Skillet Roast Chicken – Core Recipe

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Cooking chicken in a skillet is one of my favourite ways to roast a whole chicken. You can either simply roast the chicken with olive oil and salt and pepper, to create the perfect golden brown, crispy skin or you can slash the chicken skin and rub on a marinade before cooking, introducing a range of different flavours and serving options.

A cast iron skillet is a wonderful piece of equipment to have in your kitchen. You can use it on the hob (even induction hobs like mine), you can use it in the oven, you can serve directly from it at the table and it can be used to cook both sweet and savoury foods. Cast iron retains and conducts heat very effectively and evenly ensuring even cooking and also, if serving directly from the cast iron pan, your food will also retain their heat for longer.

NB If you do not have a cast iron skillet, simply use your best roasting dish or, if you have frying pan which is oven safe, you could use that too. 

A variety of recipes based on Skillet Roast Chicken – Core Recipe

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• Skillet Roast Chicken with a Garlic and Thyme Jus
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Dishes I plan to post:

• Mexican Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Mexican Rice, Guacamole, Fresh Tomato Salsa and Sour Cream
• Indian Marinated Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Pilau Rice, Mango Chutney, Raita, Spiced Sweetcorn and Rocket
• Middle Eastern Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Cous cous, Roast Mediterranean Vegetables and Harissa
• Smoked Paprika Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Roast Peppers, Sour Cream, Warm German Potato Salad and a Crispy Green Salad
• Thai Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Peanut Sauce, Coconut Jasmine Rice and a Crispy Red Cabbage, Holy Basil and Sesame Coleslaw
• Souvlaki Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken, Greek Salad, Tzatziki and Pitta Bread
• Spanish Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Red Onion, Olives and Chorizo

How to make Skillet Roast Chicken – Core Recipe

First, collect together your ingredients, making sure you:

• allow enough time for marinating the chicken, if necessary,
• allow time for the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking,
• also allow time for resting the chicken after it has been cooked.

Why should meat be cooked at room temperature?

When you cook any meat, the muscles will contract and tighten when heated. The colder the muscles the more they will contact and this means it is harder for the heat to distribute evenly when cooking. By letting the meat come to room temperature before you cook it, your meat will cook more evenly and you will end up with juicier meat. It can take between 30 – 60 minutes for your fridge cold meat to reach room temperature depending on its size and the room temperature.

You also need time to rest the meat after cooking:

As the muscles of the meat contract and tighten when cooked, the juices are forced toward the surface of the meat and some will evaporate. (Which is why overcooked meat is dry.) Allowing the meat to rest after you have removed the heat source, means the muscles will relax and the juices can re-distribute throughout the meat. If you cut it immediately, you are in danger of losing some of these juices and your chicken may be dry and also lose the flavour in those gorgeous juices.

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken
• Olive oil and salt and pepper, OR
• Marinade
• Additional ingredients you are cooking with the chicken

Then all you need to do is:

• Rub the chicken skin with the olive oil and add the salt and pepper, OR
• Slash the skin and a little of the breast and leg meat with a sharp knife and brush, or use your hands to rub the marinade into the flesh and skin of the chicken. Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours covered and in the fridge
• Prepare any additional ingredients such as onion, garlic, vegetables
• Cook! If using just olive oil, you do not need to cover the chicken when cooking. If using a marinade, cover the chicken for part of the cooking time to prevent the marinade from burning.

Cooking time:

The length of time a chicken takes to cook will depend on both its size and also the temperature of the oven. This method is a quick method using a hot oven:

• Preheat oven to Fan Oven 200°C /220°C/425°F/Gas 7
• Work out your cooking time. This will be 45 minutes per 1 kg (or 4.5 mins per 100g) plus 15 minutes.
• For those working in imperial measures, 1 kg is 2.2lbs and 100g is 3.5oz
• A 1.5kg chicken will take 45 minutes plus 22½ minutes plus 15 minutes = 82.5 minutes or , to round it up, 1 hour and 25 minutes.

To check the chicken is cooked:

Pull the leg away from the bird slightly and skewer into breast flesh behind the leg. Any juices coming out of the bird should be clear and the meat should be opaque. If you see any pinkness or blood, cook for a further 10 – 15 minutes. If you use a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the meat should read 165°F or 75°C.

Skillet Roast Chicken with a Garlic and Thyme Jus

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Rotisserie Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Onion Gravy

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Spanish Marinated Skillet Roast Chicken with Red Onion, Olives and Chorizo

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