Follow these simple, step-by-step directions and you will enjoy a delicious chicken dinner tonight! Bake more chicken than you need for one meal and you can use the leftovers for another dish. Try it cold on a salad or sandwich, add to a soup, a stir fry or mixed with vegetables for a pot pie. You have lots of delicious choices!
This recipe works best with pieces of chicken, not a whole chicken. That’s another recipe and uses a different technique.
First, determine how much chicken you have or want to bake. This recipe is for approximately 5 pounds. Adjust the ingredients and cooking time proportionately if you have more or less chicken.
BAKED CHICKEN PIECESThis recipe works best with pieces of chicken, not a whole chicken. That’s another recipe and uses a different technique.
First, determine how much chicken you have or want to bake. This recipe is for approximately 5 pounds. Adjust the ingredients and cooking time proportionately if you have more or less chicken.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Assemble everything you will need:
Equipment:
Roasting pan
Roasting rack
Tongs
Thermometer
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Cutting board
Knife
Timer
Paper towels
Ingredients:
5 lbs chicken total (if your chicken is whole, cut into pieces)
1 medium onion
1 stalk celery
2 cups water
Olive oil
Non-stick cooking spray
Bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon each:
Garlic powder
Dried sage
Dried thyme
Dried marjoram
Directions:
Thoroughly rinse chicken in water, pat dry. Trim off excess fat and skin.
Coat chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, thyme, marjoram on all exposed areas of chicken.
Cut ends off onion. Cut in half from top to bottom. Cut onion into 12 chunks. Wash celery cut into 5 or 6 large pieces, keeping the leaves.
Place flat roasting rack into bottom of roasting pan. Spray rack and bottom of roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Distribute onion and celery on bottom of roasting pan. Add bay leaf to water. (Discard the onion, celery and bay leaf after baking)
Arrange chicken pieces on rack, skin side up. Pour water into roasting pan.
Put pan into oven and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and cook until internal temperature of a chicken breast reaches 170 degrees or a thigh reaches 185 degrees. Test this with an instant-read thermometer.
The exact amount of time necessary will vary depending on the accuracy of your oven’s thermometer and the size of the chicken pieces. At this time, check the water level in the pan. Add more if necessary to keep it from drying out.
If you do not have an instant-read thermometer, the estimated cooking time is 15 minutes per pound of chicken. Test a piece by piercing it with the tip of a knife and when juices run clear, the chicken is done.
Once the chicken is done cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving. If you serve it right out of the oven, it will be dry and tough.
At this point, you can add your own bar-b-cue sauce to the chicken pieces or hot sauce or asian-inspired sauce or anything you like.Serve with side dishes of mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. Add a green vegetable or salad for a really great, easy dinner!
Use the pan juices to make a simple gravy and pour over your potatoes, rice or noodles.
WHAT CAN GO WRONG:
Over/under seasoned chicken - use just a little at first. You can always add more later, but you can't take any out!
Over/under seasoned chicken - use just a little at first. You can always add more later, but you can't take any out!
Under/over cooked chicken - after testing for doneness, if your chicken is not done, be patient, let it bake a little longer and test again, repeat until done. If your chicken is over done, you might be able to salvage it by chopping it into small pieces for a soup or stew which will add moisture to the meat. But, if the chicken is just burned too much to be edible, well, you now know more about your oven and how much attention you need to devote to the baking process. Relax, it's only food. You can have a do-over!
Chicken sticks to rack - your oven might be too hot and/or you may have not used enough oil on the chicken pieces or non-stick spray on the roasting rack. Carefully and gently pry the chicken from the rack. It will be HOT so use tongs and a hot pad. It's OK if it tears a little, it will still taste just fine.
Water in bottom of roasting pan evaporates during baking - your oven might be too hot; your pan might be too large for just 2 cups of water; the pan was in the oven too long. If your roasting pan is really large, it will need more water at the beginning to last through the entire baking time. Be sure to have at least 1 inch of water in bottom of pan, add more if you are concerned that it will evaporate.
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