I took my new Cuisinart Cast Iron Dutch Oven
The preparation was super easy. After preheating my regular old kitchen oven to 375F, I drizzled some olive oil in the bottom of the Dutch oven.
Then I rinsed the chicken under cold water and patted dry. I also threw out the neck that was inside. If you are into chicken necks, then by all means, do your chicken neck thing. I personally think they are a little icky, hence the immediate placement in the trash.
After the chicken was clean and dry, I sprinkled salt, pepper and paprika on the back side.
After flipping the bird (HA! that joke will never get old to me) breast-side up, I sprinkled more salt, pepper, and paprika, and patted some butter on top.
Then chopped carrots, celery, and onions were added to the pot. Finally a bay leaf was thrown in the mix before covering the Dutch oven and placing inside the regular oven.
At first we covered the pot with foil, because the knob that is on the lid is only heat safe to 350F. Then we realized that the knob screws on and off quite easily, so we simply removed it and used the lid. We had to be a little cautious when removing the hot lid, but for the most part, it worked great!
We let the chicken do its thing for about an hour and a half. I am not sure of the exact time because we were using the meat thermometer to assess when the chicken was done. We took the top off for the last 5 or 10 minutes to let the chicken brown up a little.
After removing the chicken from the oven, we let it sit a few minutes before serving. And I took all that glorious broth that was still in the bottom of my Dutch oven and made chicken soup! It was great because it was all in the same pot so the mess was minimal. I am definitely lovin’ my new Dutch oven!
- 1 whole chicken
- ½ onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- Butter
- 1 Bay leaf
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Drizzle olive oil in bottom of Dutch oven.
- Rinse chicken in cold water. Pat dry.
- Sprinkle salt, pepper, and paprika on both sides of the chicken.
- Place chicken breast side up in Dutch oven.
- Pat butter on chicken.
- Add vegetables and bay leaf to pot.
- Cover and place inside oven
- Cook for about an hour and a half, or until internal temperature is 185F
- Remove the lid and allow the chicken to brown for 5-10 minutes
- Remove from the oven and let it rest before serving
It’s highly likely that your plastic know was Bakelite, a plastic that was developed to with stand temperatures up to 500 degrees. That looks like a nice pot. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t.
Fantastic recipe, btw. Making for second time today!
That is entirely possible. I hadn’t thought of that. One of these times I’ll brave leaving it on and see what happens. Replacements are easy enough to find if not.
I’m glad the recipe works so well for you. Thanks!
I did a 4# bird at about 360 and it was up to 189 degrees after an hour and a half so I didn’t get to crisp the skin, but it still had a nice brown color. I got to use the paprika my neighbor brought back from a trip to Hungary. I also added some leeks to the pot and the veggies were delicious. Chicken soup tomorrow with that great broth. I’ll pull the lid at about 170 next time and let it crisp up.
Great recipe so simple and quick! I’m luvin my dutch oven too 🙂 My favorite is to season with poultry seasoning so I added that and I threw in some nice garlic cloves and Yukon gold potatoes diced up. I also enjoy making gravy with all that juice. Thanks and happy cooking!
Very good recipe the chicken was so moist and had so much flavor thank you
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Fantastic! Was searching for a better way to make a whole chicken and came across this.
I will say I did not like eating the vegetables cooked in the fat, but the chicken was extraordinary. It was moist juicy tender and it did crisp up. Splendid.
Glad to hear the chicken worked out for you, and thanks for letting us know about the veggies! That’s a great heads up for other people who may not like the vegetables cooked like that. 🙂
I am planning to make this tomorrow night. Can I skip the butter and brush some olive oil on the bird?
I tried roasting a whole chicken like 5 times using different methods and it always sucked. I got a dutch oven for Christmas and found this recipe online, decided to try it for lunch. As soon as the chicken was cooked, I had unexpected guests. We all ate this chicken and we all were raving about it. Especially me. I added an apple to the pot too for some extra flavor since my mom always does. Ill be laminating this recipe and using it for the rest of my life.
Awesome!!! That makes me so happy to hear! 🙂
Pulling out my Dutch oven tonight and I am adding sweet potatoes to the pot. Looking forward to the chicken.
Great recipe! Thank you for posting! My chicken was moist and delicious!
Re: your knob not being oven safe over a certain temperature – have you thought about getting a bolt the same size as your lid hole – using some nuts – and making a impromptu handle during higher temperature bakes?
sounds good! how big was the bird?
This chicken looks amaazing!! I can’t wait to try it!
I knew this was a winner before I even tried it ~ and I MADE IT last night. (A pet peeve is reviews from people who haven’t tried a recipe, i.e. ‘I know what I’m making tonight’ … ‘looks delish’… )
I have googled ‘perfect roasted chicken recipe’ before and I will get: ‘place chicken on rack in the middle of the oven.’ This will get you a really messy oven and smelly house for about a week, and it won’t be tender. Your recipe is a more dry technique that yields a tender chicken and a wonderful gravy/juice that doesn’t separate. I loved it, my husband REALLY loved it. And thank you for specifying ‘breast side up.’ This is a keeper and it goes into my rigorously hand selected dinner menu rotation.
Thanks Gretchen! Glad it worked out well! 🙂