| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 day 4 hr 5 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sliced fresh ginger
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- Juice of 2 limes, plus the rinds
- 1 habanero chile, pierced with a knife
- 1 head garlic, cloves separated and smashed
- 1 onion, quartered
- 6 black tea bags
- One 4-pound whole chicken
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine soy sauce, ginger, sugar, salt, lime juice, lime rinds, habanero, garlic, onion, and 1 gallon water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and give it a stir. Tie tea bags together and place in the brine. Let steep for 10 minutes, then remove and discard tea bags. Let cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Submerge chicken in brine, breast-side down. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the inside and outside of chicken with salt and pepper. Place on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the fleshiest part of the breast and thigh (do not touch bone) registers 160 to 165 degrees F, approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 569 |
| Total Fat | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 19 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 154 mg |
| Sodium | 2483 mg |
Reviews
I was skeptical, but oh my goodness, this was delicious! This will be a regular in our house!
Really good.
Worth it! The “fam” loved this bird!
One of the best roasted chickens I have had! The only thing I changed was to substitute the habanero with a large jalapeño
Quick question what is nbsp? Thank u
Excellent every single time. I didn’t change a thing. Made it about 3 or 4 times for people and it’s always a hit. Super juicy and flavorful without being over seasoned. My absolute go to recipe.
Absolutely awesome.. We eat a lot of chicken.. and always looking for something with FLAVOR.. This one is tender, moist and has tons of FLAVOR…
OMG. I love chicken, but couldn’t get the brine down. It always came out bland. I tried this recipe and was shocked at how flavorful and juicy it was. I made it with Katie”s broccoli rice. Oh ya, I got major brownie points. This will definitely be a staple in my house. Thanks Katie.
GZ -I watched, in this segment alone, you touch raw chicken, wipe your hands on a towel you put back on the counter and used to wipe surfaces. You used paper towels to pat dry a chicke, and then wiped two cuttings boards with those contaminated paper towels. In the meatloaf segment you put a clean baking dish onto a cutting board that had ground raw meats dropped on it with some meat left. The health dept. would have a fit. You are supposed to be the expert and to set guidelines and examples. At least that’s part of the show’s premise. It is hard to watch.
AB FAB. The hardest part of this recipe is dealing with 2 gallons of liquid and a whole chicken in a bag large enough to hold it without leaking or sagging in the refrigerator. But it was truly delicious and moist. This is the first time I have ever brined anything and it won’t be the last. This is a particularly good recipe though. I will certainly make this again.
One word: I brined this with the intention of making it the next night and then our plans changed. I thought to myself, “Well, I sure hope the chicken will still be good!” It wasn’t good. It was FANTASTIC! We had leftovers 2 or 3 days later and I couldn’t believe how moist they were. I never ate so much leftover chicken in my life!