Healthy Roasted Chicken
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A simple recipe for a Whole Roasted Chicken! Learn how to cook a chicken in the oven for a healthy meal with just a few ingredients.
Roasting a whole chicken is hands down one of my favorite dinners! It is so easy to do, budget friendly, and tastes amazing! Plus, you can make homemade chicken stock with the chicken bones!
If you’ve never cooked a whole chicken – don’t worry, I’ve outlined all the best tips for you in this post!
This easy roast chicken recipe is perfect if you are hosting a dinner party or need a simple meal to feed your family. It’s juicy, flavorful, and delicious!
Why you should roast a whole chicken
- Save $$ – Whole chickens are ridiculously cheap. In fact, the ones I bought were almost 75% less than the price of a package of chicken breasts. If you are looking to Eat Healthy on a Budget, this is a great option!
- Easy to cook – In addition to being cheap – they’re super easy to cook. Taking out the giblets and organs may seem really icky.. but I promise it’s not as bad as it seems and many chickens come without them!
- Great leftovers – I get 2 meals out of this.. because after we eat the meat that’s on the chicken, I throw all of the bones back into the crockpot, fill it with water and make easy crockpot bone broth. You can also use the chicken in Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup or Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad.
Ingredients
substitutions
Chicken: You can follow this recipe with a smaller chicken or larger chicken but may need to adjust cooking time. If you prefer plain chicken breasts, you can use this boneless chicken breast recipe. If you’re cooking a half chicken, try this Roasted Half Chicken. You can also follow the same recipe details and use a whole turkey or check out Herb Butter Turkey.
Olive Oil: You can substitute melted butter or avocado oil in place of olive oil.
Herbs: You can sub any spices/herbs you like in this recipe. Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage are all great! This Herb Roasted Chicken is another delicious way to cook a chicken!
Veggies: You don’t need to use vegetables in this recipe, but I think they add great flavor.
Low Fodmap: Omit garlic/onions
Dutch Oven: If you have a dutch oven, we also love this Dutch Oven Whole Chicken.
We love this instant-read thermometer for checking the internal temperature to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly!
How to Roast a Chicken
Making a chicken is easier than you think!
- Pat dry chicken and stuff it with vegetables and lemon, leave extra veggies in the baking dish around the chicken. Pour chicken stock into the dish and rub olive oil on the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake the chicken uncovered at 425° for 1 hour. After an hour, cover the chicken with foil and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes. You can also baste the chicken with the drippings.
- Use a meat thermometer to check internal temperature, it should be 165°. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
You can also cook a whole chicken in your crockpot! Check out this Crockpot Whole Chicken recipe!
Make sure you also try this Crockpot Bone Broth recipe so you can use up those scraps!
How long to Roast a Chicken?
The cook time for a chicken depends on the weight of the bird. This 5 pound chicken only required about 1.5 hours.
A good rule to stick by is 20 minutes per lb, and cook to 165 degrees for the internal temperature. The best temperature for roasting chicken is between 400 and 425 degrees. Anything lower will take longer, and anything higher can easily dry out the chicken.
Tips and Tricks
Don’t be afraid. People seem to be so grossed out or nervous about cooking a whole chicken… it’s really not that different than regular chicken breasts!
If you’re really grossed out by it (I mean, I get it.. sticking your hand in a chicken is weird and unpleasant), you can wear food grade gloves.
Make sure to clean out the inside of the chicken. Many chickens will come with the insides pre-cleaned. Sometimes they leave the organs inside in a little bag or pouch. You want to toss those (this is where those gloves come in handy.)
Always pat your chicken dry before coating in olive oil, stuffing, and seasoning it – This allows the skin to get really crispy + full absorb the flavors
storage options
Storing: This roast chicken will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze the bones to make homemade bone broth when it’s convenient for you.
Freezing: You can freeze this chicken for up to 6 months. We like these containers for freezing .
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave or oven. The microwave may cause the chicken to dry out some.
