Chicken Roast is one of the easiest meals to make! A friend, Rick, who is also a chef, taught me a few tricks to make it even easier. Not only that, but with some more time, you can have homemade chicken broth, which is amazing! This allows you to turn one meal into 3-6 meals!! Who doesn’t love getting the most out of their food budget?!
I’ve taken his recipe and added a few little twists but basically a chicken roast is a chicken roast, right. You can add whatever veggies you like but this is what I used in this recipe.
The Basics of the Chicken Roast
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- 10-15 minutes prep (depending on how many times the kids interrupt)
- 2-2.5 hours to reach 165° F
Ingredients:
- 3 celery ribs – rough-cut into inch-long pieces
- 3 carrots – rough-cut into inch-long pieces
- 2 med–large onions – cut into quarters, then separate rings (leave the skin on)
- 6–8 garlic cloves – smash them with a knife once and then put them skin and all on into the pan
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 large sweet potato
(I add the sweet potato because I love how vitamin-packed sweet potatoes are. Plus, if I’m going to cook a roast, I might as well add extra veggies so our family can enjoy an entire meal.)
Make a mixture of the following:
- Salt to taste (2 parts)
- Pepper to taste (1 part)
- Herbamare (1-2 parts)
(Herbamare is an amazing herb/salt blend that Toni introduced me to years ago. I use it constantly in so many dishes that contain poultry or veggies to enhance the flavor. It’s my not-so-secret ingredient for this recipe.)
Here are the tricks Chef Rick taught me:
1. You can use onions and garlic with the skin on…it’s faster than peeling them off!
2. How to close the chicken legs using the skin instead of string! Tie the legs closed by cutting slits into the fatty skin from the neck and then sliding each ankle of the drumstick through the slit across from it. (I use scissors to make the slits but you could also use a knife.)
These are brilliant tricks.
After you’ve chopped up all the veggies, put them in the 9×11 baking dish (or whatever size dish you have on hand).
Put the chicken breast side down on top of the veggies and fill the inside of the chicken with some of these veggies.
Season the outside and the inside of the chicken with the salt/pepper/herbamare mixture.
Tie the legs closed.
Before you put it in the oven be sure to add the bay leaves and enough water to cover the veggies.
Set the timer for two hours and go enjoy doing something else until the oven dings.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside temperature of the chicken is at least 165° F. If it’s not, then put it back in the oven for up to another 30 minutes.
Once the chicken has reached 165° F, let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes, debone the chicken, then enjoy a lovely chicken roast for dinner.
Chicken Broth Basics
OK, here is where I have to be brutally honest. This homemade chicken broth is so good, I have at times drank anywhere from a cup up to a quart of it by itself. This is the perfect broth to use for soups but also when you are not feeling good and need some good nutrients. It is delicious! So feel free to drink a cup the 1st or 50th time you make it.
- 15 minutes prep
- 1.5-2 hours simmer time
- Optional cool-down period of 30 minutes or stick in the fridge for the next day.
- 15-20 minutes of separating and bagging for the freezer
- Use a large stock pot to simmer the broth
After the table has been cleared, if you have time, now you can make the chicken broth! If you don’t have time, put all the ingredients in the fridge till the next day.
Once your ready to create the broth, decide if you want to add more veggies to the broth. I usually decide this based on how many veggies we ate.
If you want more veggies, then saute the following in coconut oil in your large stock pot:
- 3 carrots
- 3 celery ribs
- onion
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- add a little more pepper, salt, and herbamare to taste
Once the onions are transparent, then add in the following from the leftover chicken roast:
- bones
- leftover veggies
- broth
- then add liquid about an inch from the top of the pot
Bring it to a boil, then put it on low for an hour and a half to two hours.
I recommend letting the broth cool for about 20-30 minutes before trying to separate the bones and veggies from the broth. I’m in the habit now of even popping the whole stock pot in the fridge and coming back the next day to separate everything. If you wait till the next day, you will have to warm it up a little but not so hot that you can’t handle it immediately.
Separating the broth from the bones and the veggies
This part is easy but probably the most time-consuming part. It usually takes me 20-30 minutes, depending on interruptions. I simply put a round colander in an 8-cup Pyrex bowl and ladle the contents of the stock pot into the colander. I have two other large bowls waiting. One to accept the bones and the other to accept the veggies.
I would recommend taking the onion and garlic skins out at this point. If you don’t want to deal with this now, you can choose either to not use the skins in the beginning or to sift them out later.
Don’t Discard the Veggies!
For the first time ever, I decided not to discard the veggies after separating them from the broth but to puree them in my food processor and use it to further my chicken broth. This was a brilliant idea my mother had and I’m so thankful for it. I’ve used this to stretch leftover soups by adding water to it and thinning it out some. Seriously delicious! You could also choose not to thin it out and use it to make a creamier base for a soup.
How many meals am I planning for this one chicken roast to make?
At least six!
So far it has made:
- A chicken roast dinner
- I used some thinned-out veggie puree to extend the life of some leftover turkey mushroom soup
There are so many wonderful dishes that could be made with this but here are some I plan to make:
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Vegetable Pasta Soup
- Potato Soup
- Chicken & Rice Soup
What meals would you make with your homemade chicken broth?
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I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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