Jamie Oliver’s 5-Ingredient Roast Chicken Is the Cozy Recipe You’ll Make All Winter

Having a roast chicken for dinner feels special, but it’s a surprisingly easy dish to pull off. True, it does take time to roast, but birds that range from 3 1/2 to 5 pounds won’t take nearly as long as something like a Thanksgiving turkey. Then, while the chicken is in the oven, you’re free to make sides, read a book, or get other things done. Keep the prep simple, and a roast chicken supper is quick enough to add to your regular dinner rotation.

I love Jamie Oliver’s approach to classic comfort foods like this. He uses just a couple of fresh, quality ingredients to create a flavorful dish without a lot of fuss. His five-ingredient Pot-Roast Chicken is a great example. Roasted with potatoes and garlic, the finished chicken is topped with a vibrant, herby sauce that you can make in a minute.

What I Love About Jamie Oliver’s Recipe

I appreciate that Oliver’s Pot-Roast Chicken is a one-pot dish, prepared in a casserole dish or Dutch oven that can go from stovetop to oven. He sears the chicken first for a golden brown skin (which is also Julia Child’s trick for a more flavorful pot roast). The rest of the ingredients go into the pot with some water, creating a flavorful braising liquid for the chicken. Oliver’s list of ingredients is gloriously short, but his choices add more than enough flavor.

How I Make This Pot-Roast Chicken

One thing to know about Oliver’s recipes is that he doesn’t include pantry staples in his ingredient list. This recipe calls for five ingredients specific to the dish; then, in the directions, he asks for a few others that he expects you to have on hand.

Here are the ingredients converted from Oliver’s metric measurements:

• 1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken (free range, if possible)
• 2 pounds potatoes
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 1 bulb garlic
• 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts

You’ll also need these pantry staples:

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

After rubbing the whole chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper, I found that it took just a few minutes per side to sear it in the pot set over high heat. Then, the chicken comes out so that the potatoes can briefly simmer in the pot with water, parsley stems, and a whole bulb of garlic. This recipe was the first time I’ve ever added a whole intact bulb of garlic to something!

The chicken goes back in on top of the potatoes, then the whole pot goes into the oven to roast. The smallest chicken I could find was about five pounds, so the roasting time was a little longer than Oliver's estimate of an hour and 15 minutes.

I like how fast it is to make the punchy sauce: Mince up fresh parsley, then stir it together with olive oil, hazelnuts, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the finished chicken, along with the perfectly softened garlic from that bulb. 

The dish is a really unique and delicious combination of simple, savory chicken with the strikingly fresh flavor of the parsley and garlic. Hazelnuts give it nuttiness and a hint of sweetness. 

Tips For Making Jamie Oliver’s Roast Chicken

• Adjust the roasting time. Plan for about 20 minutes per pound of roasting time. When done, the meat should be 165°F on a digital thermometer.
• Stuff the cavity of the chicken. Oliver leaves the cavity of the chicken empty, but if you like, you can add quartered onions or lemons for extra flavor and moisture. 
• Use a waxy type of potato. Yukon golds or red potatoes will hold their shape best.
• Find chopped hazelnuts in the baking aisle at the store. You can also swap them out for chopped walnuts or pine nuts in the sauce.