Roast chicken can be one of the simplest dishes to make or one of the most complicated. This recipe attempts to achieve the former. It shows a clear path to an iconic and flavorful result, without unnecessary moves. The first key step is seasoning the bird generously, and, ideally, leaving it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight—though even an hour is long enough to make a difference. This allows plenty of time for the salt to penetrate the meat and for the skin to dry out a bit, eliciting better browning once it hits the oven.
Next, the chicken is placed in a preheated large, ideally close to 12-inch, cast-iron or other heavy skillet. This channels heat directly to the dark meat as soon as the chicken (placed breast-side up) hits the pan, since the legs and thighs take the longest to turn fully tender. While some classic recipes might call for browning a whole chicken on the stovetop before roasting it, we find this isn’t worth the effort unless you are cooking a spatchcocked chicken, or chicken quarters. Roasting at 425° will get the job done here.
Lastly, thin slices of potato are strewn around the chicken, making this a nearly complete meal. They catch chicken drippings as they cook, yielding a mix of textures ranging from crispy potato chip to plush like you’d find in a gratin. You could use other firm vegetables like carrots, parsnips, and quartered red onions; whichever you chose, try to push them to the edges of the skillet so the chicken stays in contact with the bottom of the pan. (Skip softer vegetables with higher water content, like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, which release so much steam that the chicken doesn’t brown as readily, and can cook faster than the chicken.) Like we said, roast chicken is simple, but a lot of thought can go into it—you can feel confident knowing we did most of that thinking for you.
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes (plus 1 hour sitting)
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
1½
2
1
2
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Pat one 3½–4-lb. whole chicken dry with paper towels and season generously inside and out with kosher salt. (We use 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt per lb.) Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Let sit 1 hour to allow salt to penetrate, or chill, uncovered, up to 1 day ahead.
Step 2
Place a rack in upper third of oven and set a 12" cast-iron skillet or 3-qt. enameled cast-iron baking dish on rack. Preheat oven to 425°.
Step 3
Meanwhile, toss 1½ lb. russet potatoes, scrubbed, thinly sliced crosswise, 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, and 1 Tbsp. thyme leaves in a large bowl to coat; season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Step 4
Once oven reaches temperature, pat chicken dry again with paper towels and lightly coat with 1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil. Drizzle remaining 1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil into hot skillet (this will help keep the chicken from sticking and tearing the skin). Place chicken in center of skillet and arrange potatoes around. Roast until potatoes are golden brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breasts registers 155°, 50–60 minutes (temperature will climb to 165° as chicken rests). Let chicken rest in skillet at least 20 minutes and up to 45 minutes.
Step 5
Transfer chicken to a cutting board and carve. Serve with potatoes.