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When it comes to a Sunday supper with the family, there is really nothing quite like a delicious Whole Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy.
This dinner is so darn easy to make and just tastes like good-ole home cooking from the heart. I am a gal that really loves gravy, so I was determined to make an easy and flavorful one to pair with the chicken. This simple pan gravy is made with the juices of the roasted chicken, lots of fresh herbs, and a little white wine. It’s just delightful smothered all over the chicken. I love serving this with some simple mashed potatoes, plus some roasted veggies or a side salad, depending on what I’m in the mood for.
ingredients:
- Whole Chicken
- Head of Garlic
- Large Onion
- Large Lemon
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Rosemary
- White Wine
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
- Arrowroot Flour
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Rosemary
step-by-step:
step one: preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 425°F and position the rack in the middle of the oven.
step two: prep the veggies
Cut 1/4-inch from the top of the head, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. In the bottom of a cast iron skillet or oven-safe skillet, arrange the garlic, onions, and lemon. Be sure that the garlic is face down in the skillet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1½ teaspoons of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Give it a gentle toss and push the contents to the side, making room for the chicken. Be sure that the garlic is face down in the skillet.
step three: prep the chicken
Remove the chicken giblets from the cavity of the chicken and pat the outside dry. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the thyme and rosemary. Place the chicken in the center of the skillet and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, remaining 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
step four: bake the chicken and veggies
Transfer to the oven and roast, basting the chicken every 20 minutes. After 40 minutes, add the white wine to the bottom of the pan, baste the chicken, and reduce the temperature to 375°F. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 more minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh.
step five: let the chicken rest
Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the gravy.
step six: start the gravy
Discard the lemon rinds from the pan. Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of the head into the sauce in the pan.
step seven: whisk the broth and flour
In a small bowl, whisk the chicken broth and arrowroot flour until well combined.
step eight: cook the gravy
Heat the pan over medium heat. While whisking the contents in the skillet, slowly pour in the arrowroot and broth mixture, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Bring the gravy to a simmer.
step nine: add the herbs
Stir in the thyme and rosemary. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce has slightly thickened about 4 minutes.
step ten: season to taste and serve
Taste and add more salt and pepper, as needed.
Remove the gravy from heat and transfer to serving bowl or gravy boat. Carve the chicken and serve with the gravy. Enjoy!
Yes! Spatchcocking is a great way to get really crispy skin and cook chicken even more quickly. But note that because of this, you’ll want to reduce the cook time by quite a bit, depending on the size of your bird.
To make this dish Whole30, you can substitute chicken broth for the white wine. When you make the gravy, finish it off by stirring in the juice of 1/2 a lemon for a little tang/acidity!
For a small gathering when you want a cozy crowd-pleaser, this Whole Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy is a great main dish to make!
want more cozy dinner recipes? try these!
One-Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemony White Beans
Baked Beef and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
One-Pan Salmon with Herb Butter Couscous
Whole Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy
Ingredients
For the Whole Roasted Chicken:
- 3½ pound whole chicken
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 large onion, cut into eighths
- 1 large lemon, quartered lengthwise
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1/2 cup white wine
For the Pan Gravy:
- 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Whole Roasted Chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and position the rack in the middle of the oven.
- Cut 1/4-inch from the top of the head, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. In the bottom of a cast iron skillet or oven-safe skillet, arrange the garlic, onions, and lemon. Be sure that the garlic is face down in the skillet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1½ teaspoons of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Give it a gentle toss and push the contents to the side, making room for the chicken. Be sure that the garlic is face down in the skillet.
- Remove the chicken giblets from the cavity of the chicken and pat the outside dry. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the thyme and rosemary. Place the chicken in the center of the skillet and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, remaining 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
- Transfer to the oven and roast, basting the chicken every 20 minutes. After 40 minutes, add the white wine to the bottom of the pan, baste the chicken, and reduce the temperature to 375°F. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 more minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the gravy.
For the Pan Gravy:
- Discard the lemon rinds from the pan. Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of the head into the sauce in the pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk the chicken broth and arrowroot flour until well combined.
- Heat the pan over medium heat. While whisking the contents in the skillet, slowly pour in the arrowroot and broth mixture, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Bring the gravy to a simmer.
- Stir in the thyme and rosemary. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce has slightly thickened about 4 minutes.
- Taste and add more salt and pepper, as needed.
- Remove the gravy from heat and transfer to serving bowl or gravy boat. Carve the chicken and serve with the gravy. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
HOLY SH!T. The Defined Dish never disappoints, but this was quite literally once of the best things I have made in a very long time from this site + the cookbooks. My husband and I could not stop talking about how good this was! This will forever be our Sunday night dinner. Thank you, Alex!!
*We served this with cauliflower mash + roasted brussels.
So happy you loved it so much, Lauren!!!! The perfect Sunday Supper! 🙂
We cooked two chickens in a roasting pan and then used the same roasting pan on our elongated middle burner to cook the drippings and gravy. Seriously delicious! If you also choose to double up on the chicken, you probably don’t need to double all of the other ingredients. We had a lot of onions and maybe a little more lemon than necessary. A thermometer is really helpful if you have two chickens.
I even had to make an emergency trip to daycare and couldn’t finish the last 20 min at 425′ and it turned out golden and delicious.
I’ll use this method in the future for roasting chickens. Some other recipes make this sound a lot more complicated than it should be.