The Eating Tree

Celebrating Food, Living and Country Life

  • HOME
  • A BIT ABOUT ME
  • MY GARDEN
    • SPRING IN MY GARDEN
    • AUTUMN
    • WINTER FROSTS
    • GARDEN STYLE
  • RECIPES
  • FAVOURITE PHOTOS
You are here: Home / Chicken / Perfect Roast Chicken, Every Time.

Perfect Roast Chicken, Every Time.

April 28, 2020 By Michael Dickson

‘Perfect’ is a big claim of course and one I always hesitate to use. It is perhaps a trait of the British, a reluctance to blow one’s own trumpet. But in this case I feel it’s entirely justified.

I’d been roasting chickens the same way for 35+ years, faithfully following the way I was taught as a kid, broadly in line with producers instructions, most cookbooks, and the way everyone else seems to cook them, until I bumped in to an American expat lady who told me I was doing it all wrong.

The method she gave me certainly raised my eyebrows a bit as the cooking time seemed very short. But intrigued, I gave it a go and have been using it ever since! This perfect roast chicken will turn out golden brown on the outside and as juicy as hell on the inside, every time. I kid you not.


Perfect roast chicken, every time.

Recipe

  • 1 Chicken 1.5 – 2.0kg the best you can afford
  • A couple of generous glugs of olive oil
  • 1tsp sea salt ground
  • 1tsp black pepper freshly ground
  • A few herbs for the cavity such as a bayleaf or 2, parsley, thyme etc…

Method

Pat the bird dry and remove (if present) the chunk of hard fat found just inside the cavity.

Rub the olive oil into the chicken then sprinkle over the salt and pepper not forgetting to reserve some for inside the bird. Place the herbs inside the cavity, set the chicken in a roasting tin and place into the oven set at 200ºC Fan. Roast for 1 hour maximum!

After 1 hour remove from the oven and cover the bird while still in the tin with aluminium foil and place a clean tea towel or two over the foil. Rest for thirty minutes, then serve.

Notes:

The resting time is the key here as the chicken continues to cook under the foil and tea towels without evaporating the juices keeping the meat lovely and moist.

I often squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the chicken after it’s come out of the oven. I think it gives a better, fresher flavour this way.

I often cook whole heads of garlic with this dish drizzling them with a little olive oil and adding them the roasting tin after the chicken has been in the oven for 30 minutes.

One can use any combination of herbs and spices according to taste. For a perfect roast chicken I sometimes jazz it up a little with smoked paprika for a Spanish vibe or partially ground fennel seeds for an Italian/French feel. It’s all the same really.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chicken, Everyday Meals, Food for Friends, Lunch Tagged With: Easy Roast Chicken, Never Fail Roast Chicken, Perfect Roast Chicken

« My Puglian Adventure
Crispy Fried Chicken Strips »

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE EATING TREE

Extolling the joys of great home cooking from my cottage in the East of England.

Enjoy xx

Photographs my own.

Contact me by using the form below or via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Read More…

CONTACT ME

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Subject

    Your Message

    FOLLOW ME ON

    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter

    OLDER POSTS

    GINGER FOX CHOCOLATE CAKE

    PLUM CRUNCH CAKE

    MINTY CARROT CHICKEN

    FRITTATA

    BREAD PUDDING

    RASPBERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM

    TARTIFLETTE

    SPRING SPINACH AND RICOTTA FILO PIE

    Recent Posts

    • Crispy Fried Chicken Strips
    • Perfect Roast Chicken, Every Time.
    • My Puglian Adventure
    • Streusel Plum Cake
    • BASIC WHITE LOAF

    Categories

    Archives

    Newsletter

    RECENT POSTS

    Perfect Roast Chicken, Every Time.

    April 28, 2020

    ‘Perfect’ is a big claim of course and one I always hesitate to use. It is perhaps a trait of the British, a reluctance to blow one’s own trumpet. But in this case I feel it’s entirely justified. I’d been roasting chickens the same way for 35+ years, faithfully following the way I was taught…

    Read More »

    My Puglian Adventure

    September 23, 2019

    I didn’t have to think twice when Laura from Aeolian Adventures asked me to join her on a trip to Puglia, the region on the map that forms the heel of Italy’s boot, known for its stunning Baroque architecture, characteristic Trulli houses and of course, food and wine fit for the gods. My last trip…

    Read More »

    Streusel Plum Cake

    It seemed a perfect day to post this comforting plum cake as it’s a thoroughly miserable morning here with drizzly rain and a monotonous grey sky with no sign of even a chink of brightness. In fact, I wish I had a piece of it to eat right this minute with a cup of tea,…

    Read More »

    BASIC WHITE LOAF

    This article is by Michael Dickson, Lindsey’s other half. OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a bread nerd…. This isn’t a recently acquired nerdiness however, but something that has been simmering in me since the age of around eight, before bursting out fully formed at the age of  40. The blame can be placed firmly at the…

    Read More »

    Easy Baked Peach Chutney

      At the time of writing, not only are fresh peaches delicious and abundant but they are also cheap. We like to make the most of seasonal gluts and have had a week or so of making peach ice-cream, peach sorbet, poached peaches etc.. Having satisfied our sweet tooth we’ve turned our attention to the…

    Read More »

    CHEESE AND POTATO BAKE

    I am writing this on a very dreary, wet and windy morning at the end of the dark month of November when the last of this year’s leaves are stubbornly clinging on to the branches of the thinning trees. The fire has been on every night for the past week and now the cottage feels…

    Read More »

    Cookery Books for Inspiration

    APPLE TART MAPIE

    MINTY CARROT CHICKEN

    THE TIMES COOK BOOK by Frances Bissell

    THE ART OF THE TART by Tamasin Day-Lewis

    FEAST OF FRANCE by ANTOINE GILLY

    CUCINA POVERA, TUSCAN PEASANT COOKING by Pamela Sheldon Johns

    See More →

    By Category

    By Date

    Search

    Don't forget to leave a comment otherwise I won't know that you have visited and it would be lovely to meet you!

    If you have anything food related going on in and around Suffolk that you think I should know about please let me know. xx

    Copyright Lindsey Dickson © 2025