How to Cook Whole Chicken in the Oven

Learning how to cook whole chicken makes it possible to prepare meat for the whole family or for multiple meals at once. This also saves money on buying chicken because you don’t have to pay extra if you want the butcher to cut the breast, thigh or other chicken pieces. Here’s how to cook whole chicken in the oven.

Table of Contents

Prepare grilled chicken

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Defrost whole chicken. Depending on the size of the chicken, it may take 1-3 days to defrost a whole chicken in the refrigerator. You should prepare chicken immediately after defrosting to avoid food poisoning.

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Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Based on the size of the chicken, place the rack slightly above the center of the oven or slightly below the center of the oven.

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Clear the space near the kitchen sink. You should remove kitchen utensils, dishes and silverware to avoid staining during the chicken making process. Have a baking pan or large pot nearby to easily transfer the chicken.

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Remove the chicken from the package. Throw the packaging directly into the trash.

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Cut the neck and wings off the chicken’s body. You can throw away the neck and wings if you don’t want to use it to make chicken broth.

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Place your hand near the breast cavity, facing up over the chicken breast. You can thread your fingers between the breast and the skin. Move your hand under the chicken skin and loosen the skin to facilitate seasoning later.

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Wash your hands for 30 seconds before handling any other ingredients or dishes.

Marinated whole chicken

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Decide on the seasoning you want to use. Grilled chicken is easy to marinate, so you can spice it up with your favorite seasonings, fruits or veggies.

You can try lemon pepper chicken or lemon garlic. Lemon, onion, and garlic are the main aromatic seasonings that enhance the flavor of the chicken. Pepper or garlic can be used to season the outside as well as the inside of the chicken.
You can also consider using herbs such as a blend of rosemary, basil, and thyme. You can use common seasoning for chicken or Italian seasoning if fresh herbs are not available.
Use Spanish or Mexican seasonings such as chili, Paprika, garlic, or Cayenne pepper to give the chicken a spicier exterior. Use extra chicken seasoning for Tacos and Enchiladas. Adobo seasoning is a combination of paprika, oregano, garlic and pepper that is packaged and sold at specialty stores and supermarkets.

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Prepare aromatic seasoning.

Cut 1-2 lemons in half to put inside the chicken body.
Cut the onion and leek into 4 parts.
Peel the garlic. You can place 2-10 cloves of garlic anywhere you like on the chicken.

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Mix seasoning to rub on chicken. Mix 2 tablespoons (30 ml) unsalted melted butter with ½ teaspoon (1 g) salt, ½ teaspoon (1 g) pepper with ½ teaspoon (1 g) – 1 tablespoon (30 g) fresh or dried herbs. You can mix fresh and dried herbs in a ratio of 1:3 because dried herbs are usually stronger.

You can use canola or olive oil instead of butter. Fat helps to brown the outside of the chicken.

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Rub butter and herbs or spices over chicken. Rub seasoning under the skin, on the surface of the chicken.

Stuffing/grinding grilled chicken

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Mix lemon, onion and garlic with salt and pepper. Add seasoning to the chicken breast cavity. You should make sure not to let any of the ingredients fall out and also seal the chicken if desired.

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Place the chicken on the grill, if you haven’t prepared a grill before. Press the chicken breast against the grill rack.

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Slice apples, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables. Place these ingredients on the baking rack first.

If using a large pot, you should put the tubers in the pot first, then place the chicken on top. This helps the gravy to drip down the pot during the baking process.
If the sliced vegetables are smaller, you should wait 20-30 minutes before placing them under the grill to prevent the vegetables from becoming mushy.

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Tie the chicken if desired. That means you use a string to tie 2 chicken legs and close the 2 wings to close the chicken breast cavity.

Tie the chicken unnecessarily. It may take longer to cook because tying the chicken will prevent the heat from reaching the chicken pieces.

Grilled whole chicken

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Put the baking pan in the oven. Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. This will help keep the water in the chicken and help the chicken to brown.

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Reduce oven temperature to 190 degrees Celsius. Bake chicken for 1-1.5 hours, depending on oven size, evenness, and altitude.

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Insert the thermometer into the thigh of meat. The thermometer should reach 77 degrees Celsius. If it has not reached this temperature, you should bake for another 20-30 minutes, then measure again.