Lessons > How to Roast Chicken

How to Roast Chicken

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Lesson Overview

Nothing symbolizes home cooking as much as a roast chicken and it’s actually one of the easiest dishes to prepare. Roast chicken is incredibly satisfying meal, and any leftovers can be used to make a variety of quick and delicious dishes. The leftover bones can even be used to make a flavorful stock, making use of every part of the bird.

In this lesson, you will learn how to roast a chicken with the least amount waste and without unnecessary additional steps. You will also learn what type of chicken to choose and how to prepare it for roasting. You’ll also learn how to check it for doneness, rest it and carve it.

In this lesson, we will also show you enhance and add even more flavor and moisture to a basic roast chicken. We will also show you ways to achieve the ultimate crispy skin and how to use the pan juices to make a delicious sauce to serve with the chicken.

Lesson Objectives

At the end of this lesson you'll be able to:
  • identify the difference between a roaster and a fryer chicken
  • prepare a chicken for roasting
  • roast a chicken
  • test a chicken for doneness
  • know how to rest and carve a chicken
  • understand how to enhance the flavor and moisture in chicken by brining, adding compound butter and/or other seasonings
  • identify ways to make chicken skin nice and crispy
  • explain how to properly air-dry and temper chicken
  • truss a chicken
  • explain how and why you would turn a chicken during roasting
  • roast a chicken on a rack and test for doneness
  • know how to rest and carve a chicken
  • make a pan sauce or gravy from the drippings

Course Syllabus

START: Watch Lesson Platform Tour
1. Introduction: How to Roast a Whole Chicken 4 mins
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2. Complete Your Self Assessment 2 mins
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3. Preparing to Roast Chicken 3 mins
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4. Roasting & Serving the Chicken 5 mins
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5. Practice Roasting & Carving a Simple Chicken 30 mins
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6. Enhancing a Roast Chicken 20 mins
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7. Roasting the Chicken 10 mins
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8. Making Chicken Pan Sauce or Gravy 5 mins
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9. Activity | Brine & Roast a Chicken 45 mins
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10. Practice Activities & Recipes 45 mins
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11. Lesson Quiz 20 mins
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Finish Line 3 hrs 9 mins Total Time
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Practice Recipes

A few of the practice recipes you'll learn in this lesson.

Prerequisites & Related Lessons

Please consider these additional lessons to support your learning and discovery. Some of these lessons are prerequisites that may help contextualize what you are learning and form a baseline of knowledge and skill. Other lessons are related and may help you explore next steps or dive deeper on a learning topic.
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What People Are Saying

Latoya Y "This lesson is very valuable. Every cook from novice to professional should master the art of roasting chicken. The basic techniques coupled with supplemental pointers such as creating different flavor profiles, brining and the use of oven racks makes this a no fail technique." Latoya Y. ★★★★★

Students

6,572 students from beginner to advanced have completed this lesson from 76 countries.