Sometimes the simple meals are the best meals. This Roasted Chicken is a simple, one-pan meal that is tender, moist, crispy, and delicious. It is one of the first meals I teach people how to cook and they always love it. It takes two hours to cook, but it is very easy to make.
After you make it and enjoy it, you can save the chicken frame and make healthy, gut-healing chicken bone broth. (It’s kind of like a two for one!)
Roasted Chicken
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 whole chicken (preferably pasture raised)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 lemon, quartered
- avocado oil
- sea salt
- pink, or, black pepper
- onion powder
- garlic powder
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 450F.
- Place the butternut squash all around the perimeter of a cast iron skillet, leaving a four-inch circle open in the middle of the pan. (I like to use my ceramic coated, 3-quart Lodge cast iron pan.)
- Sprinkle 3/4 of the chopped onions all over the butternut squash. Put two of the garlic cloves on top of the veggies. Drizzle with avocado oil and liberally sprinkle sea salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder all over the veggies.
- Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Place the chicken in the center of the pan. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with two of the lemon quarters and two cloves of garlic.
- Sprinkle the rest of the chopped onions on top of the chicken. Drizzle with avocado oil and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the chicken and veggies. Liberally sprinkle the chicken with sea salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Put the chicken in the oven at 450F and cook for 15 minutes (this will help make the outside of the chicken crispy).
- After 15 minutes, loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil (this will help keep the chicken moist and tender). Continue to cook the chicken at 450F for 45 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 400F. Continue to cook the chicken for 1 hour. (Remove the foil from the chicken the last 15-20 minutes of cooking to help the chicken crisp up and some of the liquid evaporate.)
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Carve the chicken and serve with the butternut squash. (I like to serve some crispy roasted brussel sprouts alongside the chicken and butternut squash to complete the meal.)