One-Pan Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables
When the whole chickens come off pasture at the end of October, this is the first thing that happens to ours. One bird, one pan of root vegetables, one oven — and the vegetables roast in the drippings, which means the best ones never make it to the table because they get eaten straight off the pan.
What you need
- 1 whole pasture-raised chicken
- 2–3 pounds of root vegetables — potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, whatever’s riding along that week — cut into big chunks
- 1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
- 4–5 cloves of garlic, smashed, skins on
- Butter or oil, salt, pepper
How we do it
Heat the oven to 425°F. Pat the bird very dry — dry skin browns, wet skin steams — and salt it generously inside and out, with a good grind of pepper. If you’ve got a little softened butter, rub it under the breast skin. Not required, never regretted.
Toss the vegetables, onion, and garlic with a spoonful of oil and some salt, and spread them in a roasting pan or a big cast-iron skillet. Set the chicken right on top of them, breast up. No rack needed — the vegetables are the rack.
Roast about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on size, until the thigh reads 165°F and the juices run clear. Stir the vegetables once around the halfway mark so they all get their turn in the drippings. Rest the bird 10–15 minutes before carving, and while it rests, put the pan of vegetables back in the oven to crisp.
One bird, three meals
This is how a $20 chicken turns out to be cheap. Night one is the roast. The leftover meat is sandwiches or quesadillas on night two. Then the carcass goes in a pot with water, an onion, and whatever vegetable ends are around, and simmers into broth for soup night. Nothing wasted — that’s the whole point of buying the whole bird.
From the farm: Whole pasture-raised chickens are $20–25 by size, ready at the end of October — reserve now, no deposit, your name holds your bird. Root vegetables, sweet onions, and German hardneck garlic ride along on the route every week. Locally grown and locally sourced. Free delivery in the Norwich and Syracuse areas; Binghamton free on orders of $20+, otherwise a $5 delivery fee. Message us or check the shop.
