Dutch Oven Whole Chicken

oval baking dish with a whole chicken and vegetables.

Learn how to cook a whole chicken in a cast iron dutch oven with minimal prep and maximum flavors. This easy healthy chicken dinner is cooked alongside garlic cloves, onions, carrots, and parsnips. The meat comes out juicy and flavorful with crispy chicken skin.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2

Resting Time 10

Total Time 2 20

Servings

Calories 816kcal

Author Katie

Equipment

1 Dutch Oven
1 Silicone Brush
1 Bowl
2 Oven
1 Cutting Board
1 Carving Knife

Ingredients

5 pound Whole chicken
1 lemon halved
3 Onions divided
8 garlic cloves
4 Parsnips peeled and cut
8 Carrots peeled and cut
1 stick Salted Butter
2 teaspoons House Seasoning
1 teaspoon Paprika
½ cup Unsalted Butter softened and divided
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and arrange the rack in the middle of the oven.
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with a few garlic cloves, 1 onion, and a lemon halved.
Arrange remaining garlic, onions, carrots, and parsnips on the bottom of a 5-6 quart oven-safe baking dish to create a bed. Place chicken on top, brush the chicken with half the softened butter.
In a bowl mix together the house seasoning and paprika. Then sprinkle the seasoning on top of the chicken. Massaging onto the skin of the chicken so the seasoning is coated all over the chicken.
Add broth to baking dish. Cover and roast until chicken reaches 135 to 140 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour.
Remove foil, brush chicken with pan juices, and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Roast, basting occasionally with remaining butter (melted), until temperature of chicken on inner thigh is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, skin is golden brown, and juices run clear, about 30 to 40 additional minutes more.
Let the whole chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. Carve chicken and serve each portion with 1 head of garlic and pan sauce.

Notes

Seasoning - Don't feel that you have to stick to the seasoning blend I used on this recipe. You can use whatever blend you would like, just remember the vegetables will take on the blend too. So you could have a completely different taste then what this recipe was intended to be like.
Smaller Portion - Cooking for say, just two and don't want a lot of leftovers? You can roast a half chicken by splitting the whole chicken in half (make sure to remove the backbone). Cooking time will be almost half of what a whole chicken takes to cook.
Vegetables - I have found that any root vegetable works best for the slow roasting in the oven. You can always add potatoes to this blend as well as Brussels sprouts make for a great addition.
Meal Prep - Looking to meal prep either lunches or dinner for the week? This is the perfect recipe to do so. Roast the chicken and vegetables, let cool, then cut meat, divide and package.
Chicken Gravy - To make gravy from the juices, remove everything out of the Dutch oven. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water. Bring the juices to a simmer over medium heat, begin to whisk in the cornstarch slurry until gravy is at desired consistency (about 5-7 minutes). Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired.

Calories calculated are not always accurate. Ingredients used and serving sizes will vary on calories of a dish.

Nutrition