Roasting a whole chicken seems simple enough – just season it pop it in the oven, and wait for delicious roasted chicken right? But it’s easy to end up with an overcooked, dried out bird if you don’t know what you’re doing. There’s nothing worse than biting into a slice of chicken breast only to find it tough and stringy.
The good news is that roasting moist, flavorful chicken is totally achievable at home with some easy tips and tricks. In this article, I’ll share all my secrets for how to roast a chicken without drying it out. You’ll learn how to prepare the bird, season it perfectly, maintain moisture, and test for doneness so you turn out juicy, tender chicken every time. Let’s get started!
Start with a Good Quality Bird
The starting point for juicy roasted chicken is getting a high quality bird. Look for chickens labeled “air chilled” rather than water chilled. Air chilled chickens aren’t plumped up with added water weight, so they don’t end up releasing excess moisture as they cook. Organic and free-range chickens are also great options. Their diets tend to make the meat a bit more flavorful.
For the most tender, juicy meat, choose a chicken around 3 to 4 pounds. You want one small enough that the breast meat finishes cooking at the same time as the dark meat. Very large chickens can have overcooked breasts by the time the thighs are done.
Truss the Chicken
Trussing the chicken—tying the legs together with kitchen string—serves an important purpose beyond presentation Trussing keeps the chicken compact so it cooks evenly If the legs are splayed out, the breast can overcook while you wait for the dark meat to finish.
To truss, tuck the wings under the chicken’s back and tie the ends of the legs together over the cavity opening Make sure the string is tight enough to bring the thighs close to the body but not so tight that it tears the skin
Season Generously Under and Over the Skin
Seasoning is key for flavorful roasted chicken. Get seasoning all over and especially under the skin so it penetrates the meat. Here are some tasty seasoning combos to try:
- Herbs de Provence, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and pepper
- Rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper
- Smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper
- Za’atar spice blend or dried oregano, sesame seeds, sumac, salt, and pepper
Carefully loosen the skin from the breast and thighs by gently running your fingers between the skin and meat. Rub the seasoning directly onto the meat, then replace the skin. Spread seasoning all over the outside of the chicken too. Let it sit for 30 minutes so the flavors can soak in before roasting.
Maintain Moisture While Roasting
Use these simple tricks during roasting to keep your chicken breast and thighs juicy:
Roast at a low temperature. Cooking the chicken slowly gives the collagen in the meat more time to break down into gelatin, which results in tender, juicy meat. Roast at 325°F to 350°F.
Use a rack. Elevating the chicken on a rack over a roasting pan allows air to circulate all around so it cooks evenly. The drippings fall into the pan below rather than stewing in direct contact with the chicken skin.
Add aromatics to the pan. Mirepoix veggies (onion, celery, carrot), garlic, citrus, or fresh herbs added to the roasting pan contribute moisture. The steam released as they cook keeps the chicken from drying out.
Baste frequently. Baste the chicken with the pan juices every 20-30 minutes. Basting replaces moisture lost on the surface.
Avoid opening the oven. Resist the urge to check frequently. Every time you open the oven, heat and moisture escape.
Let it rest before carving. Allowing the chicken to rest for 10-15 minutes after roasting gives the juices time to redistribute throughout the meat. If you carve right away, they’ll spill out onto the cutting board.
Check Temperature for Perfect Doneness
The only way to know if your chicken is fully cooked but not overcooked is to use an instant read thermometer. Check the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone.
For juicy, tender chicken, roast to 165°F. The breast and thigh should both reach this safe minimum temperature without overcooking. If using a meat thermometer seems intimidating, it’s really easy once you try it. Thermometers take the guesswork out of roasting chicken.
Make the Most of Leftovers
A 3 to 4 pound chicken will likely leave you with leftover meat. Get the most out of your roasted chicken by using it in dishes like chicken salad, soup, enchiladas, sandwiches, pasta, and more. The possibilities are endless!
