One Pan Chicken & Garlicky Rice

4 from 1 vote

A simple, delicious and comforting one-pan meal of golden and crispy roast chicken and garlicky rice.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 20

Course: dinner, Main Course, midweek dinner

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Prep chicken: Pat the chicken skin dry with paper towel and generously season with kosher salt all over, not forgetting the cavity. If time allows, place the chicken into the fridge uncovered over night. This step acts like a dry brine for juicy chicken results.
Bring chicken to room temp: When ready to roast, remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes prior to take the fridge chill off.
Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 355°F / 180°C.
Stuff & truss chicken: Using a sharp knife, slice the top off the garlic bulb, about 2–3 cm down from the top, to expose the cloves, then place in the cavity of the chicken with the lemon and fresh herbs. Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen string as this will help the chicken cook evenly.
Roast chicken: Transfer the chicken to a baking tray with a wire rack. Season the chicken with pepper and drizzle olive oil all over. Massage into the skin. Bake for 1hr 20mins or until the chicken is cooked through and golden all over.
Bake rice: Transfer the chicken from the baking tray to a chopping board and remove the lemon and garlic from the cavity. Squeeze the garlic cloves and lemon juice into the baking tray. Add the rice and chicken stock to the baking tray and stir through to combine all ingredients. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
Serve: Carve the chicken and serve with the rice and tzatziki.

Squeeze cucumber: Grate the cucumber and place into a tea towel. Give it a big squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible.
Mix: Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

The perfect roast chicken

Brine. Salt your chicken at least an hour if not the night before and leave uncovered in the fridge as this will act as a dry brine and leave you with moist and juicy meat
Room temp. Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 30 mins before roasting it so it cooks evenly
Pat dry. Remove as much moisture from the chicken as possible by patting the skin dry with paper towels
Stuff the cavity. Anything you stuff into the cavity of the chicken will seep into the pan while cooking and create the most delicious jus. You can stuff it with anything you like from citrus and garlic to herbs and vegetables.
Season generously. The more seasoning the better but this doesn’t mean you have to use a variety of seasoning! Just Olive oil, salt and pepper can create the most delicious chicken you will ever eat.
Truss – tie up the legs of the chicken. Not only will this help the chicken cook more evenly, it will also lift the thigh meat off the bottom of the pan and help create a golden skin.
Leave to rest. Allowing the meat to rest will allow all of that flavour to combine and for the juices to be redistributed across the meat – resting meat is very important and it needs to be done for at least 10 minutes.
Use a roasting tray rather than a casserole dish to help the chicken skin crisp up properly.

Rice

I like to use a long-grain rice such as basmati or jasmine. They stay fluffy and separate as they cook, while still soaking up all those gorgeous pan drippings and roasted garlic without turning mushy.