How to Cook a Whole Chicken: Best and Simplest Way Ever!

You're in a rush. You have just over an hour before company arrives, and you want to fill your home with pleasing aromas and have a small feast available. Try this extremely simple whole chicken recipe. It never fails to delight in my home. Remember: a chicken is a small turkey, and a turkey is a large chicken. Both are extremely easy to prepare if you stick to the basics, so you can use these basics for either. (Tonight I did this and the whole thing cost under $3.00!)

Instructions DIFFICULTY: Easy

Things You'll Need:

• Whole chicken.
• Shallow pan.
• Salt.
• Butter.
• Oven.
• OPTIONAL: Water; olive oil; onion; garlic; carrots; rosemary; orange.

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2

Take the chicken out of its trappings; remove giblets; rinse thoroughly; pat semi-dry; cover with a generous amount of salt; spread about 3 tbsp. of butter over it (you can use your hand). Smear a little butter on the bottom of the baking dish (or pan, or even just aluminum foil) and place in center of oven, breast-side up. Add a little rosemary if you like. Cook for about 65 minutes, assuming it's an average-sized chicken. (For anything over 3.5 pounds, add about 8-10 minutes per pound.)

Step 3

Step 2 is really all there is to it! What I usually do, however, is flip on the tube, pour some wine, and then chop up leftover veggies: some onion; carrots; and garlic cloves (all cut up crudely). Then, about 20 minutes into the affair, I add a cup of water to the pan, mix all the trimmings up, and scatter them around the chicken. After that, I drizzle olive oil over the veggies. Very little muss, absolutely no fuss. Voila! You have a warm homey scent in your house, and a meal to boot. Maybe add some parsely or cilantro and some orange slices as a garnish. Bon appetite . . . Enjoy!