Give your roasted chicken dinner a flavor upgrade with take-out style orange roasted chicken infused with citrus and ginger!
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Our Sunday dinner tradition
One of the very first things I learned how to cook when I was started making real food a priority in my kitchen was a whole chicken. I started out using a slow cooker because the oven scared me! By the time I started having babies, I was making a whole chicken every Sunday so that I had food to easily eat for the first part of the week. It started a tradition of a whole roasted chicken every Sunday. To this day, a whole chicken dinner is pure comfort food to my crew. Dear momma with littles at home, I promise it is so worth building those flavor memories in your kids! Every time I decide to make a whole chicken dinner for my teenagers, they devour every bite!
A shift in mindset and a fun flavor change up!
Back when that picture was taken, a whole chicken would last a couple of meals in our house. With babies and toddlers in the home, this might be the best way for you to start meal planning! With 2 teenagers and a tween now, a whole chicken is basically one meal, but still so satisfying and nourishing. It’s fun to change up flavor profiles sometimes! This orange ginger combo is straight out of a take-out restaurant with citrus and ginger infused meat that makes every single one of my kids salivate!
How can I make the orange roasted chicken a full dinner?
The oven is already on, so let’s just throw a huge sheet pan of veggies in to roast at the same time! It’s less hands-on time than you think! The chicken will need a good 30 minutes to rest after cooking, and that is when I take the time to roast the veggies. This way, they are piping hot when the chicken is ready to carve.
What are those interesting looking potatoes?!
Murasaki, or Japanese white sweet potatoes, can be found during the fall and winter at some grocery stores. They are deep purple on the outside and have a white flesh. Purple sweet potatoes or regular sweet potatoes will work with this recipe too. I have found the Japanese sweet potatoes most often at Trader Joe’s, but Meijer does carry them sometimes. They have a less earthy taste than sweet potatoes and the same super sweet taste. It’s a fun way to change up nutrients, bring variety to the table, and encourage trying new things with the kids! Murasaki sweet potatoes also make the most incredible mashed potatoes if you think your crew might be into that more!
So let’s get this orange roasted chicken started!
To prepare your whole chicken to have the most flavorful, moist meat, dry brine the bird in salt first. Simply pat dry the chicken and sprinkle the inside and outside of the chicken with sea salt. This will dry out the skin so that it can get crispy, and it also flavors the meat. I like to get my whole chicken salted in the morning so that this dry brine can season the chicken for most of the day. You can put the salt on the chicken anywhere from at least 1 hour in advance up to 1 day.
The Method :: The Orange Ginger Infused Butter
When you are ready to roast the chicken, you can preheat the oven, and prepare the orange ginger butter. Use a spoon to scrape the papery skin off the ginger. Then, use a micro plane to grate the ginger as well as the zest from the orange right into the butter. Use a fork to mix up the orange zest and juice, grated ginger, and some thyme in a small bowl. This flavor packed butter not only gets smeared under the skin of the chicken breasts, but also all over the top of the bird including the legs and wings.
The Method :: Arranging the chicken into the pan
Before you tie up the legs of the chicken with kitchen twine, stuff the cavity with some of the orange quarters. This will infuse the chicken from the inside out. Scatter the rest of the orange quarters as well as the onion slices into the bottom of your cast iron pan, and place the whole chicken on top. I like to use the orange slices to prop the chicken wings right up against the chicken so they are tucked in. Then you can smear the butter under the skin and on top of the bird before roasting.
The Method :: Roasting the Orange Chicken
Once your chicken is all dressed up, it can roast for about an hour. Then, turn the heat down to 350 degrees to finish cooking the chicken through. I like to stop roasting around the 157 degrees mark. As the chicken rests, the temperature will finish raising to the final 165 degrees for a fully cooked chicken. If you wait until the chicken is already 165 degrees in the oven, it will keep cooking and could dry out after taking it out of the oven. I use my Meater thermometer which tells me on my phone when the chicken is ready to pull out. It really takes the guess work out of wondering temp!
Roasting the veggies
Once the orange roasted chicken is done cooking, pop your veggies into the oven to roast. They will need a good 30 minutes to cook, which is the perfect amount of time for the chicken to rest and retain all of it’s juices.
Tell me about that pan sauce!
