Roasted Stuffed Whole Chicken Recipe
Stuffed whole chicken with crispy skin and moist, tender meat served with a delicious gravy made with pan drippings. This recipe is the perfect solution for a festive dinner for a smaller gathering.
Servings: 6
Calories: 741kcal
Equipment
- Roasting tin
- Small saucepan
- Large, sharp knife for carving
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 7-8 lbs/ 3 – 3 ½ kg, Note 1
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter
- fine sea salt or Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup water 125 ml
Stuffing:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 small lemon 1 teaspoon zest, and the juice
- 1 small apple peeled and grated
- ¾ cup fresh white breadcrumbs 3 ½ oz/ 100 g, Note 2
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Gravy:
- cooking juices
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup chicken stock 125 ml
- ¼ cup white wine 60 ml
Instructions
Salt chicken:
- Rub the chicken generously with salt and pepper in and outside. Place it in a roasting tin and refrigerate it overnight. Remove from the fridge 1 hour before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
Stuffing:
- Preheat the oven to 430°F/ 220°C. If using a fan-assisted oven, preheat it to 390°F/200°C.
- Cook onion: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion and cook it on medium-low heat, often stirring, until very soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool slightly while you peel and grate the apple, zest, and juice the lemon, and gather the remaining ingredients.
- Make the stuffing: Add lemon zest, apple, fresh white breadcrumbs, one egg, sweet paprika, thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, and black pepper to the onions in the bowl. Stir well to combine.
Prepare chicken for roasting:
- Stuff chicken: Dry the chicken skin with paper towels. Fill the chicken’s cavity with the stuffing. Weigh the chicken after stuffing it (Note 3).
- Tie the legs together with a kitchen string. Place the chicken breast-side up into a roasting tin.
- Brush with butter: Melt 2 ½ tablespoons butter. Add 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (or Kosher) and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to the butter and mix well. Brush the chicken thoroughly with the butter (under the wings as well). There is no need to brush it on the backside.
- Pour the water into the roasting tin and squeeze the lemon into the tin as well.
Roast stuffed chicken:
- Roast the chicken for 15 minutes at a high temperature.
- Reduce the temperature to 360°F/ 180°C (fan 320°F/ 160°C). Continue roasting the chicken according to the time you’ve calculated before basting the chicken with the cooking juices every 20-30 minutes (Tip – Notes 3, 4).
- Check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken and the stuffing are cooked through (165°F/74°C). Pierce the chicken with the thermometer tip into the thickest part and check the stuffing temperature.
- Rest chicken: Transfer the chicken to a warm platter, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 20 minutes before removing the stuffing and carving it. In the meantime, make the gravy.
Gravy:
- Remove the excess fat from the pan using a large spoon.
- Pour the cooking juices and the sediments accumulated at the bottom of the roasting pan into a small saucepan and add ½ cup chicken stock (125 ml) and ¼ cup white wine (60 ml).
- Add 1 tablespoon of flour and whisk well.
- Bring to a simmer on medium heat and constantly whisk for 1-2 minutes until the gravy is a bit thicker (not too thick, the sauce is relatively thin) and there are no flour lumps in your sauce (Note 5).
- Adjust the taste with salt and pepper if necessary; it probably won’t be.
- Carve the chicken (Note 6) and serve it immediately with the gravy and the side dishes of your choice.
Notes
- The chicken's size can be smaller or larger than that, but you can easily calculate the cooking time.
- Breadcrumbs: I always buy white bread, preferably but not mandatory, 1-2 days before cooking, remove its crust and process the bread pieces shortly in the food processor.
- Calculate roasting time: 20 minutes for 500 g/ 1.1 lb + extra 15 minutes. Provided you cook the stuffed chicken for 15 minutes at a high temperature of 430°F/ 220°C (fan oven 390°F/200°C) and then at a lower temperature of 360°F/ 180°C (fan 320°F/ 160°C) for the calculated roasting time.
- The cooking time depends on your oven; some run hotter than others. To ensure you don't overcook the chicken, check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer about 10-15 minutes before you might think it's done. The internal temperature should be 165°F/74°C. Also, check it before the indicated roasting time is over; if the safe internal temperature is not reached, continue cooking the chicken, rechecking every 5 minutes until the bird is cooked through (Amazon affiliate link).
- Gravy: Should there be any lumps in the sauce, you can still save it by blending it shortly with an immersion blender.
- Carve the chicken: Place a large cutting board on paper towels that will stabilize the board and catch any running juices, thus making cleaning easier.
- Legs: Cut the thighs at the joint with a large sharp knife. Separate them from the drumsticks by cutting at the joint between them.
- Breast: Carve down the bone of each breast and remove them from the bones.
- Wings: Separate the wings from the rest of the carcass by cutting at the joint.
- Rests: Pick any larger meat pieces still hanging on the bones.
Nutrition
Calories: 741kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 256mg | Sodium: 543mg | Potassium: 638mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 754IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 3mg