Cast Iron Skillet Roast Chicken
These days, I find myself actively looking for meals that fit a few key criteria. I want everyone to be eager to come to dinner, to look forward to the meal that lies ahead. I like to have a multipurpose meal, one that can easily result in leftovers that can be reinvented the next evening into something equally delicious. I also love when that meal can be procured locally, raised in our community, and eaten at its delicious best.
I also like to serve something comforting at our family table. After a long day, we could all use a plate that allows us to take a collective sigh, gather around the table, and enjoy recounting our day while eating something that delivers comfort with each bite.
For me, a whole chicken roasted to perfection in the oven delivers on each of these points. If the chicken can be cooked in a cast iron skillet, all the better. The results are delicious each and every time, with my family clamoring for more, requesting that we make it again soon.
Thanks to inspiration from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon cookbook, I began roasting two birds at once each in their own cast iron skillet. I’m only sorry that I didn’t think of this technique years earlier. With very little extra effort, I can roast a duo of chickens side by side and ensure that we have plenty of leftover chicken to enjoy as tacos, sandwiches, pot pies, and in pasta dishes on successive evenings.
Roasting two chickens also provides me with all that I need to create two batches of hearty bone broth. That bone broth delivers robust flavor and healthy nutrition to every single dish it is added to. Having homemade bone broth in the refrigerator or freezer at the ready is akin to having a bit of magic to add to any recipe that calls for broth or stock.
I hope that you will enjoy this hearty, comforting meal as much as we do. It’s sure to become a favorite around your family table!
If you’d like to learn more about the tools I use when making this recipe, you can find them right here:
Cast Iron Skillet Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 pound whole chickens
- coarse sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 Tablespoon lard or olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and position the oven racks in the bottom third of the oven. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator to allow it to come closer to room temperature as the oven preheats. I often allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Line your prep space with a large piece of freezer paper if desired. I like to use two small prep bowls, filling each with ample coarse salt and pepper to use when seasoning the chickens. Having the seasonings at the ready allows me to season the chickens inside and out without contaminating my pepper grinder and salt cellar.
- Remove the chicken from its packaging. If your bird contains a packet of organs in its cavity, remove them. Rinse the chicken under cold water if desired before transferring to the prepared freezer paper. Using paper towel, pat the chicken dry inside and out. It is important that the chicken be as dry as possible. Any moisture will create steam in the oven which will prevent the skin from becoming crisp.
- Liberally season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. If you like, you can truss the chicken using a length of kitchen twine to tie the legs together and hold them tight to the body. Trussing the chicken will help to hold the legs close to the body, keeping it in a beautiful shape and also helping the meat to cook evenly and the breast to stay moist.
- Prepare a cast iron skillet for each bird by placing each skillet on a burner over high heat. When the pan is hot, add a Tablespoon of lard or olive oil to each skillet, swirling carefully to coat the bottom surface of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium high and add a prepped chicken to each pan. Allow the chicken to cook for five minutes undisturbed.
- Transfer the skillets to the hot oven with the legs facing the back of the oven. Placing the breast in the front of the oven (the coolest spot) will deliver a slightly lower temperature and help to ensure that the breast meat does not overcook.
- After 30 minutes, turn the skillets 180 degrees to encourage even browning. I like to very gently tilt the pan to encourage any juices that have collected in the cavity to run into the skillet. Take care to not splash the hot liquid out of the pan when doing so.
- Roast the chicken for another 30 minutes before removing the skillets from the oven to check for doneness. When done, the birds should be golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone should register around 165 degrees. Juices from the chicken will run clear when it is fully cooked. The chicken will continue to cook as it cools, bringing the temperature up several degrees. Continue cooking, checking every 15 minutes until your chicken registers 165 degrees.
- When the chicken is finished cooking, remove the skillet from the oven and add a generous teaspoon of the minced thyme to the juices that have collected in each skillet. Allow the chicken to rest for ten to fifteen minutes. This rest period will encourage the meat to stay moist and the pan juices to warm the fresh thyme.
- Remove the trussing twine from the chicken. Carve and serve, basting the chicken with a bit of the herbed pan juices.
- If you happen to be serving mashed potatoes and gray with your chicken, add a bit of the pan juices to your gravy to boost the flavor and add a beautiful color.
I am anxious to try this recipe and then make the chicken broth using your Re ipe
I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
Tried your recipe for pork chops in an iron skillet. Ha! Had to dig out mom’s skillet, dust it off and wash it. Wow! The best pork chops I have had since my mom passed on. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with the rest of us!
I want to try making boneless and skinless chicken tonight for supper. Do you have a recipe for that?
Oh and I did try your recipe for doing a whole chicken in the iron skillet. It was amazing!! I thought once I put it in the oven it would dry out. It didn’t, very good!
Thank you again. ❤️
It warms my heart to know that the pock chops brought about such a lovely food memory for you. I’m also glad that you enjoyed the whole chicken. Your timing is perfect as I am hoping to do the last round of testing this weekend for oven roasted chicken leg quarters and breasts cooked in a cast iron skillet.
I’m sorry that I won’t have the recipe ready to share with you in time for dinner, but I hope that you’ll enjoy it soon!
What can be used instead of an iron skillet…I have a glass top stove and should not use an iron skillet on it…I haven’t purchased one because of that but I can still use it in the oven…I do miss my gas stove top…
Carol
You could use any oven safe skillet that you like to use. You simply need a vessel that you use both on your stovetop and in the oven. It could be a Dutch oven or a roasting pan.
I do use cast iron and enameled cast iron on my glass cooktop. I have never had a problem using them on it although I know that many people avoid using them together.