- 2 cloves garlic
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper (only if desired)
- 1 glass white wine
Tools
- Bowl
- Roasting Pan
- Ladle
Steps
Before starting, it’s important to clarify something significant that not everyone might know (I only discovered it recently!).
For a long time, it was advised to wash chicken before cooking to eliminate potential germs and bacteria.
Almost 7 out of 10 people would have the habit of washing meat before cooking it, but in reality, it SHOULD NOT BE DONE (regardless of the type of meat).
Washing chicken would cause the spread of bacteria that could end up in the sink or on objects nearby.
To limit or eliminate the spread of potential bacteria, cooking alone is sufficient, and it must be done properly.
That said, let’s move on to the first fundamental step for a perfect roast chicken!
Wash the aromatic herbs, rosemary, bay leaves, and sage (those who prefer can chop them with a knife).
Place them in a large bowl along with a bit of olive oil and a couple of peeled garlic cloves.
Pass the chicken over the grill to remove any impurities.
Place the chicken in the bowl and thoroughly massage all the meat (top, bottom, and inside).
Those who want can also add pepper and half a glass of white wine. Not the salt.
Let it rest for a couple of hours or overnight and proceed with cooking the next day. In this case, store in the fridge covered with plastic wrap.
After the resting time, take a baking tray and grease the bottom with a bit of oil.
Drain the chicken from the marinade, salt it well, and place it in the tray (whole, cut in half, or in pieces).
Drizzle the meat with half a glass of white wine and add some more spices to taste (rosemary, bay leaves, etc.).
Cook in a preheated oven at 428°F fan mode for about 40 minutes. Then lower to 392°F and continue cooking.
From time to time, use a ladle to take the juices released by the meat and moisten the entire chicken; it will help achieve even cooking.
The cooking time for a 2.2-pound chicken is about 1.5 hours. Mine weighed about 5.5 lbs and took 3 hours to cook.
While the chicken cooks, peel and wash the potatoes (it’s better to choose them of equal size for more uniform cooking).
Those who prefer can use potatoes with the skin on, but in this case, I recommend a very thorough wash.
Immerse the potatoes in a bowl full of cold water and set aside.
When there are about 40 minutes left before the chicken is fully cooked, take the potatoes, drain them well, and place them in the tray.
It’s important that the potatoes have enough space to cook better, so choose trays of the right size.
Drizzle the potatoes with the meat’s cooking juices, salt, and add pepper if you like.
Occasionally turn both the chicken and potatoes until a perfect golden crust is achieved.
At that point, you can place the chicken on a nice platter.
Arrange the potatoes all around with the juice left at the bottom of the tray.
The roast chicken with potatoes is ready! Crispy crust, tender and juicy meat, and the potatoes… a true delight!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Come back to visit me soon!
Oh, I almost forgot! Long live chicken!
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Did you know that on October 2nd, the seventh edition of the “Roast Chicken Day” is celebrated?
This event coincides with Grandparents’ Day. Perhaps because no one makes oven-baked chicken like grandma! It’s an important and well-followed event. A social marathon conceived by the Viva il Pollo Blog (a digital platform for chicken enthusiasts, managed by Unaitalia, an association of white meat producers). The theme of this seventh edition is chicken and potatoes, the ultimate pairing!
#itsamatch #polloarrostoday #vivailpollo #unaitalia
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FAQ (Questions and Answers)
At what temperature do you cook the chicken?
The ideal temperature for achieving a chicken with a crispy crust is 428-392°F fan mode. Of course, those who have an oven with only static mode can still cook an excellent roast chicken but will take about half an hour longer for each kilogram of weight.
How do you know if the chicken is well-cooked?
The chicken is well-cooked when the meat is no longer pink but is pale. To check, cut a small piece of meat.
How many days can cooked chicken be kept?
Once cooked, the chicken can be kept in the fridge for about 3-4 days, preferably in a container with a lid. It can be enjoyed cold as a main dish and used to create tasty recipes like this Chicken Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Orange.
Can I wash the chicken before cooking it?
No! As I mentioned above, a series of studies have shown that washing chicken would cause the spread of potential bacteria, so it is strongly advised against washing it. Just cook it respecting the necessary times, and the chicken will be safe to eat.
How do you remove feathers from the chicken?
Just pass it over a flame to burn them off or remove them one by one with kitchen tweezers (this requires a lot of patience!).
Can I remove the skin from the chicken?
Do you want an honest answer? No! Removing the skin would mean taking away a protective layer that allows the meat not to dry out and to stay tender and juicy. Also, if you do perfect cooking with the fan mode, the skin will become thin and very crispy, and it will be tough to resist the temptation!
Why does the chicken turn out too dry?
If you have removed the skin, the cause is what I indicated in the previous question. A trick our grandmothers used (and which I still use for many preparations) is to place a container with water at the bottom of the oven. This helps create and maintain the right humidity and keeps the meat tender.
Can I cook the potatoes with the chicken?
I don’t recommend it, the cooking time of the chicken is longer than what is needed for the potatoes. It is preferable to add the potatoes halfway through the cooking time, considering that it will take about 40-50 minutes at 356°F fan mode or at 392°F static mode. The time varies also depending on the size of the potatoes. To speed up the cooking, we can optionally boil the potatoes (without salting them) for 20 minutes from boiling, no more. Then place them in the tray with the chicken and finish cooking for about 30 minutes.
