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.