The warm dressing for this straightforward roasted chicken salad is made of dark caramelized lemon, chicken drippings, stock, and lemon juice. You can substitute spinach, romaine lettuce, watercress, arugula, or watercress for the wilted greens.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 50 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch ground cumin
- 1 (5 pound) whole chicken
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt to taste
- 1 ¾ cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Drizzle vegetable oil in a large roasting pan.
- Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin in large bowl.
- Place chicken in lemon mixture and turn it several times to coat each side. Place chicken breast side down in the marinade, and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Place chicken breast side up in the prepared roasting pan. Pour about 1/4 of of marinade into the chicken cavity. Brush remaining marinade on the top and sides of the chicken.
- Sprinkle rosemary, thyme, and salt over top of chicken.
- Tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine.
- Roast chicken uncovered in the preheated oven for 45 minutes; remove from oven and spoon juices accumulated in the pan over chicken. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth into the pan and continue roasting until chicken skin is browned and meat is no longer pink, about 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove from the oven, spoon juices accumulated in the pan over chicken again, and cover loosely with aluminum foil for 20 minutes.
- Remove chicken to a platter, draining any juices from the cavity into the pan; cover chicken with aluminum foil and set aside.
- Set the roasting pan on the stove top over medium-high heat; add 3/4 cup chicken broth and boil, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes.
- Slice chicken into 8 pieces and serve over shredded lettuce in a large bowl. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of pan sauce over the top, tossing to slightly wilt the lettuce leaves. Serve with additional sauce on the side.
- Use a large roasting pan that can be placed over 1 or 2 burners after the chicken has roasted, for preparing the sauce.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 321 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 54 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 193 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have picky eaters… not tonight! Followed recipe exactly.
I couldn’t believe the gorgeous color, how flavorful and tender this chicken was. I made it a couple of weeks ago and about to make it again.
It wasn’t black. After cooking for 95 min. it was still pink. Sorry but maybe my stainless steel pan was at fault.
I made this with chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken so I had to modify it some but overall the taste was amazing and the entire family loved the taste of the chicken!
We loved this!!! Like other reviewers, my drippings didn’t blacken–not sure why–but didn’t matter, it was great!!
This is a wonderful dish and works well with bone in skinless chicken parts rather than whole chicken.
Delicious! Made it for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit. The only thing I changed is that I didn’t use rosemary as the family doesn’t like it and I used garlic powder instead. The chicken was moist, tender and juicy and the lemon flavor was right on! Thanks Chef John!
I usually don’t bother to watch the videos, I just read the recipe and go from there. This time I spent the 3 or 4 minutes to watch the video and read the recipe. It was definitely worth it. Very good recipe and very good video.
Delicious! I made this recipe with chicken pieces (skin on breast & thighs) instead of a whole chicken and it was divine. I did add minced garlic to the recipe and cooked it at bit a higher temperature to brown the chicken. I brought this dish to a pot luck dinner and it got rave reviews.
Loved it, and for those of you who have a convection oven and have never learned to use it (if there are any of you!) by all means learn to use the convection ROAST feature. The chicken will come out perfectly browned and picture perfect!
very very delicious. One tip, go light on the greens, the lemon can easily become overwhelming.
I have made this twice. Both times it came out so juicy and tasty. Not a single person has passed it up. I just don’t know why it has black in its name, it is not black.
Chef John is the bomb!!!! God, I love that man!
This was very good.
Made this recipe with a pre-cut up chicken. Really tasty, though it didn’t seem necessary to add the chicken broth–had plenty of juice/sauce. I think the addition of a little garlic might be nice. There are a number of steps, so plan ahead as far as time goes!
Delicious chicken recipe! I Only changed it a tiny bit. I didn’t have any thyme, so I just left it out, but I added minced garlic to the marinade, and stuffed the chicken with half a lemon, half an onion, and a few garlic cloves before tying the legs together. I also added 3 cut up russet potatoes to the bottom of the pan, to cook with the chicken, and then stirred them every time I took the chicken out. The potatoes were absolutely delicious! They soaked up everything that was good about the chicken marinade and came out a little tangy and super savory. Next time I’ll have to adjust the cooking time, though, the chicken was just a tad too pink after we cut it open.
SOOOOOOOOOO delicious!!!
I have made this recipe a few times. Both as written and with my own additions. My family prefers double the cumin and cayenne, an addition of garlic along with the spices, and a bit of cream when reducing the sauce. I always use fresh herbs (use dry to fresh conversions), and fresh ground peppers and cumin.
This recipe was a hit with me & my family. Next time I make this, and there will be a next time, I will roast the chicken at a higher temp so it will brown better. I used fresh rosemary and thyme which gave the chicken great flavor. The wilted romaine salad under it was very good also.