The Best Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe

This whole roasted chicken New York Times recipe stays on rotation in my kitchen, specifically in the fall, winter, and Spring. It feels a bit of an undertaking when you first try the recipe because of the amount of steps, but now that I have made it enough times, I barely look at the recipe. The steps are easy to remember and it's a fairly easy dinner to make if you are wanting to cook a really nice meal. We use this recipe more so for dinners such as Sunday Supper. If you don’t have a subscription to the New York Times recipes, I highly recommend getting one! I use their recipes often and will be recommending the best of the best recipes that I find. They really are tasty and made by some of the best chefs and bakers in the world.

What makes this the best whole roasted chicken?

The flavor and the crispy skin! This recipe has you cook your whole chicken in a skillet to give it a crispy exterior, but the temperatures maintain the moist flavors of the chicken on the interior. I always add a rub from another whole roasted chicken recipe from a cookbook that I have, so I am including that at the bottom of the post. You can use any herbs for the rub and place them on the inside of the chicken cavity as well. There is no right or wrong way to season the chicken. The New York Times recipe doesn’t have you season it at all except for salt and pepper, so you can get creative or stick to the recipe as is!

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New York Times Whole Roasted Chicken

The recipe for the whole roasted chicken can be round here. The rub that I add to the recipe is listed below. You will skip the parts in the New York Times recipe that has you rub the chicken with salt, pepper, etc. You will use these steps instead!

Seasoning:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon choice of chopped herbs such as thyme or rosemary
Olive oil
Whole garlic cloves, peeled

Combine salt, pepper, lemon zest, brown sugar, and chopped herbs into a small bowl.
Rinse the chicken and remove inside bag if applicable.
Pat dry with clean paper towels. Be sure not to touch anything else with raw chicken on your hands and throw the towels away that you used to dry the chicken.
Once the chicken is dry, transfer it onto a clean dry plate for seasoning.
Using a basting brush, coat the chicken with olive oil on the top and bottom.
Flip the chicken upright and use your brush to brush on the seasoning, then flip it over and do the underside.
Slice the lemon that you used for zesting in half and place the halves in the cavity of the chicken.
Add the whole garlic cloves and optional whole herbs to the cavity.
Add your chicken to the pain facing upright and following the New York Times recipe instructions for cooking.