This title may be a little misleading. It’s not technically a whole roast chicken for one, but it is going to hopefully encourage some of you who think that roasting a whole chicken for one is a waste.
If you search online you’ll see a multitude of ‘roast chicken’ dinners for one person. They typically consist of a chicken breast roasted in some manner. I concur, this is a great idea to get that roast in a single serving. However, there are key things missing from a single chicken breast roast. The amazing aroma of roasted chicken in your home. Beautiful, moist, brown meat. Crisp chicken skin (which, really, is a treat, don’t try and think about this if you are trying to eat healthily).
If you are a single person, roasting a chicken doesn’t mean a whole lot of wasted meat. Firstly, you can get 1kg chickens which are fairly humble in size. Secondly, you have an amazing meal, preferably to be eaten on a Sunday afternoon (or Saturday, if you are in the Middle East). Thirdly, the excess meat from the chicken is the start of your meal prep for the week. Add to salads, curries or include at the end of slow cooker meals to stretch your roast out over a few days.
Finally, while a roast chicken may look and taste amazing, it’s one of the easiest meals you can make. Allow just 10 minutes to prep, sit back and wait while it cooks, and then maybe another 10 minutes to carve and make gravy.
You can adjust what you are serving with the chicken depending on your mood – or the time of the year. I served this with balsamic braised cabbage and a summery red potato salad. Ideal for those warm (and not stifling) winter months in Dubai. You could easily swap this for more traditional roast dinner side dishes such as roast potatoes and indulgent cauliflower cheese.
The calorie calculation in this dish is based on 150g of cooked chicken – sans skin, which is a lot more calorific.
Roast Chicken For One
Course: DinnerCuisine: RoastDifficulty: Easy1
servings19
minutes1
hour50
minutes299
kcalBeautifully roasted chicken for one – it will leave your home smelling amazing while giving you several meals of moist and tender chicken.
Ingredients
1kg full chicken
1 small onion, cut in 6 chunks
1 bulb garlic
1.5 lemon, cut into 6 wedges per lemon
1 large carrot – cut on the diagonal into thick wedges. Doesn’t need peeling first
1 small bunch rosemary
1 chicken stock cube, mixed with 200ml of boiling water
1 tbsp plain flour
Directions
- Firstly prep the chicken. Remove all packaging and place on a chopping board and pat down with kitchen roll. The aim is to remove as much moisture as possible. Pre-heat the oven to 250°C
- Secondly prepare the trivet. This is the vegetable mix that will go between the roasting tray and chicken. Add the onion, 6 of the lemon wedges and carrots into a roasting tray. Smash the garlic clove into individual pieces (no need to peel). Take about half of the rosemary and add the leaves by running your finger down the stem, in the opposite direction of the growth of the leaves.
- Next, prepare the chicken, add a few glugs of olive oil over the skin. Rub it in with your hands, ensuring that you cover the entire surface area of the flesh. Season well with sea salt and pepper. Finally chop the remaining rosemary very finely and dust over the top. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with a few quarters of lemon and a good bunch of rosemary.
- Place the chicken on top of the trivet and lighly place a piece of kitchen foil over the top. Add to the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°C.
- After the chicken has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the foil and set aside. Return the chicken to the oven for another hour.
- Remove the chicken from the baking tray and place it on a chopping board, cover again with the foil to keep warm. Meanwhile if you want gravy with your chicken then continue on. If not then leave the chicken to rest for 10-15 minutes and proceed to carve.
- To make the gravy, take the roasting tray and tilt slightly. Use a spoon to remove the top layer of fat from the top of the juices.
- Place the roasting tray immediately over the hob on a medium heat. When the liquid starts simmering add half the chicken stock. Add the flour to couple of tablespoons of water in a separate bowl and mix well. Add slowly to the baking tray.
- Use the back of a wooden spoon to ‘smoosh’ the vegetables into the gravy mixture to release the flavour. Keep adding in the remaining stock to the mixture, slowly, until you have the desired consistency.
- Sieve the contents of the baking tray into a jug or gravy boat.
- Carve your chicken, and voila!
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