Really easy roast chicken
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Really easy roast chicken

By Barney Desmazery

Kids can help prepare this roast complete with carrots and potatoes, plus assist in making the lemony gravy to serve on the side.

  • Prep:25 mins
    Cook:1 hrs 20 mins
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 689
  • fat 36g
  • saturates 13g
  • carbs 37g
  • sugars 8g
  • fibre 6g
  • protein 53g
  • salt 1.4g

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, about 1½ kg
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • thyme or rosemary sprig, if you have it
  • 50g soft butter
  • 800g very small salad potatoes, such as Charlotte, halved if you can only find large ones
  • 350g small Chantenay carrots, or 3-4 regular carrots. cut into chunks
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp low-salt soy sauce

Tip

What kids learn from making Really easy roast chicken

Roasting: At its most basic, roasting is nothing more than putting something in the oven to cook. Seeing the process happen from start to finish gives a child a greater understanding of how so many family meals end up cooked and on the table. Using the oven: As there is no direct flame, using the oven is the first way kids will progress to cook alone. It’s good for them to know how it works and how hot it can get – if your oven has a clear glass door, then they can even watch things as they cook.

Method

  1. KIDS: The writing in bold is for you. ADULTS: The rest is for you. Cut the string off the chicken. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Get your child to use a pair of scissors to cut the elastic or string holding the chicken together.

  2. Stuff the chicken. Stuff the lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken with the garlic and herb sprig (if using).

  3. Time to get your hands mucky. Sit the chicken in a large roasting tin and use your hands to smear the butter all over it.

  4. Easy-peasy vegetables. Tip the carrots and potatoes into a large bowl, drizzle over the oil and toss everything together with your hands.

  5. Scatter the vegetables around the chicken. Scatter the vegetables in an even layer around the chicken, then season everything. Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and give the vegetables a stir, reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then return to the oven for 50 mins more.

  6. Test if the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the oven. Using a cloth, pull the leg – if it easily comes away from the body, there is no sign of pink and the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked. If you have a digital cooking thermometer, it should read above 70C. Take the chicken out of the tin.

  7. Make a lemony sauce. Scoop the vegetables into a serving dish. Using a spoon or a pair of tongs, remove the garlic, lemon and herbs from the chicken and put them in the roasting tin. Squash them down well with a potato masher to release all the juice from the lemons.

  8. Strain the sauce. Pour in the chicken stock and soy sauce and give it all a good stir. Get the child to hold a sieve over a jug while you lift up the pan and strain the juices into the jug. If you want it piping hot, reheat in a pan or in the microwave.

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