Cook Well for Less

Roast Chicken Dinner

A proper roast chicken dinner with crispy roast potatoes, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, vegetables and gravy. A whole chicken gives you dinner tonight plus cooked chicken for another meal or two, amazing sandwiches over the next few days, or simply chicken and chips. Once you’ve picked the chicken, the carcass can go straight into Simple Chicken Stock.

Prep
20 mins
Cook
100 mins
Total
120 mins
Difficulty
easy
Serves
2
Illustration: Carved roast chicken, roast potatoes, stuffing balls, two Yorkshire puddings, carrots, peas and gravy
Cook Well for Less · AI-generated pencil and watercolour illustration

Get ready

Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 1 whole chicken, about 1.4–1.6 kgOne whole chicken is the fixed recipe input and provides leftovers.
  • 500g white potatoescut into roast-potato-sized pieces
  • 85 g sage and onion stuffing mixprepared according to the packet instructions
  • 4 frozen Yorkshire puddings
  • 2 medium carrotspeeled or scrubbed and sliced
  • 150g frozen peas

Optional extras

  • 200 g parsnipscut into roasting pieces
  • 160 g broccolicut into florets
Equipment
  • roasting tin for chicken
  • roasting tin or baking tray for potatoes
  • saucepan
  • small ovenproof dish or baking tray for stuffing
  • chopping board
  • knife
  • colander

Cook

Method

  1. Heat the oven

    Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6, unless the chicken packaging gives different cooking instructions.

  2. Start the chicken

    Put the chicken in a roasting tin. Rub the skin with half the oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast according to the weight and the instructions on the chicken packaging.

  3. Prepare the potatoes

    Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 8–10 minutes, then drain well. Give them a shake in the saucepan to rough up the edges.

  4. Roast the potatoes

    Put the remaining oil in a roasting tin or baking tray. Add the potatoes, turn them in the oil and season with a little salt. Roast for about 50–60 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden and crisp.

  5. Make the stuffing

    Prepare the stuffing according to the packet instructions. Shape it into stuffing balls or put it into a small ovenproof dish, then cook according to the packet instructions so it is ready with the chicken.

  6. Cook the carrots

    Boil or steam the carrots for about 10–15 minutes, until tender.

  7. Check the chicken

    Check the thickest parts of the chicken before serving. The meat should not be pink, the juices should run clear and the chicken should be steaming hot throughout. If it is not ready, return it to the oven and check again after another 10–15 minutes.

  8. Rest the chicken

    Take the cooked chicken from the oven, loosely cover it and leave it to rest for about 15 minutes while you finish the rest of the dinner.

  9. Finish the vegetables and Yorkshire puddings

    Cook the peas according to the packet instructions. Heat the frozen Yorkshire puddings according to their packet instructions so they are ready at the same time as everything else.

  10. Make the gravy

    Make about 300 ml gravy with the gravy granules and boiling water according to the packet instructions. Add some of the chicken juices from the roasting tin if you like.

  11. Serve

    Carve enough chicken for two people and serve with the roast potatoes, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, peas and gravy. Leave the remaining chicken on the carcass until you are ready to pick it for leftovers and stock.

  12. Pick the chicken

    After dinner, remove all the usable chicken from the carcass, including the smaller pieces around the legs and underneath the bird. Cool and refrigerate the leftover meat promptly in a covered container. Keep the picked carcass for Simple Chicken Stock and, ideally, make the stock straight away while the kitchen is already in use.

Use what you've got

Easy swaps

  • ParsnipsUse instead of, or as well as, one of the standard vegetables.
  • BroccoliUse instead of, or as well as, peas or carrots.

For later

Storing and using leftovers

Storage

Cool leftover cooked chicken promptly and refrigerate it in a covered container. Confirm the final storage period during food-safety review. Reheat cooked chicken until piping hot throughout when using it in a hot meal.

Freezing

Leftover cooked chicken may be suitable for freezing once cooled; confirm final freezing, defrosting and reheating guidance during food-safety review.

Ideas

Use the picked chicken for sandwiches, chicken and chips, a stir-fry, curry, pasta, fried rice, soup or another quick dinner.

Community

Ratings and comments

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