Roast Lemon Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes Recipe

This is a one-pot wonder. Everything gets baked on one tray and the chicken comes out juicy and succulent. I sometimes even add sausages, though they are not a must since you have the meat from the chicken. This Roast Lemon Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes Recipe is easy and put together in moments. The chicken gets stuffed with Lemons and seasoned well, so that you get a nice crispy skin and soft and moist meat. This works well on weekends when you have a crowd over, and I can even see this on your Christmas table as a main dish.

 

Roast Lemon Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes Recipe 

Ingredients

- 2 kg (4.4 pound) whole chicken, rinsed with water and patted dry, organic preferably
- 1/4 cup (30 grams) butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 lemons, organic preferably
- pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C (400 F).
2. Wash and rinse the chicken to clean it completely. Pat with paper towels to dry completely.
3. Spread the butter all over the chicken. Make sure the get inside the cavity as well.
4. Salt and pepper the chicken all over.
5. Wash your hands thoroughly after handeling the chicken, and cut up some potatoes and carrots. Make the size a bit bigger, the chicken will be in the oven for 75 minutes.
6. Place the potatoes and carrots on a baking tray, spread some oil on them and salt (just a bit, they will get a lot of flavor from the chicken)
7. Place the chicken on top of the vegatables.
8. Roast in oven for 75 minutes or until the juices of the chicken run clear and no pink meat shows. If the top of the chicken gets to brown cover it with aluminum foil until the rest of it bakes.

Making Leftovers Right

Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe

I never like to waste anything when it comes to cooking so here is a tip on what you can do with the chicken after you have stripped the meat from it. You can make a great chicken soup by adding some water and vegetables to it. Here is a simple recipe I made (you can add as many vegetables to this as you like. Feel free to experiment):

Ingredients

- 3 liters (12 cups) water
- Chicken carcass (bones and other leftovers from it)
- 1 carrot
- 1 sprig of parsley stems (I usually freeze them after I use the leaves for such an occasion, but if you have whole parsley add it in stead)
- 1 parsnip
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/3 cup soup pasta

Method

1. Place all ingredients (except the soup pasta) in one heavy duty pot.
2. Bring everything to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for an hour.
3. After an hour drain the soup through a colander in a big bowl. Discard the chicken, but pick out the carrots and parsnip.
4. Return the liquid to the pot, add the pasta, mash up the carrots and parsnip and add it back as well.
5. Cook until the pasta is cooked through.
6. Serve warm.

Storing tip: You can freeze the soup in a plastic airtight container after the soup as cooled down completely, and then reheat later.
Chicken Stock tip: Stop after step 3, and add the chicken soup (which is essentially a stock) to a plastic container and use later as fresh stock for risotto and similar dishes. You can freeze it just like the soup.

I hope you enjoyed this somewhat lengtly recipe post, but I just love that fact how far one roasted chicken can go. I save leftover meat for sandwiches, burritos, wraps and other similar dishes. I also posted another recipe today for pink lemonade. If you haven't seen it click here to view it.