Using leftover roasted chicken
This recipe does make a lot of chicken which is great for the next day! Here are some of our favorite recipes to use up leftover chicken:
- Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
- Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
- Lemon Chicken Soup
- Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip
Recipe FAQs
The best roast chicken is a combo of baking covered and uncovered. We start this chicken roasting uncovered for an hour, then covered it for the remaining 30 minutes to lock in the moisture while maintaining a crispy skin.
The best way to tell when roast chicken is done is by using an internal temperature thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees internal temp. Make sure to insert the thermometer into the center of the chicken to get the most accurate read on the temperature.
Roasting and baking are basically the same thing. It means to cook something in your oven. Baking refers to things that don’t have structure already (a cake, cookies, etc) while roasting refers to things that already do have structure (meat, vegetables, etc)
Healthy side dishes
This roast chicken goes well with pretty much anything but here are some of our favorite healthy side dish recipes!
- Green Beans Almondine
- Oven Roasted Potatoes Recipe
- Parmesan Brussel Sprouts
- Paleo Sweet Potatoes
- Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Love chicken? If so – here are some of our other favorite healthy chicken recipes!
Healthy Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole roasting chicken
- 2 cups carrots quartered
- 1 cup onion quartered (one medium onion)
- 1 cup celery quartered
- 1 lemon sliced in segments
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2-4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Pat chicken dry, and place in a baking dish or roasting pan. Remove any giblets or organs from the center of the chicken. Discard or set aside and use for chicken bone broth.
- Stuff the chicken with carrots, onion, garlic, celery, lemon and herbs. Leave extra vegetables and lemon around the chicken in the dish.
- Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string/twine(you don't have to do this but it helps create a more evenly cooked chicken as the breast, legs, thighs all cook differently). Pour chicken stock into base of the baking dish.
- Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and rub the oil all over the skin of the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake the chicken uncovered for 1 hour.
- After an hour, cover the chicken with foil and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes. You can also baste the chicken with the drippings.
- Use a meat thermometer to check internal temperature – it should be 165. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes. Slice + enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Don’t be afraid. People seem to be so grossed out or nervous about cooking a whole chicken… it’s really not that different than regular chicken breasts!
-
- If you’re really grossed out by it (I mean, I get it.. sticking your hand in a chicken is weird and unpleasant), you can wear food grade gloves.
- Make sure to clean out the inside of the chicken. Many chickens will come with the insides pre-cleaned. Sometimes they leave the organs inside in a little bag or pouch. You want to toss those (this is where those gloves come in handy.)
- Always pat your chicken dry before spraying, stuffing and seasoning it – This allows the skin to get really crispy + full absorb the flavors
- Have patience. – An hour or two in the oven might seem like a long time, but it is SO worth it.
OMG, flavorful and quick. This recipe is so easy to prepare and quick if you need to cook and take care of other household chores. The meat was juicy, seasoned, and look great sitting in the serving dish. My family truly enjoyed it and I can’t wait to cook it again. I will me trying more you guys recipes.
We had this tonight or dinner. My husband was delighted, as was I. Very juicy and tender! Thank you for this “keeper”!
We loved this recipe. I have to be low-sodium and watch stomach sensitivities. I also don’t buy sprigs of seasoning. So, I used a mix of dry oregano, parsley, onion & garlic powder with the vegetables inside with low-sodium salt on top. I also added potatoes to the additional celery, carrots and onions around the chicken with a low-sodium chicken broth. Adjusted the time for a 3lb chicken and viola.
Thank you!
Great way to bake a chicken. At 72 I’ve baked hundreds of chickens, but this one is my favorite recipe by far. Also, it is butter free, which is a important for me.
I don’t see any discussion about the Rosemary, thyme and chicken stock, it’s use or purpose. Please advise. Than you
Per the instructions the herbs are stuffed in the chicken and the chicken broth goes on the bottom of the pot.
I made this recently and I am making it again tonight. I try to because there’s no butter, but I’m staying with it because my family said it’s the best chicken I’ve ever made.
No, do not throw out the giblets – they are the most nutritious part of the chicken. Please look up the nutrition. You are missing out on so much for your immune system. Pressure cook them so they’re tender and make soup out of them. Or use them in stuffing. I cannot believe you told people to throw them out.
It says to discard or save for broth in the recipe. Relax.
Imagine getting this upset over chicken innards 😂