13 Great Ways with Roasted Chicken

A quick brine gives these two roast chickens a lot of flavor and moistness without much effort. You’ll need kitchen twine and a cooling rack that fits inside a roasting pan.

Recipe: Roast Chicken with Herbs

This dry rub works well with our Ultimate Roast Chicken or Best Last-Minute Roast Chicken recipes because it keeps the skin crisp. Serve with Crispy Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus.

For the French Herb rub, combine 2 tbsp. each coarsely chopped fresh tarragon leaves and chives; set half aside. In step 2, distribute half the chopped herbs in chicken pockets. When chicken comes out of the oven, brush with a small amount of pan juices, then scatter remaining herbs over it.

Recipes:

Ultimate Roast Chicken

Best Last-Minute Roast Chicken

Ingredients from several dishes at Troya in San Francisco come together to inspire this easy yet exotic meal.

Recipe: Coriander and Sumac Roast Chicken with Chickpeas and Hazelnuts

We took the flavors of a Western classic, Cantonese crispy chicken, and put them in a brine to produce a succulent texture and meat infused with complex seasonings. Serve with Pan-Roasted Sesame Vegetables.

For the Chinese Star Anise-Orange seasoning, pour 2 1/2 qts. water into a deep pot. Add 1 1/2 cups dry sherry, 2/3 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1 cup coarsely chopped unpeeled fresh ginger, 12 star anise, 4 cinnamon sticks, 2 tbsp. red chile flakes, and zest of 4 oranges or 8 tangerines. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Nest pot in ice water until cool. Discard cinnamon and stir in 2 cups orange juice or tangerine juice.

Accompaniments: Orange or tangerine slices, sushi rice, and green onions cut in 2-in.-long slivers.

Recipe: Best Brined Roast Chicken

This seasoning paste creates a nice crusty coating and a surprising amount of flavor on a last-minute bird.

For the Indian Green Curry paste (adapted from a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s From Curries to Kebabs), use 1/4 cup each chopped fresh ginger and chopped jalapeño chile; 2 tbsp. olive oil; 1 tbsp. lemon juice; 3 large garlic cloves, chopped; and 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin. Whirl in a blender into a smooth paste.

Recipe: Last-Minute Roast Chicken

Recipe: Bengali Five-Spice Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Baked in a very hot oven, the sauce reduces until the panch phoron seeds cling to the chicken and vegetables in chewy nubbins.

We took the flavors of a Western classic, Mexican rotisserie chicken, and put them in a brine to produce a succulent texture and meat infused with complex seasonings in addition to salt.

For the Mexican Tropical Chile seasoning, pour 1 qt. water into a deep pot. Add 2/3 cup kosher salt and warm over high heat, stirring, until salt dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in 2 qts. cold water; 10 large garlic cloves, crushed; 1/4 cup ground ancho chiles; and 2 tbsp. dried Mexican oregano. Nest pan in ice water until cool. Stir in zest of 5 large limes, 1/2 cup lime juice, and 2/3 cup thawed frozen pineapple juice concentrate.

Accompaniments: Corn or flour tortillas, cilantro sprigs, lime wedges, and chopped white onion.

Recipe: Best Brined Roast Chicken

This seasoning paste creates a nice crusty coating and a surprising amount of flavor on a last-minute bird.

For the Middle Eastern Zaatar paste, use 1/4 cup zaatar*, 2 1/2 tbsp. each olive oil and lemon juice, 2 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, and 3/4 tsp. pepper (in addition to pepper called for in recipe). *Find this spice blend based on thyme and sesame seeds in well-stocked markets or at worldspice.com

Recipe: Last-Minute Roast Chicken

This seasoning keeps the skin crisp, making it a great choice for our Ultimate Roast Chicken or Best Last-Minute Roast Chicken recipes.

For the Mediterranean Coriander dry rub, combine 2 tbsp. coarsely ground coriander seeds (grind in a spice grinder or mortar), zest of 1 lemon, and 3 tbsp. olive oil. In step 2, smear some mixture in pockets and the rest all over outside of chicken.

Recipes:

Ultimate Roast Chicken

Best Last-Minute Roast Chicken

We challenged our readers to come up wth a tasty dinner recipe using chicken, feta, and tomatoes. The catch? It had to be ready in 45 minutes or less. Reader Jennifer Wren Stoicheff won the grand prize with this delicious meal.

“It’s great to be able to have the flavor of a roast chicken dinner in less than 45 minutes”, she says.

Recipe: Roast Chicken with Arugula Tomato Salad

Nothing says Sunday dinner like the smell of roast chicken ― this version is jazzed up with a simple gravy accented with sweet Meyer lemons and roasted shallots.

Recipe: Roast Chicken with Meyer Lemon Shallot Sauce

Consider this basic recipe a blank palette on which to layer flavors--herbs under the skin and in the body cavity, other seasonings with the salt and pepper over the skin, or embellishments to the pan juices afterward.

Recipe: Our Favorite Roast Chicken

Earthy mushrooms and smoky bacon pair with succulent chicken breasts and fresh thyme.

Recipe: Pan-roasted Chicken on Bacon-Mushroom Ragout