The first thing I think about when coming up with a meal is how to make it taste great. The second thing is how to make it as easily as possible. Then I try to make it as healthy as can be without losing any goodness. I love this Honey Dijon Roast Chicken because it ticks all of those boxes and the flavors are fantastic. It also pairs well with all kinds of sides. Kids seem to gravitate to anything cooked with honey which makes it a good sell for a crowd too. It is also very quick and easy to prepare, then the oven does all of the work. Since the chicken is relatively small (in comparison to roasting a turkey especially), it only takes up about half of one oven rack. Leaving me with plenty of room to cook other stuff at the same time. I don’t know about you, but I am always struggling with having enough space in my oven! One day, I hope to have a second oven!
Preparing the Chicken
The most important part of preparing the chicken is to get all of the marinade and seasonings underneath the skin and evenly distributed on all sides. This will ensure that every bite is full of flavor. By putting the garlic and onions inside the cavity of the chicken, it will add more flavor to permeate through the chicken while it bakes.
In the Oven
I use an oven safe internal thermometer with an alert setting when I roast chickens in the oven. I insert the probe into the thickest part of the chicken breast and set the alert temp to 165 degrees. In my opinion, it is too hard to tell by timing when a chicken is done. Opening the oven door repeatedly to check on it causes a major temp drop, so that’s no good. Plus- part of the ease of making this roasted chicken or my Thai Roast Chicken is that you can do other things while it roasts in the oven. Set it and forget it, as they say…
Complete the Meal
Just about anything would go well with this Honey Dijon Roast Chicken. Some of my favorites would be to put it on top of Kim’s Salad or alongside Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Gourmet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Fries or Smokey and Spicy Sweet Potato Salad would be great starches. Veggie sides like Sweet Thyme Carrots, Roasted Green Beans, Maple Glazed Bacon Wrapped Green Beans, Harissa Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts or Roasted Broccoli would be great too!
Ingredients
- 3-5 Lb whole chicken roaster
- 2 tablespoon honey - (divided)
- 2 tablespoon dijon mustard - (divided)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 large cloves fresh garlic
- 1 small sweet onion - quartered
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare chicken by removing neck and giblets (if needed) from the chicken and discard (or freeze if you’d like to save for making gravy). Rinse chicken, inside and out, under cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a casserole dish or rimmed baking sheet large enough to leave at least an inch around the chicken on all sides and tall enough to catch juices from the chicken as it bakes.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard and garlic powder. Using your hands, pour and distribute the mixture as far under the skin as you can on all sides of the chicken. Rub any excess on the outside as well.
- Smash or roughly chop the garlic cloves and put them along with the quartered onion in the cavity of the chicken. Rub the olive oil, salt and pepper on all sides of the outside of the chicken, then return it breast side up in the dish.
- Bake for 80-95 minutes or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reaches 165 degrees. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- While the chicken rests, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon dijon mustard in a small bowl. Brush or drizzle on the chicken prior to serving.
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