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The Best Simple Roast Chicken

My Mom is here this week! I’ve been showing her our spots, including my favorite antique and stationary shops, farmers markets and beaches. I am so thankful that we get to live on this beautiful peninsula this year and spend time with our families. We’ve spent quality time with our parents three times since being back in the States over the past few months, as compared to seeing them once during the three years we lived in Okinawa.

My Mom and I have also been making some amazing meals together (my love for cooking is in large part because of her!) while Cam has been pairing each with bottles of reds and whites we brought back from our Napa trip. The first night here I made her my Spicy Chorizo Vegetable Soup, the next was Grilled Shrimp with Smokey Garlic Greenbeans and a Nectarine + Strawberry + Goat Cheese Arugula Salad and a bottle of Chardonnay, last night was this delicious roast chicken and vegetables.

On Monday I took her to my second favorite farmer’s market in Monterey, the Pacific Grove Farmer’s Market. (This one is my first!) We brought home three baskets of sweet strawberries, two of blackberries, both for our salad, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes and Latvian dessert. Life is good when Grandma visits. And thanks to her, here are her tips for making the very best roast chicken!

The Best Simple Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken for roasting
1 TBS crushed garlic + 6 garlic cloves, peeled
olive oil
fine sea salt
ancho chile pepper
dried oregano
paprika
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

If there are giblets inside the chicken, remove them. Rinse the chicken under cold water, both the outside and the cavity. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and set it in a large baking dish. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice all over the chicken. Put the lemon halves inside the cavity along with the fresh rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves. Drizzle enough olive oil over the chicken (roughly 2 tablespoons) that you can rub it in to the entire bird with your fingers. Rub in the crushed garlic and cover the chicken with the sea salt, pepper, oregano and paprika, about 1/2 teaspoon of each up to a teaspoon, depending on your taste.

Roast for about an hour, depending on the size of the chicken, or until clear juices run out. Halfway through baking, spoon the juices on the bottom of the baking dish over the chicken to keep it moist and again once it’s done roasting.

Roasted Carrots & Zucchini

3 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 bunch of carrots, sliced lengthwise
olive oil
fine sea salt

Place the sliced vegetables in a baking dish and drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top with about 1/2 teaspoon to a teaspoon of salt. Toss the vegetables with your hands. Once the chicken has baked for about 20 minutes, add the vegetable dish to the oven and bake for the remaining 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees F. Serve the vegetables with the chicken, allowing them to soak up some of the juices.


Comments

  2. Legally Lovely says

    Oh, this looks so good. I have never roasted a chicken and have all these pins about how to do it, but I always chicken (ha, ha) out. What am I so scared of?! This really does look delicious though. Maybe I'll go for it on one of these chilly nights here this fall.

    • Amanda Marshall says

      Oh yes, you've got to – it is SO easy! We literally just threw all that on it and stuck it in the oven and then had amazing chicken that wasn't dry at all! Good luck! 🙂

  3. Rebecca Tupuritis says

    This recipe looks amazing – I will be making it this evening! In all honesty, I have tried just about every recipe you've posted, and will say that without a doubt, they've been some of the best recipes I've shared with my husband and our families. I find your blog to be so authentic and I want to thank you for that. Your new blog posts always are a favorite part of my day! I have one question from this post though – I saw you mentioned picking up a Latvian dessert. My family is Latvian and I grew up in the Bay Area so spent a lot of time in Carmel but never know there was anywhere to get Latvian baked goods. Could you share what you got and where you got it? I'd love to know! Thank you again for bringing a smile to my face and warming my heart (and belly!). Sending love from Chicago to you, and your amazing family (John Shea is the absolute cutest!).

    • Amanda Marshall says

      Rebecca! Thank you so much for such a kind comment!! That made my day! I'm not sure what the name of it is, but my Mom says the dessert was like a poppyseed sweet roll, similar to the Polish treat called Povitica. There is a Latvian woman who sells her homemade desserts and breads every Monday at the farmer's market in Pacific Grove – she's wonderful! Let me know if you and your family are ever out here 🙂

  4. Rebecca Tupuritis says

    Thank you, Amanda! I will be sure to let you know next time we get out to California – I'd love to meet you. Not to sound like a stalker, but I just have this feeling we'd be fast friends 🙂 Until then, I'll just have to rely on your wonderful blog posts! Thanks, again for the chicken recipe too – my husband was in heaven last night. All the best!!

    • Amanda Marshall says

      Oh I'm so glad you liked it!! I think we'd be fast friends too. I'd love to meet you. Definitely let me know the next time you guys are out here. I've only gotten to meet a few people in person through blogging and every time it has felt like we've known each other for years. All the best to you, too!!

  6. Tim and Lanna Britt says

    So glad your mom is visiting!! I have started roasting TWO chickens at once — one for the dinner and the 2nd to make a big batch of chicken salad with for the week. I highly recommend it! AHHHHH I wish I was drinking wine with you and chomping on some crusty french bread and brie. Making your peach rose sangria this weekend for my sister's "sprinkle" for baby girl Tew. Wish you were here!
    love –lanneybear

    • Amanda Marshall says

      ahhh wish I was there, too!!!!! My mom says she does the same with two chickens. definitely doing it that way next time! and Im loving that granola recipe you sent me!

      love you!

  7. Stefanie Sarnowski says

    I tried this recipe a couple weeks back and it was sooooooo delicious! It will definately be back on out table soon. I made roasted pumpkins and potatoes with it as I didn't have carrots and zucchini at home. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me!
    Steffi

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