Refrigerate the carved chicken right away in an airtight container. Use within 3 to 4 days for the best flavor and food safety. The picked meat can also be frozen for longer storage. Portion it into reusable containers or bags to make it easy to thaw just what you need.
Roast a Juicy Bird Every Time
METHOD 1: OVERNIGHT DRYING WITH SALT
In proper roast chicken speak, showering the bird with salt and letting it chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days, is referred to as air-drying or dry-brining—an easy technique that many cooks use to achieve a crispy-skinned bird. For this method the chicken is placed on a cooling rack (the same kind you use to cool a pan of brownies or a pie) set into a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips (a V-rack set into a roasting pan is also a good way to go), then sprinkled very generously with salt (a full tablespoon for a four-pound bird).
The hands-on work to dry brine takes less than 10 minutes, and it pays the cook back in crispy chicken spades. While I slept; leisurely prepared a pot of Chemex-brewed coffee; ate my breakfast; knocked out a load of laundry; and took my dog Jasper for a nice long stroll, the salt I had liberally seasoned my chicken with was hard at work, not only flavoring the meat of the bird but also—with the help of the refrigerator’s cool air circulating around it—drying the exterior of the skin. And the drier the skin is before it goes into the oven, the more crispiness and caramelization you’ll get while roasting.
After an 18-hour dry brine, the skin of my chicken had visibly tightened up and the flesh was pinker in parts; the salt was doing its work. I roasted that first chicken in a cast iron skillet at 450°F for a little less than an hour, during which I tackled a second load of laundry, leaving the bird undisturbed, as chef Thomas Keller would do. As he explains in his much-lauded favorite roast chicken recipe, basting or otherwise disturbing the bird while it roasts creates steam, and steam moistens and effectively de-crisps skin.
My kitchen was a little smoky from the high-temp roast, and the intensity of the crispiness died down a bit after the chicken rested, but this bird was deeply flavorful, with well-blistered skin that maintained a decent crackle. Later I tried roasting the same salted and air-dried chicken at a lower temperature, and while the process produced less smoke, my bird was significantly less crispy. The lesson here: for crispy skin, stick with a high-temp roast.
METHOD 2: OVERNIGHT DRYING WITH SALT AND BAKING POWDER
It was my editor who suggested I use a mixture of salt and baking powder to dry brine the bird, a technique I hadn’t heard of but quickly made sense. With its slight alkaline level, baking powder reacts with the proteins in chicken skin, accelerating the dehydration process, which—as we learned above—produces a nice, crisp skin. Pulling this chicken from the oven after a high-temp roast, I was thrilled: the blistered skin was intensely golden and crisp. I tore off a piece from the bird’s tail end; it made an audible crackle when my jaws closed upon it. But after a 15-minute rest, the skin had lost a good bit of its snap and, texture-wise, it was unpleasantly leathery. Perhaps there was another way to use the baking powder and salt mixture, yet maintain both deliciousness and crunch.
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FAQ
How to roast a chicken so it stays moist?
Truss the legs of the bird
It’s a little fussy, but trussing a chicken has an important effect on the finished product: when the wings and legs are tucked in close to the body, the end of the drumstick covers part of the breast, making sure it stays moist and helping the chicken cook evenly.
How to stop a roast chicken from drying out?
Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and a little ground black pepper. Using a sharp knife, carefully prick a lemon all over and put the lemon inside the cavity of the chicken (with the remaining stuffing). This will help keep the bird moist as it cooks.
How to cook a whole chicken so it doesn’t dry out?
Butter: Butter locks in moisture and gives the seasonings something to adhere to. Celery: Stuff the chicken cavity with celery for subtle vegetal flavor. Plus, the celery will release even more moisture as the chicken cooks.
How to keep chicken moist when baking in the oven?
To keep chicken moist and juicy, cook it at a lower temperature in the oven, at 350°F after searing each side. Be careful not to overcook which will make it dry. Bake until the internal temperature just reaches 165°F. Don’t forget to rest your meat for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it.