If you're looking for a low-fuss, low-effort meal with major impact, you need to learn to roast a chicken. Roasted chicken with potatoes and vegetables is a one-pan wonder that will come through in the clutch over and over again.
There are few meals other than a roast chicken that deliver such high rewards for minimal effort. It takes just a few minutes of work to prep the bird and get it into the oven, and it’s about the same effort to roast two; leftovers are infinitely useful in sandwiches, salads, pasta, casseroles, curries and just about every recipe that starts with sautéed skinless, boneless chicken breasts can be made with chopped leftover roast chicken. Best of all, every chicken is easily turned into homemade stock, perfect for chicken soup. Show us another meal that gets that much mileage.
Here's how to do it.
Ingredients for Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Vegetables
1 3–4 lb whole chicken
canola or olive oil
salt and pepper
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered or cut into large chunks
4–5 garlic cloves, peeled
Instructions for Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Vegetables
1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and put it into a roasting pan, baking dish or cast iron skillet, breast side up. Drizzle with oil and rub it all over the surface of the chicken with your fingers. Season generously with salt and pepper and then slide the pan into the oven for about 30 min.
3. Remove chicken from the oven and baste it with any pan juices while you add the carrots, potatoes and garlic to the pan; toss vegetables in the drippings as you add them as well. (If there isn't much pan juice, drizzle the veggies with oil and toss them before adding to the pan.) Return to the oven for 45–60 min, or until the juices run clear and the joints wiggle in their sockets. (If you have a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh should read 165˚F.)
4. To serve roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables, carve the bird right in the pan. You can use the drippings to make gravy, or you can drizzle plates with a little of the drippings upon serving.
How to make chicken stock:
Put the chicken carcass into a pot and add water to almost cover it. Add some celery and carrots, including celery leaves and carrot ends. Onion skins will make a dark stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about half an hour. (For clear stock, strain at this point, reserving any chunks of chicken. You can refrigerate for up to four days or freeze for up to six months.)
To make chicken noodle soup, cook egg noodles according to package directions. Toss in a diced carrot and frozen peas for the last few minutes of the noodle cooking time.
Drain pasta and veggies and add to warm chicken stock with reserved chunks of chicken. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of thyme.
