This Whole Roasted Chicken with vegetables is the easy comfort food that you need in your life! Simply butterfly a chicken, season it, and cook it over a medley of veggies all in one dish to create an incredibly savory and satisfying meal.
Table of Contents
Why you should butterfly a chicken before roasting it
Traditionally, chefs would have to tie up a whole chicken (called trussing) to roast it in the oven. Trussing a chicken helps it cook evenly by tying the legs and arms tightly into the body of the chicken. This method is not only time consuming on the prepping side, but it also takes much longer to cook.
Butterflying (also known as spatchcocking) a chicken is an easy workaround with tons of benefits:
It is a foolproof way to get an even cook on a roasted chicken. Usually the legs take longer than the rest of the chicken, leaving the chicken breast to turn out dry. By laying the chicken down flat to roast, the legs can cook quicker leaving all of the meat moist!
It will cut back on the cook time pretty significantly, too! Opening up the chicken and laying it flat in the oven to roast means more points of access for the oven heat. This helps the chicken cook faster overall, requiring less time in the oven.
Did someone say crispy chicken skin? The perfect combination of texture is a moist bite of chicken with crispy skin. Roasting the chicken with all of the skin facing outward means that there will be no soggy bits of skin on the underside. All of this leads to more perfect bites!
How to butterfly a whole chicken
- Place the chicken breast side down on a cutting board.
- Find the backbone where the ribs connect and cut through it on either side of the backbone. A good pair of kitchen scissors or a sharp knife should be all you need. Cut all the way down the back of the chicken.
- Once the backside of the chicken is opened up, flip it over and press the chicken open until you hear the breastbone snap. This will make sure the chicken doesn’t contract once it’s in the oven!
How to make roasted chicken and vegetables
- Using the instructions above, butterfly your whole chicken.
- Prepare all of your vegetables, trying to keep the potatoes, carrots and onions about the same size. This will ensure even cooking! Slice the lemons lengthwise and cut the tops off of the garlic cloves.
- Lay all of the veggies into a roasting pan, or oven safe pan. Squeeze in the garlic, peel on, and distribute the lemon slices over top the ingredients.
- In a measuring cup, add the olive oil, juice from one lemon, and all spices and herbs. Stir or whisk this mixture to evenly incorporate all of the flavorful herbs and spices.
- Pour about one third of this mixture over the vegetables. Use the rest of the mixture on the inside and outside of the chicken and rub it in with your hands. Lay the butterflied chicken skin side up over the vegetables.
- Heat your oven up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and pop your pan in the oven for 60-75 minutes or until the juices run clear.
- Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter, and cover with aluminum foil for 20 minutes.
- Break down or pull apart the chicken, and serve!
Adding variety to the vegetables
If potatoes, carrots and tomatoes aren’t your thing, that’s totally ok! There are plenty of vegetables that are hardy enough to withstand the heat of this recipe. Here are some that you can easily swap in place:
Brussels Sprouts: make sure to blanch (partially cook in boiling water) brussels sprouts before laying them in to roast. When they are fresh they are super tough and need to soften up slightly before they can be roasted.
Broccoli or Cauliflower: both of these cruciferous veggies are packed with nutrients and make a great addition to a roast.
Parsnips: similar to carrots, parsnips are a root vegetable that have a decent sugar content. This makes them ideal for roasting as they will caramelize as they roast and add some amazing flavor to the dish.
Squash: a bit sweet and very on theme for a Thanksgiving roast! Any type of peeled and cubed squash would work out well in this dish.
Mushrooms: button mushrooms also work very well to accompany a roast. Just be sure not to cut them too small (better yet – leave them whole!) as they will shrink in the oven.
Whole Roasted Chicken with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole lemon, juiced
- 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 spring fresh thyme
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 pound quartered red potatoes
- 1/2 pound quartered yukon gold potatoes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 large quartered onion
- 1 head garlic
- 1 whole 5-6 lb chicken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a measuring cup combine the olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, and all the spices and seasonings. Mix together.1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 3 teaspoons smoked paprika, 3 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 spring fresh thyme, 3 teaspoons sea salt, 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons lemon pepper, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 whole lemon, juiced
- In a large baking dish or cast iron pan and all the chopped vegetables. Peel the outer layers of the whole head of garlic. Making sure to leave the garlic cloves intact. Place the head of garlic on the baking dish.1/2 pound quartered red potatoes, 1/2 pound quartered yukon gold potatoes, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 2 carrots, 1 large quartered onion, 1 head garlic
- Pour 1/3 of the marinade over the vegetables and toss to combine.
- To butterfly the chicken, place the chicken breast side down on a cutting board. Find the backbone where the ribs connect and cut through it on either side of the backbone. A good pair of kitchen scissors or a sharp knife should be all you need. Cut all the way down the back of the chicken.Once the backside of the chicken is opened up, flip it over and press the chicken open until you hear the breastbone snap. This will make sure the chicken doesn’t contract once it’s in the oven!1 whole 5-6 lb chicken
- Rub the remaining marinade on the inside of the chicken, under the skin and on top. Lay the chicken over the vegetables.
- Bake for 60-75 minutes or until juices run clear.
- Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter, and cover with aluminum foil for 20 minutes or until ready to serve.
Video
Equipment
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Super delicious! I did get a bit confused initially with the instructions, though. The video I’ve seen on social media as well as the photos here show the chicken butterflied with the backbone attached, but the recipe describes how to spatchcock the chicken by removing the backbone. I did a spatchcock according to the written directions because I had done it before, but I’m interested in learning to prepare the chicken as it appears in the photos (it looks like the breastbone was removed instead of the backbone). It also might be helpful for less experienced cooks to see a visual of a spatchcocked chicken with the backbone removed (since their final product would look quite different from the photos if they followed the written directions).
I really enjoy your recipes, thanks!
Thank you for the feedback! We have updated the recipes and not the photos and will work on it. We’re so glad you enjoyed it and hope you continue to enjoy more of our recipes!
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Hello ladies, I follow you on Pinterest and am a fan of your work just as much as I am your personalities. Please share with me what model of STAUB this pan is? I need it and this roasted chicken recipe in my life! Thank you for your work! 🙂
By far the best roast chicken recipe !!.. and I have made many. Not only is it super flavourful, and super juicy, but it can’t be any easier and faster to pull together. I’ve made it both with the tomato and without . The only difference is there are more ‘drippings’ with tomatoe , that can be used as a saucey gravy to serve . It’s a keeper !
My family devours this recipe! It’s great, I love this more than whole roasting a chicken!! Do you ever add white wine to this recipe? Usually I add some but curious if you have ever? If so, how much should I add?
Best, most moist, flavorful chicken I have ever made! And I’ve made a lot of chicken!
Hi Nancy! Yay, we are so glad this turned out great!
xo, Alia & Radwa