Today I am going to change your life. How do I know it will change your life? Because this simple recipe and cooking technique changed mine.
I remember being younger and seeing my mom make ham and cabbage in this big and bulky pan. I felt like dinner took forevvvvver and I was always starving by the time it was ready. Fast forward 10+ years to when I fell in love with the ever famous Crock-pot® (as did every hard-working and insanely swamped millennial). I just assumed that a slow cooker was the only convenient and easy way to adapt the cooking style of “set it and forget it”. After all, you can go to work, run errands, or go to the gym while your entire dinner is (hopefully) safely cooking away.
One day, Allen and I brought over a whole chicken to his parents that we planned on cooking in their Crock-pot®. I saw someone mention on Pinterest that you could combine a whole chicken, veggies and other good sides and they would be done in about 2 hours. So of course on Penn State game day, that is what we planned to do for dinner. Little did we know that his mom was going to pull out their roaster! I haven’t seen one since like 2005 and I automatically assumed dinner wouldn’t ever be ready in time. It gave me horrible flashbacks.
I am here to tell you friends that I was totally wrong. While I have successfully cooked a whole chicken, veggies, and potatoes in the Crock-pot®, this is where it’s at. The chicken that we cooked that weekend at his parents house was out of this world! AND it only took two hours! Granted, we couldn’t leave the house because of the oven being on, but it cooks in no time. Now I have perfected this recipe and I want to share it with you. The next time your favorite football team is playing, or you just got done working a 10 hour shift like me and you do not feel like preparing dinner, plan to have this!
The preparation for this meal is very easy and quick, so if you did work a long day, it still would not take much effort. One way you can refrain from doing any work on a specific day or evening is preparing the pan the day or night before. If you have a big enough fridge, it is harmless to prepare it and store it overnight. I personally like to cut up the vegetables and potatoes when I meal prep for the week and store them in a Ziploc® bag until the night I roast the meal. That way all I have to do is prepare the chicken, dump in the veggies, add the liquid and spices, and put it in the oven!
We ordered this roaster when we realized how truly amazing the meal tasted! I will definitely be experimenting with more meats and recipes that involve this glorious pan. It is a great and inexpensive investment! Click on the picture to get yours!
***Disclaimer*** It is no surprise that in almost all of my posts I will mention my obsession with Aldi. First, because I have a passion for educating people that you can eat healthy on a budget. Second, because Allen can tell you how much I resisted getting groceries there when we started dating, but my mind was persuaded, so yours can be too. It wasn’t until I started eating fairly healthy that I realized how AMAZING it was (their not so healthy food is baller too). Fast forward to today when I only go to Giant for specialty items and things Aldi does not carry. I digress.
Okay, ready to get started?! At Aldi, they sell whole chickens for about $8. The best is when you get them for $2 off right before they bring in a new shipment! Anyways… for my husband and me, one chicken provides us with at least four meals. I have had it come out to six meals once, or four meals and the leftover chicken was used to make soup. It really does make a lot. The only downside is you have to watch out for bones. The preparation for the chicken is very easy. If you get the kind with the bag of gizzards inside (as my Poppy calls them), you just remove it and wash the chicken out. Wash the entire chicken and pat it dry with some paper towels. The chicken can then be placed in the middle of the roasting pan and covered with the EVOO, lemon juice, and spices.
The second major ingredient is potatoes. You can add any kind that you prefer, or a mixture of a few kinds. I used stay away from white potatoes due to their high starch content, but it wasn’t until my first Whole30® that I learned they are actually okay for you (on the Whole30® I ate so many potatoes they were coming out my eyeballs). A five pound bag of Russet potatoes at Aldi is like $5! It is insanely cheap and lasts you for a little while (unless you are on the Whole30® lol). So pick up a giant back of potatoes and get choppin’! Just place them around the chicken evenly in the bottom of the roaster.
Lastly, you can use any vegetable combination you would like. That is the beauty of this recipe: There are so many different options creating so many different flavors! My personal favorite and the one I will be using for the recipe is a mixture of carrots, red and white onions, and cabbage. Sometimes I like to switch it up with mushrooms, zucchini, or yellow squash. Place the veggies randomly on top of the diced potatoes and when they are finished cooking, let me know what YOUR favorite combination is!
I do place about an inch of water in the bottom of the roaster just to add some moisture while it is cooking. I also sprinkle a little of the spices over the veggies and potatoes to give them extra flavor.
Once the oven is finished preheating, it is ready to bake! As much as you want to see how it is doing, I strongly urge you not to check the chicken until at least two hours have passed. Just like a Crock-pot®, if you remove it and take the lid off it slows down the cooking process. When it is finished, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Now get to the grocery store and buy yourself a whole chicken! Not interested in buying a roaster, but you already have a Crock-pot®? Check out the converted Crock-pot® recipe here!
Healthy Roasted Whole Chicken with Vegetables and Potatoes – Quick, Inexpensive, and Whole30® Approved!
Notes
Note: Depending on how well done you like your potatoes (and maybe even the veggies), you may have to put it back in after those two hours. The last two times I have made this it took about 2 1/2 hours until Allen was satisfied with the potatoes 😛
Ingredients
- 3-4lb. whole chicken
- 7-10 white potatoes, washed and diced
- 4 whole carrots washed and coined
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 red onion diced
- 1/2 head green cabbage diced
- 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon halved
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 Tbs. oregano
- 1 Tbs. steak seasoning black pepper, sea salt, red pepper, paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F
- Remove any chicken remains from inside the cavity and wash it out thoroughly; Wash the outside of the chicken and pat dry with paper towels; Place the chicken in the bottom of a roasting pan
- Brush (or spray) chicken with olive oil
- Squeeze 1 half of the lemon over the entire chicken; Set other half aside
- Evenly place potatoes around chicken in bottom of the roasting pan
- Repeat previous step with carrots, onions, and cabbage
- Place about one inch of water in the bottom of the roasting pan, being cautious to not wash the juices off of the chicken
- Squeeze 2nd half of lemon on veggies
- Evenly sprinkle each measurement of the spices over top of the entire chicken, leaving a little of each to sprinkle over the potato and veggie mixture
- Place the roaster oven and let cook for 15 minutes
- Lower oven temperature to 375° F and allow roasting for at least 2 hours (the inside temperature of the chicken should read at least 160° F)
- Carve and enjoy!
Please forgive me, as a whole chicken is not very photogenic, but it does taste good!
♥
I'm a 20-something foodie with a passion for travel. As a self taught chef, I believe food is what brings us together. When I'm not in my kitchen creating recipes, I love connecting with people as I experience cuisines from other cultures. Come join me on my culinary and travel adventures!