French Roast Chicken Recipe

Felicity Vincent
Mar 20, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Aug 1, 2024

Poulet rôti à l'ail

My no-fail roast chicken recipe for this french Sunday classic

As a rule of thumb, a chicken should cook for 15 minutes + 20 minutes per pound. I was told this on repeat growing up so I now always need to convert the chicken's weight from kilos to pounds. The secret to a juicy breast if you're not spatchcocking is to frequently turn the chicken so it gets around 30 minutes on each side. For a crispy skin baste regularly or put butter under the skin preheat the oven to max then turn it down to 180°C once you've put the chicken in for a first 5 minutes.

Garlic roast chicken, crispy potatoes and salad

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 chicken (approx 1.5 - 1.8kg)
1 head of garlic + 4 cloves
30g parsley
125g salted butter, softened
2 sprigs of rosemary
200g sourdough bread (stale)
4 large potatoes
1 salad
Salt & pepper

Vinaigrette

1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbs EVOO
Salt & pepper

Method: (see videos below)

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Crush 2 garlic cloves and mix them into the softened butter.
Dry the chicken with a paper towel then using the back of a tablespoon, create a gap between the breast and the skin. Stuff the garlic butter in that gap using your fingers and massage the butter under the skin until both breasts are covered. Use the remaining butter to top the legs and wings. Generously cover the chicken with salt and pepper. Then stuff the cavity with what remains of the head of garlic, the parsley stems and a sprig of rosemary.
Putting butter under the skin will have created a hole where the spoon was inserted, to avoid the butter and juices running straight out, close the hole a bit by sticking a rosemary sprig through it.
Slice the stale bread into chunky pieces and rub them with half a clove of garlic.
Stuff some of the bread into the cavity of the chicken, leaving a bit of a gap.
Tie the legs together using butcher's twine.
Place the chicken on a wire rack with a tray underneath and then put it in the oven. After 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 180°C, then flip the chicken every 30 minutes to ensure the breasts don't overcook.
Peel and dice the potatoes. When there is 40 minutes left of cooking time for the chicken, remove it from the oven and fill the tray with the potatoes, garlic cloves and remaining bread, then place back in the oven.
When the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes + 20 minutes per pound, remove it from the oven and set aside to rest uncovered for another 20 minutes while the potatoes finish browning. The chicken will stay warm, do not worry. If you want to check the chicken is cooked, insert the tip of the knife under the leg and check the juices are running clear (i.e. there is no blood in the juices)
Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients and dress the salad.
Once the potatoes are nicely golden all over, remove them from the oven and carve the chicken for serving. I have a video below showing an easy way to carve a whole chicken. Serve with the bread and garlic stuffing, the crispy potatoes and mustardy salad.
Enjoy this roast chicken recipe with friends and family on a Sunday or any other day, bon appétit!