Golden-roasted chicken with old-fashioned stuffing
Always an impressive dish, a whole chicken provides plenty of protein, little saturated fat, and good amounts of B vitamins and zinc. A meal like this is perfect for noteworthy occasions, or just a simple family dinner.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus whole sprigs for stuffing
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 whole chicken, about 1.5 kg, without giblets
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 3 onions, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 450 ml reduced-salt chicken stock
- 4 cups dry herb bread stuffing
Directions
Preparation:30min ›
Cook:2hours15min ›
Ready in:2hours45min
- Preheat the oven to 220°C. Mix the thyme, sage and pepper in a small bowl. Gently separate the chicken skin from the breast and insert a third of the herb mixture and lemon slices under the skin. Sprinkle another third of the herb mixture in the cavities and over the chicken.
- Lightly coat a large nonstick frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions and celery until soft, 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining herb mixture. Pour in 1 cup stock and 1 cup water. Bring to the boil. Add the stuffing and toss until the liquid is completely absorbed. Remove from the heat.
- Loosely stuff the chicken cavities with stuffing, top the stuffing with the thyme sprigs and tie the legs together. Place the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour in the remaining stock and 1 cup water. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken breast side up. Reduce the temperature to 180°C. Roast the chicken, basting every 20 minutes with the drippings, until the juices run clear, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the stuffing to a bowl and discard the thyme. Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes before carving. Discard the lemon slices and skin before serving.
COOK'S TIP
To ensure a juicy bird, start roasting it breast side down so that the juices flow over the breast. Finish roasting it breast side up, basting the bird frequently to add extra moisture. Cook with the skin on to seal in the juices, but be sure to discard it before eating, since most of the fat is found in the skin.
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Reviews and Ratings
Global Ratings:
(2)
Reviews in English (2)
The quantities for this recipe are way out. 3 onions, 3 celery and 4 cups of herb bread stuffing is far too much. I needed about 1/4 of it to stuff a large chicken. I would put 1/2 an onion, 1 small celery stick and 1 cup of stuffing. The herb combination of sage, thyme and pepper is nice but a bit plain. I added salt, garlic and butter, and made it all into a herbed butter which was much nicer. Stuffing lemon slices under the skin was really nice. Putting stock in the bottom of the baking tray is a lovely idea, it made the chicken very tender. The skin wasn't crispy though, which i missed as i love a good crispy skin on a roast chicken. I took some good tips from this recipe, but overall, it needs to be modified too much for me to say its any good. - 22 Feb 2017
This is a great recipe, shared it with our very large family all commented how nice. - 27 Jan 2016