Sunday Roast Chicken with vegetables and bread stuffing

During the colder months of the year, a chicken is all but certain to be roasting in the oven in my house on a Sunday afternoon. It's an unofficial family tradition that was passed down from great grandmother, to my grandma, and off to my mom. Like all good family traditions, they never seem to end and I'll gladly continue roasting a chicken for many Sundays to come. Roasted to perfection over a bed of root vegetables and a savory bread stuffing that is always my favorite part of the meal.

3-4 pound oven roasting chicken 

4 tablespoons of butter

2 medium onions

2 stalks of celery
Fresh Thyme

1 pound of carrots 

Fresh parsley

2 cups of chicken stock

5 cups of fresh bread cubes

1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

Teaspoon of paprika 

4 tablespoons of flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter with a drizzle of olive oil in a small skillet. Once the butter is completely melted, add your chopped onion, celery, and the leaves of 1 sprig of fresh thyme and cook for 5-7 minutes. What we want here is for the onions and celery to become tender but not brown, this is called sweating and differs from sautéing in that we aren't looking to achieve any color. Once the celery and onions are tender, remove from the heat and add to the bowl of fresh bread cubes. Mix together with the egg, poultry seasoning, and begin adding the chicken stock. Add the chicken stock little by little until the stuffing is moist but not mushy and Set aside.

In a large roasting pan - add a sliced onion, carrots, ans fresh thyme sprigs into the center of the pan. Group them together to form a bed that we'll place the chicken on to sit as it roasts in the oven. Pour one cup of chicken stock (and any leftover from the stuffing) and an optional splash of white wine into the pan.

Rinse your chicken in the sink with cold water removing any of the giblets that may be stuffed inside the cavity. Place your chicken onto a cutting board away from anything that could possibly become contaminated. Taking a few paper towels or a kitchen towel, pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the top of the chicken with a touch of olive oil and sprinkle over the paprika. Rub the oil and the seasonings together. Insert our bread stuffing into the cavity of the chicken. Place the chicken into the roasting pan over the bed of vegetables and fresh thyme. Cover tightly with tin foil. The foil will act like a tent trapping the liquid in which will steam the chicken to help the cooking process and to keep the chicken most. Put the chicken into the oven and begin roasting for an hour and a half minutes.


After the hour and a half has gone by, remove the foil and continue roasting the chicken uncovered. Taking the foil off now will help the skin get crispy and golden brown. Roast until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Chicken should register between 170 to 180 on a meat thermometer. Once done, remove to chicken from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes to let the juices of the chicken absorb back into the meat. Place the chicken onto a carving board and remove the stuffing from inside. Place the vegetables from the bottom of the pan in a serving bowl and you'll be left with the pan drippings that we'll use to make our gravy. Place the roasting pan back into the hot oven with the drippings.

Mix the 4 teaspoons of flour with about a cup of very cold water. An old jar or a tuberware container with a lid are perfect for this so you can shake the flour and water together until all the lumps of flour are gone. Whisk the flour mixture into the drippings until it begins to thicken. Leave in the oven to keep warm while you carve the chicken.

Finally our Roast Chicken meal is ready to come together! A side of stuffing, our roasted vegetables, juicy roast chicken, and the gravy to go with. Of course a side of Mashed potatoes never hurt this meal!