Sunday Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1.8kg whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 sprigs fresh thyme
60g butter, softened
800g potatoes, cut into chunks
3 carrots, cut into batons
1 brown onion, cut into wedges
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220°C. Remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes before cooking to bring to room temperature. Pat dry inside and out with paper towel.
Carefully slide your fingers under the breast skin to loosen it, creating pockets. Spread the softened butter under the skin, massaging it evenly over the breast meat. Season the chicken generously all over with salt and pepper.
Stuff the cavity with lemon halves, 3 garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body.
Scatter potatoes, carrots, onion, and remaining garlic in a large roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Place chicken on top of the vegetables, breast-side up.
Roast for 20 minutes at 220°C to crisp the skin. Reduce heat to 180°C and roast for a further 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you pierce the thigh and the internal temperature reaches 75°C.
Baste the chicken with pan juices halfway through cooking. Turn the vegetables occasionally so they colour evenly.
Remove chicken from the oven and transfer to a carving board. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, return the vegetables to the oven to crisp up if needed.
Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted vegetables and pan juices spooned over. The crispy skin, buttery meat, and caramelised vegetables are the complete image.

Nutrition (per serve)

450 Calories

38g Protein

25g Carbs

24g Fat

The Story

Roast chicken is the studio portrait of cooking: formal, methodical, familiar. You've seen a thousand versions, but when it's done right, it's still arresting. The butter under the skin is your key light — it bastes the meat from the inside, keeps it moist, adds richness. The high initial heat is your rim light — it crisps the skin, creates texture, adds definition.

The vegetables are your supporting cast. They absorb the chicken drippings — fat, juices, rendered protein. They caramelise, brown, develop their own flavour while picking up the background notes from the bird. Potatoes go creamy inside, crispy outside. Carrots concentrate their sweetness. Onions melt into soft, savoury layers. It's a complete composition.

The rest at the end is non-negotiable. Fifteen minutes, covered loosely. The meat reabsorbs its juices, the temperature evens out. If you carve immediately, the juices run out onto the board and you lose half the flavour. Resting is the stop bath — it halts the cooking process and fixes the image. Then you serve. The skin shatters under the knife. The meat is tender, moist, butter-rich. It's why roast chicken never goes out of style.