This savory one pan roast chicken & vegetables recipe is a great choice for a weekend dinner on a chilly fall or winter’s day — with the added bonus of that leftover cooked chicken to help you throw together another easy weeknight dinner later in the week! Find some leftover chicken recipe ideas below, as well.
Welcome back to Sunday Scratchups: Your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients. I often cook us up a Simple Roast Chicken and Vegetables dinner, because whole chickens are super affordable, super tasty, super easy to make, and super flexible in allowing you to make completely new meals with the leftovers.
When I do roast a whole chicken, though, I normally don’t measure anything or follow a specific recipe, but instead just throw different spices on the chicken according to what seems tasty this week. Please forgive my terrible food photography from several years back, but… Sometimes I’ll do a lemon-garlic chicken; sometimes I’ll do a spicy chile-lime chicken; sometimes I’ll roast up a Greek-ish chicken; sometimes it’ll be a 40 clove garlic chicken…
I also often throw potatoes in with a roast chicken because they take on such a nice flavor, are filling, and make for an easy built-in side, but sometimes will substitute or add in other veggies as well, such as today’s carrots, mushrooms, and onion.
Anyway, the main point here is this: This is not the definitive roast chicken and vegetables recipe, but this is instead how I made a particular (and tasty!) roast chicken and veggies dinner this week. Once you have the basic recipe down, it’s easy to change up the seasoning and/or the associated veggies according to what you have on hand or what your family enjoys.
Love those leftovers
After dinner, shred whatever chicken is left over to make something new: My 5 lb chicken ran just $3.80 on sale this weekend, then this chicken dinner fed our family of four with plenty left over. What can you make with leftover cooked chicken? Oh, just about anything, but here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- Loaded baked chicken nachos
- Caprese quiche with chicken & spinach
- Chicken & biscuits pot pie
- Easy cheesy chicken & rice
- BBQ chicken naan pizza
- Italian chicken, veggie, & pasta skillet
- Baked chicken avocado taquitos
- Rotisserie chicken soup
Leftover cooked chicken is also great to throw onto salads, into quesadillas, and more! What do you enjoy making with yours?
Simple Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Ingredients
– for the chicken
4-6 lb whole chicken
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp rosemary (crush it up a little between your fingers)
1 tsp thyme
– for the veggies
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 lbs potatoes, diced
2 medium yellow onions, quartered
12 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
8 oz whole mushrooms
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoned salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 tsp rosemary
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and remove chicken giblets, if present, then rinse chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place chicken breast side up in a roasting pan. Mix together olive oil and spices, then rub the spice mixture all over the chicken. (Use your hands — it’s messy, but just wash them well afterwards!)
Surround your seasoned chicken with the vegetables and garlic. Drizzle veggies with olive oil and season them with seasoned salt, pepper, and rosemary, then toss to coat.
Roast chicken at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove pan from oven and stir the veggies. Reduce heat to 375 degrees, return chicken to oven, and bake for another 40-60 minutes (or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165 degrees), stirring vegetables occasionally.
Remove chicken from the pan onto a cutting board and tent it with foil, then let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. (Stir veggies and return them to the oven while the chicken is resting, if they need a little extra time.)
Serve chicken with its associated vegetables on the side.
Oven Roasted Chicken is Comfort Food for the Soul
Sometimes it’s the simple things, you know? This savory and flavorful one pan roast chicken & veggies is a great choice for a weekend dinner on a chilly fall or winter’s day, with the added bonus of that leftover cooked chicken to help you throw together another easy weeknight dinner later in the week.
Roast chicken and vegetables is naturally gluten free and dairy free.
Simple Roast Chicken and Vegetables, printable recipe
Simple Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Ingredients
- for the chicken
- 4-6 lb whole chicken
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp rosemary (crush it up a little between your fingers)
- 1 tsp thyme
- for the veggies
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 lbs potatoes, diced
- 2 medium yellow onions, quartered
- 12 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
- 8 oz whole mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and remove chicken giblets, if present, then rinse chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place chicken breast side up in a roasting pan.
- Mix together olive oil and spices, then rub the spice mixture all over the chicken. (Use your hands -- it's messy, but just wash them well afterwards!)
- Surround your seasoned chicken with the vegetables and garlic. Drizzle veggies with olive oil and season them with seasoned salt, pepper, and rosemary, then toss to coat.
- Roast chicken at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove pan from oven and stir the veggies. Reduce heat to 375 degrees, return chicken to oven, and bake for another 40-60 minutes (or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165 degrees), stirring vegetables occasionally.
- Remove chicken from the pan onto a cutting board and tent it with foil, then let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. (Stir veggies and return them to the oven while the chicken is resting, if they need a little extra time.)
- Serve chicken with its associated vegetables on the side.
Notes
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stacey says
Tell me about a good roasting pan? Do you use a pan with a rack inside? when you cook this chicken I assume you cook it with the lid on, correct?
rachel says
No, I cooked it straight in the pan, no lid, sitting in my old beat up roasting pan without a rack. (It does have a rack that drops in, but I didn’t use it in this recipe.) I think you’re thinking of a roaster, which has a lid. Here’s a decent one http://amzn.to/2A4yQ28
Caitlin says
I’m lazy. I threw everything in the crockpot in the morning. I love how really versatile all your recipes are. This in the slow cooker, the sausage soup the other day in the pressure cooker… You really make dinner easy!
rachel says
Nice. How’d it turn out? On the rare occasions I do a whole chicken in the crockpot I usually brown it in the oven after because I like the skin better that way. 🙂
Caitlin says
We don’t eat the skin, so the rubbery skin doesn’t bother us and they are so tender. We’ve been doing whole chickens in the crockpot for a while now and I like it best when we shove the seasoning up under the skin (snipping the thigh skin with shears). Favorite is a blend of chili powder, garlic, garam masala, salt and oil.
Brooke says
How long do you cook it in the crockpot?
Leigh says
Did you use foil in the crockpot because of the potatoes? Did the potatoes get mush? I also love anything I can throw in my crockpot. Set and forget!
Michelle says
Great recipe!
Angela says
This was our “Sunday Supper” yesterday afternoon, and I cannot say enough good things about it. One pan, TONS of flavor, and clean plates all around. I have enough chicken left to add to the Vegetarian Lemon Chickpea wraps tonight, and make Baked Chicken Nachos later this week!
Rachel, you are my personal hero. Thanks for meal plans that are helping me shed baby weight (my youngest is 8, so it’s time!). Down 25 pounds!
Leigh says
Do you think I could make this in the crockpot? If yes would you use foil?
Thanks 🙂
rachel says
Yes, you can make a whole chicken in the slow cooker, but it’s not going to come out the same — for starters, the skin won’t brown up, and the vegetables will be mushier. Foil will help the potatoes stay together more, but the texture of everything will still differ.
If you’re planning on doing it in the Crock-Pot, put the veggies in first, then rest the chicken on top of those so that it’s not stewing in its own juices. Give it 6-7 hours on low, then check to see if it’s cooked through to temp. After cooking you can brush with a little olive oil, move to a pan, and broil to get some browning if desired.