I remember one of the first times I had a rotisserie chicken at home. My mom had brought one home from the farmers market…all juicy…spicy…chicken perfection. At one point in time my dad even had a rotisserie for the grill. All delicious, however money and time consuming. Then came the grocery store easy grab rotisserie chicken. Easy weeknight meal right at your fingertips. Except for my family I need about 3 of those in order to feed everyone, and maybe just maybe get a few pieces left to make something for someone the next day for lunch.
A whole chicken is one of our family’s favorite meals. So I needed to figure out a way to imitate the beloved rotisserie chicken while keeping flavor and the budget intact. I learned that I can make a chicken three times the size of the ones ready to go at the local grocery store for half the price it would cost me to get enough to feed everyone by using this simple recipe. And the only thing that would make it better is if chickens had four legs…
This is great to toss in the oven for Sunday dinner and use leftovers for lunches during the week. You can even pop the whole cooked chicken in the fridge and pick off of it all week long…a wrap here, a little chicken salad there… If you’ve never cooked a whole chicken before no worries as long as you have an oven and a large dish you can do this! Nothing fancy required here.
Rotisserie Style Chicken
One whole roasting chicken – size is up to you.
1/2 stick softened butter
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 big pinch of salt
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (if you have it, if not it’s fine without – if you want it spicy add up to 1/2 tsp)
Prepare chicken as per package instructions (some come with the little baggie of mystery parts inside 😉 – remove those and throw them away) MAKE SURE YOUR CHICKEN IS NOT FROZEN! Pat it dry with a paper towel and place in your baking dish. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Separate the skin from the meat of the chicken by running your finger under the skin, you will feel and see it separate.
In a small bowl mix together the butter and all the other ingredients until combined and smooth. Take a good portion (1/2-3/4) and slather it under the skin of the chicken, including the legs. Take the remaining seasoned butter and rub on the skin.
Put the chicken into the pre-heated oven at 450 degrees for 15 min, after 15 min turn the oven down to 350 degrees (don’t take the chicken out of the oven)- 20 minutes per pound to complete the roasting process. If your chicken came with a pop-up timer, take it out when it pops – if not, besides timing it a good rule of thumb is to poke the skin near where the leg meats the breast – if the juices run clear, it’s done! Take it out of the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before cutting to serve! Enjoy!
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