One-Pan Roast Chicken and Potatoes

Simple, delicious meal of chicken and potatoes cooked together in just 1 skillet. The only other cleanup is a cutting board and a small bowl.  But be sure to allocate two hours of mostly unattended cooking time. The flavor was very well-balanced, and the chicken was moist. 4-stars.

Simple to make and clean up

The timing on the recipe is based upon a very small whole chicken; 1 to 1-1/4 hours and was perfect for a 4-lb chicken. If your chicken is bigger, you will have to reduce the over temperature (and increase cooking time) to prevent the skin from becoming overcooked. I’d suggest 375. Alternatively, you can bake it at 350 for an hour, then increase to 425 until the breast meat registers 160 and the dark meat registers 175.

Comment:

1. I also tried to make this recipe using 6 pre-cut thighs. It baked in only 35 minutes. The main drawback was that the thighs had too much skin; while delicious; there was too much fat that rendered. After removing this chicken to rest; discard the extra fat from the pan before finishing the potatoes on the stove top in Step 8.

Rating: 4 stars.
Cost: $5.
How much work? Low/Medium.
How big of a mess?  Low.
Start time: 4:00 PM. Finish time: 6:00 PM.

The Cook’s Country link to the original recipe is here. The recipe as I prepared it today is given below:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1-1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
Salt
Pepper
1 (4-lb) whole chicken, giblets discarded
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

1. Set a rack to the lower-middle of your oven, and pre-heat to 400-degrees.
2. In a very small bowl, add 2 tablespoons oil, thyme, 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine.
3. Use paper towels to pat the chicken dry, then use your fingers to separate the skin from the chicken breast. (While the original recipe just calls for loosening over the breasts, I loosened over the legs and thighs too). Rub the oil mixture from Step 2 underneath and on top of the skin of the chicken. Use kitchen twine to tie the legs together, and tuck the wingtips behind the back. Set aside
4. Peel your potatoes and square-off the ends. Slice into 1″-thick-rounds. Add potatoes to a 12″ oven-safe, non-stick skillet. Toss with 1 tablespoon oil, 1-1/2 teaspoons table salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
5. Arrange potatoes so that they lay flat and in a single layer. Set over medium burner and cook for 7 to 9 minutes without moving or flipping the potatoes, until the bottoms become browned.
6. Set chicken with the breast-side upward on top of the potatoes and put skillet into oven. Bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours until the breast meat reaches 160-degrees and the thighs reach 175-degrees.
7. Move chicken to cutting board and loosely tent with aluminum foil; allowing to rest for 20 minutes.
8. While the chicken rests, cover the skillet with a lid and continue baking for 20 minutes.
9. Carve the chicken and serve with potatoes. Pass lemon wedges along side.