This sauce takes just minutes to make and trust me when I say it is worth those few minutes! Strain the orange, ginger, chicken-y infused pan drippings from the pan into a small sauce pan. Bring the juices to a simmer and stir in a thickening slurry made from water and tapioca starch. This will make a delicious gravy-like sauce that amps up the flavor even more! PLUS! Those pan drippings are absolutely loaded with gut nourishing gelatin! You can watch it gel up as it cools!
Orange Roasted Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
For the Orange Ginger Chicken
- 1 whole chicken approximately 4-6 pounds
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3 small navel oranges quartered
- 1 medium onion peeled and coarsely sliced
- 1 tsp dried thyme divided
- ¼ cup room temperature butter
- 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2 tbsp juice from the orange
For the Roasted Vegetables
For the Orange Ginger Infused Pan Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch stirred into a few tablespoons of water to make a slurry to thicken the sauce arrowroot, potato starch, or corn starch will work here too
- 2 cups pan drippings from above
- Optional drizzles of honey to taste for more of an orange sauce from a take out restaurant flavor profile
- Sea salt and pepper to taste if needed
Instructions
- Pat dry your whole chicken, and rub 1 tablespoon of sea salt all over the chicken, and inside the chicken. I like to get my whole chicken salted in the morning so that this dry brine can season the chicken, as well as make for a moister chicken. You can put the salt on the chicken anywhere from at least 1 hour in advance up to 1 day. Place the salted chicken on a rack with a pan underneath to catch any juices that run off. You want the skin to dry out!
- When you are ready to roast the chicken, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. I use a cast iron skillet for roasting the chicken, but any baking dish or braiser that fits the chicken works.
- Sprinkle the cavity of the chicken with ½ teaspoon of dried thyme and stuff the cavity with 4 orange quarters. Tie up the legs with kitchen twine.
- Scatter the rest of the orange quarters as well as the onion slices into the bottom of your cast iron pan, and place the whole chicken on top. I like to use the orange slices to prop the chicken wings right up against the chicken so they are tucked in.
- In a small bowl, use a fork to mix up the room temp butter, grated ginger, orange zest, orange juice, and ½ tsp dried thyme. Use a small wooden spoon to lift up and loosen under the chicken skin, and squish a good tablespoon of the butter under the skin, onto each chicken breast. Spread the rest of the orange ginger butter over the skin of the chicken breast, wings, and thighs.
- Roast the chicken at 425 degrees for 1 hour, and then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer registers about 157 degrees (a 4 pound bird might be about done, whereas a 6 pound bird may have to cook another 20 minutes.) As the chicken rests outside of the oven, the temperature will raise to the 165 indicating the chicken is cooked. I use my Meater thermometer during the whole cook, which tells me on my phone when the chicken is ready to pull out. It really takes the guess work out of wondering temp!
- Once the chicken is done roasting, it will need 30 minutes to rest before carving. This is the perfect amount of time to roast the vegetables. Preheat the oven back up to 425 degrees.
- Toss the Japanese sweet potatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tsp of sea salt. Roast for 15 minutes. Add the broccoli florets, and toss with another tablespoon of olive oil and ½ tsp sea salt. Roast the veggies together for another 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- To make the orange ginger infused sauce, strain off the pan drippings from the pan, and bring the drippings to a simmer in a small sauce pan. Add the tapioca starch slurry and whisk until thickened, just a minute or so. You can drizzle in honey to taste, as well as sea salt and pepper.
Notes
- Murasaki, or Japanese white sweet potatoes, can be found during the fall and winter at some grocery stores. They are deep purple on the outside and have a white flesh. Purple sweet potatoes or regular sweet potatoes will work with this recipe too. I have found the Japanese sweet potatoes most often at Trader Joe’s, but Meijer does carry them sometimes. They have a less earthy taste than sweet potatoes and the same super sweet taste. It’s a fun way to change up nutrients, bring variety to the table, and encourage trying new things with the kids! Murasaki sweet potatoes also make the most incredible mashed potatoes if you think your crew might be into that more!
- Halved brussels sprouts work great in place of the broccoli in this recipe. You can cook the brussels sprouts the same amount of time as the sweet potatoes as they will need longer to cook than the broccoli.
