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Apple Cider Roasted Chicken: Roasted Chicken with a Seasonal Twist

My Apple Cider Roasted Chicken is a warm, savory, and comforting meal that is surprisingly easy to make and impressive to serve (if I do say so myself!). The chicken itself is roasted to perfection over a bed of veggies, lemons, and apples, and is finished off with an apple cider infused jus that adds a delicious tangy sweetness to each bite.

Shop my favorite baking set featured in these photos here!

How I Got The Idea for Apple Cider Roasted Chicken

After seeing Ina Garten’s famous Engagement Chicken, I was surprised at how easy roasting a whole chicken actually can be. There are a lot of extra things that you can do like baste your chicken, smother it in a compound butter soaked cheese cloth, inject it, etc., but I love this method because you don’t need a ton of extra tools and steps to get great flavor. You just need to season your chicken, stuff it, and let the oven to the rest of the work. The sauce is made using the drippings leftover in the roasting pan too, making this a one-dish dinner that your family will love.

I love apple cider and have been exploring new ways to use it in savory dishes, so I thought what better way than to give it a try with roasted chicken! Normally, you would just combine chicken stock and white wine, but I thought that the apple cider would add a nice seasonal tang and sweetness. I added in apples to help deepen the flavor while roasting as well – these additions did not disappoint!

Browning Your Chicken

One thing that I see often with roasted chicken is people browning it in a pan before baking. Using a pan to cook the skin first will give it a great color and crispiness, but in this recipe it really isn’t necessary (plus, who wants to dirty another pan?). Instead, before stuffing your chicken you’ll want to make sure to pat it completely dry so there’s no excess moisture keep the skin from crisping in the oven. You’ll also want to cover it in a healthy amount of olive oil before putting it in the oven, this will help it get crispy and golden during the roasting process.

Why I Love This Recipe From a Health-Perspective

I am very intentional with my ingredients, I like to develop recipes that are both delicious and that will work for me by offering extra nutritional benefits to my body. This chicken doesn’t use any butter, and can easily be made gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour in the jus instead of regular flour, so it’s a lighter version than regular roast chicken that would traditionally use a hefty amount of compound butter. It pairs great with my Caramelized Onion Mashed Sweet Potatoes and a green vegetable like broccolini.

Earlier this year, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including this chicken, with anti-inflammatory properties in mind. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one because eating this way really has positively impacted my health, and I figured maybe it could help others, too.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sweet Onion
Garlic
Leeks
Apple (I used Honeycrisp)
Lemon
Fresh thyme
Fresh rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Apple cider
Chicken stock
Flour (regular or gluten-free, either will work to thicken the jus)

How to Make Apple Cider Roast Chicken

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F

Prepare Your Chicken: Pat your chicken completely dry, place it in your roasting pan, and season it on the inside and outside with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Prepare Your Produce:

Cut your lemon into fours (longways)
Cut your garlic in half (slice through the midsection – can just split the entire bulb)
Cut both your apple and onion in half, and then cut large chunks of one half of the apple and onion to be stuffed in the chicken. Cut the remaining half into smaller slices that will be placed around your chicken in the roasting pan, and later served with it

Stuff Your Chicken: Stuff the fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, 1/2 of your lemon, 1/2 of your onion, 1/2 of your apple, and both halves of garlic into the open cavity of your chicken. If not everything fits, make sure you at least get the all the herbs and a chunk of everything inside to roast. Using butcher string, tie the legs together to close the cavity.

Prepare the Remaining Fruits and Veggies: Toss your remaining cut fruits and veggies in a bowl with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat everything. Distribute this mixture around the chicken in the roasting pan.

Cook Your Chicken: Lastly, cover your chicken in olive oil to get a nice golden crispy skin, then place it in the oven and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Remove Your Chicken: Once your chicken is ready, remove it from the oven and place it on a plate or carving board to sit. Cover it using aluminum foil.

Prepare Your Jus: Add your apple cider, chicken stock, and flour to the roasting pan and stir everything together to make your jus. Remove the fruit and veggies using tongs and place them around your chicken on your serving dish. Transfer your jus to a gravy boat (or just something your can pour with), straining out any larger bits that your tongs didn’t get.

Serve: Serve your chicken with the jus sauce over the top and enjoy!

Tools:

Roasting Pan (here is my favorite set)
Carving Knife (here’s my favorite knife set)

Full Recipe:

Apple Cider Roast Chicken

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Author: Alli Warner

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Instructions

Prepare Your Chicken: Pat your chicken completely dry, place it in your roasting pan, and season it on the inside and outside with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Prepare Your Produce:
- Cut your lemon into fours (longways)
- Cut your garlic in half (slice through the midsection – can just split the entire bulb)
- Cut both your apple and onion in half, and then cut large chunks of one half of the apple and onion to be stuffed in the chicken. Cut the remaining half into smaller slices that will be placed around your chicken in the roasting pan, and later served with it
Stuff Your Chicken: Stuff the fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, 1/2 of your lemon, 1/2 of your onion, 1/2 of your apple, and both halves of garlic into the open cavity of your chicken. If not everything fits, make sure you at least get the all the herbs and a chunk of everything inside to roast. Using butcher string, tie the legs together to close the cavity.
Prepare the Remaining Fruits and Veggies: Toss your remaining cut fruits and veggies in a bowl with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat everything. Distribute this mixture around the chicken in the roasting pan.
Cook Your Chicken: Lastly, cover your chicken in olive oil to get a nice golden crispy skin, then place it in the oven and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Remove Your Chicken: Once your chicken is ready, remove it from the oven and place it on a plate or carving board to sit. Cover it using aluminum foil.
Prepare Your Jus: Add your apple cider, chicken stock, and flour to the roasting pan and stir everything together to make your jus. Remove the fruit and veggies using tongs and place them around your chicken on your serving dish. Transfer your jus to a gravy boat (or just something your can pour with), straining out any larger bits that your tongs didn’t get.
Serve: Serve your chicken with the jus sauce over the top and enjoy!

For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!

Apple Cider Roasted Chicken