Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano
Chef Thomas Keller’s food is known for fine dining finesse, but his recipe for simple roast chicken is about as easy as it gets. For Keller, the perfect roast chicken doesn’t require a lot of extra ingredients—just some kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and fresh thyme (and the thyme is optional). Instead, it gets its wonderful flavor and crispy skin from a few simple but essential steps: using a pasture-raised whole chicken (which will have more flavorful meat than a conventionally raised bird), drying the skin thoroughly, salting both the skin and the cavity of the chicken, trussing the chicken with kitchen twine so that the breast meat doesn’t dry out, and roasting at a pretty high temperature without basting. It’s such a simple meal that any home cook can make on a weeknight, along with a side of roast vegetables or a quick salad.
A good roasting pan (or even a large cast-iron skillet) will help make this easy roast chicken recipe even simpler to execute. Instead of relying on just the suggested cooking time, you’ll want to use a reliable instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the thickest part of the meat (the thigh) and the breast. You can take the chicken out of the oven when the breast is around 155°—the temperature will go up about 10° as you let the chicken rest. Dark meat is safe when the meat thermometer reads 165° but more tender between 175° and 190°. Get a heavy-duty cutting board (the kind that catches the meat’s juices when you cut into the bird) ready for carving—feel free to decorate it with a few pretty thyme sprigs or whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.
What You’ll Need
Pepper
Kosher salt
Roasting pan
Instant-read thermometer
Ingredients
2-4 Servings
One 2- to 3-lb. farm-raised chicken, giblets removed and discarded
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. finely chopped thyme (optional)
Unsalted butter
Step 1
Preheat oven to 450°. Rinse one 2- to 3-lb. farm-raised chicken, then pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.
Step 2
Season chicken cavity with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it’s a good technique to feel comfortable with. Trussing helps the chicken cook evenly and makes for a more beautiful roasted bird. Wrap a long piece of kitchen string around the drumsticks at the “ankles” in a figure-eight and pull it taut. Turn chicken over and tie a knot that pulls the tail of the chicken toward the legs. Pull the ends of the string up so that they rest in the joints between the drumsticks and thighs. Pull the string over the wings to hold them close to the body of the chicken, then pull the skin taut over the top of the breasts and tie a double knot at the top of the chicken to secure it. Cut away any excess string.
Step 3
Now, salt chicken—I like to rain kosher salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 Tbsp.). When it’s cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt granules on the crisp baked chicken skin. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
Step 4
Arrange chicken breast side up in a sauté pan or roasting pan. When oven is up to temperature, put chicken in oven. I leave it alone—I don’t baste it, I don’t add melted butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don’t want. Roast it until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 150°–155°, 50–60 minutes. Add the 2 tsp. finely chopped thyme, if using, to pan. Baste chicken with pan juices and thyme, then transfer to a cutting board and let chicken rest 15 minutes.
Step 5
Remove kitchen string. Separate middle wing joint and eat that
immediately. Remove drumsticks and thighs. I like to take off the
backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat
embedded here, and give the other to the person I’m cooking with. But I
take the chicken butt (a.k.a. tail or pope’s nose) for myself. I could
never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular
tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the
cook’s rewards. Cut breast down the middle and serve it on the bone,
with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant
to be super elegant. Slather with fresh unsalted butter. You’ll start using a knife and fork but finish with your fingers because it’s so good.
Active Time 15 minutes Total Time 1 hr 30 minutes
This recipe was adapted for style from ‘Bouchon’ by Thomas Keller.