If I’m cooking a roasted chicken, the skin HAS to be crispy! My weakness is a crispy chicken skin, loaded with flavor in each bite and nice and crunchy.

I thought of putting together a meal that could be served family style. And doesn’t take too much prep work. Roasting a chicken has to be one of the easiest meals that you can put together! Then sautéing some green beans in a little bit of the residual grease with garlic and butter. Very simple, but extremely delicious!

My son is so picky these days too, eating pretty much chicken whenever he’s in a mood. That’s pretty much the go to protein to get him to eat at this stage in his toddler-hood. It’s to the point where he’ll even eat chicken tenders for breakfast! So these are one of those meals where I know I won’t have a problem getting him to eat!

Prep Tips

Dry Bird

The key to this recipe is keeping the bird as dry as possible, and high heat. The lack of moisture combine will higher heat will keep the steam to a minimum and cause the top of the skin to get nice and crispy!

Trussing

I normally don’t have twine in the house, nor do I have the patience to truss a bird with it. But if you want a bird cooked evenly you need to keep the legs and wings as close to the body as possible.

I’ve learned that the quickest and easiest way to truss a bird is using the extra skin flaps towards the bottom of the breasts near the legs, cut a slit in the skin and use it to hold the legs in. Then just fold the wings back behind the neck like you were making it fold its arms behind it’s head a relax for a nice relaxing get-away in a 450 degree oven!

Cooking Tips

Once you have the chicken in the oven there isn’t much to do, but I like using a skillet. When using a roasting pan at this high of a temperature I experience a lot of smoke. Your mileage may vary.

I Also enjoy the flavor of using some of the residual chicken grease left in the skillet to sauté the green beans to give a nice flavor!

Equipment Used

Here’s the equipment I recommend using for this recipe:

Lodge Cast Iron Skillet

Crispy Herb Roasted Chicken with Sauteed Green Beans

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 4 People

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 whole frying chicken 6-8 lb range
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 clove garlic

Instructions

"truss" the bird

• Set your oven to 450F. Cut 2 1" slits into the excess skin next to the legs of your chicken.
  
• Stick the knuckle of the leg through this slit to keep the legs secured closing next to the body of your chicken. Alternatively you can always traditionally truss the bird 🙂
  

Season and Cook

• Dry off your chicken with paper towls inside and out, keeping it as dry as possible. Lightly coat the skin with butter.
  
• Coat the skin with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Fold the wings behind the body to keep them secured and close to the body.
  
• Place the chicken in a skillet or roasting pan. Place in the oven for 60 minutes or until internal temperature is 160F.
  

Green Beans

• When the chicken is cooked, place on the side, and rinse your green beans.
  
• leave a thin layer of the chicken grease (optional) and melt your butter with 1 chopped garlic clove. Toss the green beans in and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 2 minutes.
  
• I like to make a spoon in the center of the green beans to place the chicken back in the skillet. Then place on the table with some mashed potatoes and let everyone dig in! Enjoy!