A whole chicken, lots of grainy mustard, a good glug of wine, fresh leeks and garlic — this rustic, whole roast chicken recipe just screams French country cooking at its most elegant and most simple. First, you’ll rub a beautiful whole chicken all over with a mustard-and-garlic sauce, and yes, it will flavor the skin a bit. But, it’ll also drip off the whole chicken as it roasts, and mingle in the pan with pan juices and flavor the potatoes and leeks that are nestled underneath. As the chicken rests, a little cold butter stirred into the leeks and potatoes will magically make everything creamy and gorgeous — you can serve them all up as-is (leeks, potatoes and chicken count as dinner for sure) or you can whip up a quick salad on the side. If you want an even simpler whole chicken recipe, try our ultra-simple Whole Roast Chicken, Spatchcocked Grilled Chicken or our super basic Skillet-Roasted Chicken with Cabbage.
Key Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 whole chicken: We suggest looking for a 4-5 pound chicken, and don’t assume that bigger is better. Ina Garten famously argued that smaller is better (within reason) when it comes to making roast chicken, because younger chickens are more tender and because if it’s smaller, it’ll cook a bit more evenly.
- Leeks: Always give leeks a really good rinse after you chop them — they can get sneaky bits of grit stuck between their leaves.
- Lemons: A little lightness amidst all those rich and roasty flavors, this recipe is all about a perfect little dance happening between classic flavors.
- Wine: Use a good, dry white wine that you’d be happy to drink because after all, you’ll probably want to drink a glass of white wine with your roast chicken feast!
- New potatoes: Look for small, waxy potatoes like baby Yukon golds. They’re so buttery and perfect with this dish, and they cook to perfection in the skillet.
For the mustard sauce:
- Mustard: Whole grain mustard is one of our favorite ingredients for making a dish feel just a little fancy. Bursting with flavor and texture, it’s at the heart of what makes this recipe work.
- Olive oil: We like extra virgin olive oil best and reach for it ALL the time, but you could use regular olive oil here in a pinch.
- Cider vinegar: with lots of butter, rich chicken drippings, and sweet leeks, this recipe needs the sharpness of mustard and vinegar to balance it all out.
- Brown sugar: Either light or dark brown sugar is fine — you just want a little brown sugar also brings some balance, and emphasizes the natural sweetness of the leeks. If you really fear sugar, it’s OK to skip it in a pinch.
- Fresh garlic: Who even makes roast chicken without garlic? We would never.
How To Make Roast Chicken
- Put the leeks, garlic, olive oil and wine in a large cast-iron skillet or braiser. Top them with a layer of lemon slices.
- Next comes the whole chicken! You don’t have to truss it, but many people believe that trussing the chicken — tying the legs together with kitchen string and tucking the wing tips under the body of the chicken — helps it cook more evenly. If you want it trussed and don’t want to mess around with it yourself, try asking your butcher to truss it for you.
- Make the mustard sauce and rub it all over the chicken.
- Nestle the potatoes (dressed with oil and salt) all around the chicken.
- Roast the chicken! When it’s done…
- Lift the chicken out of the pan and on to a cutting board so it can rest for about 10 minutes. This rest helps seal in the juices and ensures a super juicy, moist bird.
- Stir the tarragon and cold butter into the leeks and potatoes until the butter is melted. Serve the chicken drizzled with the pan sauce.
How Long To Roast
How long it takes your chicken to roast depends mostly on the size of your chicken. At 375°F, about 15 minutes per pound is the rule for roast chicken and we generally abide by it. But, an overcooked chicken is a dry chicken, so to avoid that, we suggest that you start checking for doneness about 20 minutes before your timer tells you the chicken is done. The USDA suggests checking the internal temperature of your roast chicken in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast to confirm doneness — when you see 165 °F on your meat thermometer, get that chicken out of the oven.
Serving Suggestions
With the saucy potatoes and leeks, this is nearly a one-pan dinner. For close friends and family, you could probably get away with just serving a big crusty loaf of bread on the side and calling it a day. However, for company or a bigger crowd, serve it with:
More Elevated One-Pan Chicken Recipes
How’d They Like It?
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