Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken

This Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken recipe is a delicious and comforting dish that requires minimal preparation with just a handful of ingredients.

Same as my Rice Stuffed Chicken, it is a very simple yet perfect one-pot dish you may serve for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or as a Sunday roast.

Jump to:

• Why Use a Dutch Oven For Roasting Chicken?
• How to Check if the Chicken Is Cooked?
• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• How to Roast a Whole Chicken in a Dutch Oven?
• Top Tips From the Chef
• How to Use Leftover Roast Chicken?
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Side Dishes For Roast Chicken
• Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken

Cooking a whole chicken in a Dutch oven over a bed of root vegetables is my favorite way to roast a chicken.

It is an amazing way to achieve a moist and flavorful whole-roasted chicken with extra crispy skin.

Why Use a Dutch Oven For Roasting Chicken?

The Dutch oven retains and evenly distributes the heat so it cuts down on the roasting time while keeping the chicken moist and flavourful. 

The sides of the Dutch oven trap moisture, giving you the juiciest roasted whole chicken that you will ever make. 

I use a 7-quart Lodge Dutch Oven with a lid for up to 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of chicken.

It is one of my favorite kitchen tools and I use it for making hearty stews like Kuru Fasulye, Slow Cooked Lamb Tagine With Apricots, and Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas or warming soups like Spiced Butternut Squash Soup and Ezogelin Corbasi (Ezo Gelin Soup). 

I even bake sourdough bread in my Dutch oven, it is so versatile!

If you like roast chicken in a Dutch oven and want something different for your upcoming festive dinner, check out my Rice Stuffed Chicken recipe which is perfect for smaller parties and gatherings.

How to Check if the Chicken Is Cooked?

The best way to check if the chicken is cooked is to use a meat thermometer. Simply insert it into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. The inside temperature of the chicken should be a minimum of 74° C (165° F).

If you don't have a meat thermometer, use a toothpick to check if the chicken is cooked. Pierce it into the thickest part of the chicken and remove the toothpick. If the juice comes out pink, it is not cooked (contains blood). If the juice comes clear, it is cooked.

Why This Recipe Works?

• You need only a few ingredients for this simple whole-roasted chicken dish.

• Roasting the chicken in a Dutch oven makes it perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy inside.

• This recipe is versatile, therefore you can use any vegetables you like to eat with your roast chicken.

• The leftovers are great for making quick weeknight meals such as Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe with White Sauce or Çerkez Tavugu (Circassian Chicken).

• It is a one-pot dish with a minimum washing up.

• Dutch oven Whole Roasted Chicken is simple yet super delicious and impressive enough to serve for your dinner guests.

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

• Chicken - A young, free-range, or Corn fed chicken that weighs between 1.5 kg and 2 kg is ideal for roasting. They are highly flavourful and cook quickly. Always check the best-by date before buying to ensure the freshness of the bird.

• Garlic - Use fresh garlic without peeling. They will release enough flavor for both vegetables and chicken. I use half of the garlic for the cavity of the chicken and the rest for the vegetables.

• Thyme and rosemary - These aromatic herbs go great with roast chicken. You can replace it with oregano or rosemary.

• Olive Oil - Helps the chicken skin crisp and brown easily. You can replace it with butter or vegetable oil.

• Vegetables - You can use cauliflower, parsnip, courgettes, swede, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and potatoes.

• Salt - Use a generous amount of salt for chicken, especially for the cavity and the skin. Salt helps brown the skin and make it crispy.

How to Roast a Whole Chicken in a Dutch Oven?

Making this Dutch oven-roast chicken is surprisingly easy and straightforward. Here are a few simple steps that you need to follow:

Preheat the oven to 180° C (360° F) and then pat dry the chicken with a kitchen towel. Dry skin is the guarantee of a crispy chicken. Prepare the carrots or any other vegetables that you want to cook underneath the chicken. Peel and then cut them into chunks.

Place half of the garlic cloves, vegetables, and thyme in the bottom of your Dutch oven. Add half of the seasoning along with half of the olive oil and mix well.

Massage the chicken all over with the rest of the olive oil, season the cavity and skin with remaining salt and pepper, and place the rosemary along with the rest of the garlic cloves in the cavity.

Cook the chicken in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven and then rest it for a minimum of 20 minutes, covered with tin foil or a lid.

If you want to crisp the vegetables a bit more, place them back in the oven while the chicken is resting.

Top Tips From the Chef

• Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel for perfectly crisped skin. If you have time, leave the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry the skin.

• Take the chicken out of the fridge half an hour before roasting to bring it to room temperature. This will allow the chicken to cook evenly inside and outside. A cold chicken's outside will get dried out by the time the inside is cooked thoroughly.

• Season the cavity of the chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

• You can add aromatics and herbs such as garlic, lemon, rosemary, onion, thyme, or orange for extra flavor.

• Do not wash the chicken, cooking it until the core temperature reaches 74°C (165°F) will kill the bacteria.

• Use the right size Dutch oven, I use a 7-quart round Dutch oven for up to 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of chicken and some vegetables.

• Rest the chicken for a minimum of 20 minutes before carving it.

How to Use Leftover Roast Chicken?

The leftovers of roast chicken are perfect to make a quick weeknight meal or a packed lunch. Here are some recipes you can make with leftover chicken meat:

Cerkez Tavugu - Circassian Chicken, Hot and Sour Chicken Soup, Chicken and Chorizo Pasta, Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta, Turkey Shepherd's Pie, Kumpir - Turkish Baked Potato, Greek Chicken Lemon Soup - Avgolemono Soup, or Perde Pilavi.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious chicken recipes why not try:

Side Dishes For Roast Chicken

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this one-pot dish "Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken" as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂

Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!

This post uses affiliate links. This means that if you click on them and then buy something, we get a small amount of commission to keep the site running, but it doesn’t cost you anything more.