A simple and nutritious dinner idea for those busy days when you never thought about what to cook for your family. This roasted chicken can be cooked from frozen in just 1 hour and makes a perfect family meal with a side of vegetables.
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Healthy meals for busy days
Cooking healthy meals from scratch is one of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. The idea of cooking from scratch often can feel overwhelming. But let me tell you a secret. You don’t need to prepare complicated or fancy meals, at least not all the time! A roasted chicken with a side of vegetables is a perfect dinner and one of my favourite easy recipes. It really is as easy as throwing a box of chicken nuggets in the oven but of course much healthier!
To roast a whole chicken in the oven, you can follow the classical way. Prepare your chicken, season it, and roast it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Slice and enjoy it with your favourite vegetable sides! Of course, this requires that you have an unfrozen chicken on hand, and it takes a couple of hours to cook. Let’s be honest, this scenario doesn’t always happen!
In between kids, chores, outings and work, life gets busy and sometimes you just don’t think about dinner. 4 o’clock comes and you need to come up with something. Quick, before your toddler throws the biggest tantrum! You might be tempted to order pizza or run to the store and get a box of chicken nuggets. Stop and let me help you! If you have a whole chicken in your freezer, an Instant Pot and less than an hour of time, this recipe is meant for you!
Serve this delicious chicken with your favourite side of vegetables. I like throwing a couple of sweet potatoes in with the chicken and dinner is served! In this case I served it with roasted butternut squash and potatoes. A perfect grain-free dinner!
Leftovers are delicious for a chicken salad or soup the day after. You can save the chicken bones to make bone broth (read here for my Instant Pot recipe). Nothing goes wasted!
Roasted chicken ingredients
- 1 whole frozen chicken, about 2 pounds
- Sea salt (to taste)
- Garlic (optional)
- Dry or fresh sage, rosemary, or other herbs (to taste)
Roasted chicken instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. If you’re roasting the chicken in a cast-iron skillet or dutch oven, let the pan preheat in the oven as well.
- Take your whole chicken out of the freezer and run it under warm water for a couple of minutes. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Make sure you properly wash your hands and all your surfaces before and after handling poultry!
- Remove excess fat and chicken giblets using kitchen shears, if you can.
- Place the frozen chicken on the Instant Pot rack, breast down. Add a cup of water, close the lid and the valve and set the instant pot on “pressure cooking” (high) for 25 minutes.
- Quick-release pressure and safely open the Instant Pot lid. Take the chicken out and empty its cavity from any excess water, pat the chicken dry, and season it inside and out with salt and your choice of herbs. I love sage and rosemary. You can also place one or two cloves of garlic inside the chicken cavity for extra flavour.
- Place the chicken in the preheated cast-iron skillet, or in a glass oven pan, with the breast down.
- Roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until the skin is crispy. Make sure all juices inside the chicken are clear and the meat is fully cooked. For extra crispy skin, broil for 5 minutes.
Notes
Serve this delicious roasted chicken with your favourite side of vegetables for a healthy family dinner.
Save the chicken carcass and bones for your next batch of bone broth!
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6 Quart Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1
12-inch Lodge cast iron skillet
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Roasted chicken from frozen in just 1 hour
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot pressure cooker
- 1 Cast iron skillet or oven pan
Ingredients
- 1 whole frozen chicken about 2 pounds
- Sea salt
- Dry or fresh sage, rosemary or other herbs and spices optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. If you're roasting the chicken in a cast-iron skillet or dutch oven, let the pan preheat in the oven as well.
- Take your whole chicken out of the freezer and run it under warm water for a couple of minutes. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Make sure you properly wash your hands and all your surfaces before and after handling poultry!
- Remove excess fat and chicken giblets using kitchen shears.
- Place the frozen chicken on the Instant Pot rack, breast down. Add a cup of water, close the lid and the valve and set the instant pot on "pressure cooking" (high) for 25 minutes.
- Quick-release pressure and safely open the Instant Pot lid. Take the chicken out and empty its cavity from any excess water, pat the chicken dry, and season it inside and out with salt and your choice of herbs. I love sage and rosemary. You can also place one or two cloves of garlic inside the chicken cavity for extra flavour.
- Place the chicken in the preheated cast-iron skillet, or in a glass oven pan, with the breast down.
- Roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until the skin is crispy. Make sure all juices inside the chicken are clear and the meat is fully cooked. For extra crispy skin, broil for 5 minutes.
Notes
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