Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken

Have you ever cooked a whole chicken before? This Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken is so flavorful, and so easy it’s almost foolproof!

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A whole chicken can be a great budget-friendly way to feed your family. But dealing with a whole chicken, if you havn’et done it before, can be a little nerve-wracking. Not to worry, I’ve got everything you need right here!

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It doesn’t have to be that hard to make a fantastic roast chicken. It does take a little bit of prep ahead of time (brine, anyone?). And it does take a bit of time to cook. So this really isn’t your best recipe for a busy weeknight. But a roast chicken is perfect to cook on the weekend. Have dinner one night, use the bones to make a tasty broth, and have leftovers for a busy night later in the week. What more do you need in a recipe?

Chicken Cooking Tips

If you haven’t handled a whole chicken before, there are a few things you should know before you start out. Check out the links below to get the basics on cooking chicken.

My favorite part of this recipe is the brine. If you have never brined anything before, you are in for a treat! It’s easy to do, and I tell you all about brining in this post. (Yes, that post is about turkey, but it works the same.)

You do want to be sure to use a meat thermometer for this one. (I like these probe thermometers for this job.) The chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees F. Remember, you can’t tell if chicken is fully cooked just by looking at it!

Not sure how to carve that chicken once it’s cooked? Check out this video about how to carve a turkey. Carving the chicken is exactly the same, just a little bit smaller!

Free Printable to Help Know When Your Chicken is Done

It can be hard to tell when chicken is fully cooked. Get our best tips, and grab the free printable cheat sheet to keep handy in your kitchen so you never have under-cooked chicken again!

3 Ways to Take the Fear Out of This Recipe

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Enjoy!

Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken

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Prep time

14 hours

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

16 hours

Have you ever cooked a whole chicken before? This Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken is so flavorful, and so easy it's almost foolproof!

Author: Marybeth Feutz

Recipe type: Main

Makes: 4-8 servings

Ingredients

For the brine:

8 cups chicken broth (not low-sodium)
½ cup kosher salt
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns
8 cups heavily iced water

For the chicken:

6-8 pound whole chicken
1 onion, quartered
1 apple, quartered
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water

Instructions

For the brine:

Combine chicken broth, salt, sugar, and peppercorns in a large stockpot. Bring broth to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, then let cook.
Pour broth into a large container (like this cooler). Add iced water to broth.
Remove thawed chicken from the wrapping and remove giblets.
Place the chicken in the brine and soak overnight, or for 10-14 hours.

To roast the chicken:

This chicken is roasted like this turkey recipe.
Remove the chicken from the brine and gently rinse it under cool water.
Place the chicken on a roasting rack inside a large roasting pan.
Combine onion, apple, cinnamon stick, and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Carefully place onion, apple, and cinnamon inside the cavity of the chicken.
Liberally coat the chicken with canola oil.
Fold a square of aluminum foil into a triangle, and shape it to fit over the chicken breast. Set the foil aside, and coat the underside of the foil (the part that will touch the chicken) with canola oil.
Place a meat thermometer in the center of the chicken breast.
Roast the chicken at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Remove chicken from oven and place aluminum foil over the chicken breast.
Return chicken to oven (do not wait for the oven to come down to 350 degrees). Roast at 350 degrees until the chicken reaches 165 degrees (about 1-1/2 hours).
Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before carving. Discard onion, apple, and cinnamon.
If desired, save chicken bones to make chicken broth.

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Fall-Off-The-Bone Roast Chicken