Quickest Roasted Chicken Dinner Recipes

THE BEST ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Mix butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a bowl.
• Loosen skin on chicken breast; rub butter mixture between skin and breast meat. Press on the skin to distribute evenly. Rub oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper all over; place lemon halves inside cavity. Set in a baking pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven, basting after 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Let rest before carving, about 15 minutes.

QUICKEST ROASTED CHICKEN DINNER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Slide 2 fingers under chicken skin and loosen enough to tuck 2 lemon slices, 4 garlic slices and 1 thyme sprig underneath the skin, directly over the breast meat of each chicken breast. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken in 9 by 13- inch glass baking dish. Pour 1 cup chicken broth, remaining sliced garlic and thyme sprigs in pan bottom.
• Place in oven and roast until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Pour pan juices into a small sauce pot. Add lemon juice. Reduce over medium high heat until sauce has thickened to almost a glaze. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Pour juices over chicken and serve immediately.

EASY ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine (tuck wings under chicken, if desired, for a neater presentation). Place chicken on a rack set in a roasting pan (or on a rimmed baking sheet).
• Rub chicken all over with butter; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of a thigh (avoiding bone), 45 to 50 minutes. Serve, or let cool before refrigerating, up to 3 days, covered.

QUICK ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Prep the chicken
• Salting the chicken in advance ensures that the seasoning is evenly distributed throughout the meat. This method results in meat with salt in it rather than on it.
• Put the bird in a large metal bowl, sprinkle the salt evenly all over it, and rub the chicken around the inside of the bowl until all the salt adheres.
• Note: Food geeks like me with a gram scale will find that a 2½-pound chicken, after deboning, weighs 1,134 grams. Depending on your taste for salt, you'll need between 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent of the chicken's weight in salt (12.5 to 15.8 grams).
• Let the salted chicken rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours before cooking; the chicken is good to go for at least 24 hours after salting.
• Dry the chicken and heat the oven
• About ½ hour before roasting the chicken, turn the oven to 475°F and let it heat up (this may take a while). You want it plenty hot in there. Meanwhile, take the chicken from the fridge and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
• Cook the chicken
• Oil a large heavy-bottomed skillet; cast iron is my favorite. (If your skillet won't accommodate the whole chicken, split it into 2 halves and use two skillets.) You want a thick coating of oil (more than a slick, less than a puddle). Place the pan over a high heat onthe stovetop until you see the faintest wisp of smoke rising from the oil. Gently-really gently, so the oil doesn't splatter and burn you-lay the chicken in the pan skin side down. Lower the heat to medium-high and cook until the skin turns faintly blond, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the skillet to the floor of the oven.
• Depending on the size of the bird and whether it is deboned or just butterflied, the total cooking time in the oven will range from 18 to 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155°F to 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.
• When the chicken is done, cut it into manageable pieces, put them on a platter, and serve as is, or with a squeeze or two of lemon.