Easy One-Pan Dinner: Cast Iron Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables

I love cast iron skillets because they're so versatile. They're a frying pan, of course, but also a baking pan, wonderful for pies. And they can also be used as a roasting pan. And to prove that point, Ashley's here and she's making chicken for dinner. I sure am. So one of the better things too about cast iron skillets is that it retains its heat so well. So when it comes to putting dinner on the table quickly, it is one of my go-to tools. Great. Especially with something like the chicken and vegetables we're gonna be making today. Lovely. So I have a whole chicken here, but first, before I go there, I'm gonna make a spice mixture for both the chicken and the vegetables. So this here is four teaspoons of kosher salt. If you don't have kosher salt, just cut that amount in half. One tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme. One teaspoon of granulated garlic. One teaspoon of pepper. And finally, a half a teaspoon of smoked paprika, which is gonna give us that smoky flavor, but it also colors everything beautifully with that rusty color. So I'm gonna mix this up. And like I said, we're gonna be using it in two different applications. So I'm gonna just take a little bit out now. There we go. And I'll leave that for the vegetables. Okay. All right, so we've got a chicken here. It's about three and a half to four pounds total. So I'm gonna spatchcock the chicken, which is one of those words that I feel people get intimidated by, but it's such a simple technique to do. It simply means removing the backbone. So I like to use kitchen shears. Sometimes people use a sharp chef's knife, but this is the best way for me to gain control and just be able to maneuver around that backbone as precisely as possible. Yeah, you're just going along either side of the backbone. Yep. Now I just like to turn it around just for ease. So don't throw that away. Make sure to put that in a freezer bag and put that in your freezer because it's gonna make some delicious stock. I'm just gonna flatten the breastbone. All right, so underneath here, I'm going to sprinkle with a tablespoon of that spice mixture from earlier. I love that this recipe calls for this because a lot of times you just think to season the top of the bird, but this'll give a little bit of extra flavor and a little extra punch. All right, so I've got some wing tips. I'm just gonna tuck those behind, and that's just gonna prevent those from burning. I'm gonna pat this dry. I'm gonna use a sharp boning knife and then just go in between the thigh and the drumstick joint and just make a half-inch slit. And cutting that slit right here between the drumstick and the thigh is just gonna hold onto a little bit more of that seasoning. So now I'm going to brush with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and then just gonna continue to put the spice mixture over the chicken. Nice, so that's another? Tablespoon plus two teaspoons. Gotcha. Almost two tablespoons. All right, now I'm gonna clean up and we will move on to the vegetables. Great. Now, before I prepare the vegetables, I'm gonna preheat our skillet. As you can see, we have a 12-inch beautiful cast-iron skillet here. Now, in order to ensure that all the root vegetables that you have in front of us are gonna cook properly and get nice and browned, we wanna give this a chance to get good and hot before we add the vegetables onto there. So I've got a one-pound fennel bulb that I'm gonna just start by trimming off the ends. And then just cut off the fronds right here. Okay, so I'm gonna cut this in half. Now I'm gonna cut this into one-inch wedges. Nice, right through the root, too. Right through the root, exactly. Just like I did with the fennel, and cut the onion into one-inch wedges. So those are all prepared. I also have one pound of Yukon gold potatoes. But as you can see, these cute little guys are about one to two inches each. Yeah, these are the baby Yukon golds, lovely. Exactly, and you don't want them any bigger than that. You want everything to cook at the same rate. I did cut them in half, and I left the peel on. And then we have our carrots. These are two carrots. I peeled them, cut them in half lengthwise, and then I cut them crosswise as well. So I've got one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil that I'm gonna add to the preheated skillet. We're gonna let that go just until we see some smoke starting. Before I add any of the other vegetables, I'm gonna add the potatoes first, and I'm gonna put them in here cut side down. This is gonna help jumpstart the vegetables. It's gonna help to also promote some browning on our vegetables. Because as you know, cooking anything under a whole chicken can sometimes steam, and it's not gonna get super brown. But this recipe guarantees really nicely browned vegetables and a beautifully cooked browned chicken. Now I'm gonna put our onion throughout. And now I'm adding the fennel. Ah, now she's mixing it up. Now I'm mixing it up. Finally, I'm gonna add the carrots. Pepper them throughout. And the last step before I add the chicken, I'm just gonna add this remaining spice mixture over all of the vegetables. Now, finally, I'm gonna add the chicken just directly on top of the vegetables. I have an oven that's been preheated to 425 degrees. The oven rack is at the middle position, and I'm gonna cook this chicken and the vegetables for about an hour until the internal temperature of the chicken breast is 160 degrees, and the drumsticks and the thighs register 175 degrees. Love what you're watching? Take your cooking to the next level with our essential membership. Get instant access to thousands of recipes, tips, techniques, product reviews, and step-by-step videos. Our Members app allows you to search by ingredient, set dietary preferences, and save your favorite recipes. For those looking to level up, our newest feature, ATK Classes, offers more in-depth instruction led by ATK experts so you can gain greater confidence in the kitchen. Start your free trial by visiting the App Store or going to americastestkitchen.com slash YouTube today. Ooh, Bridget, smelling good. Looking good. All right, so I'm just gonna take the internal temperature. Again, we're looking for 160 for the breast. Okay. Awesome, we're at 162. All right, so the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna transfer the chicken to the carving board. Nice. Yes. Look at the skin on that chicken. Oh, I know, beautifully golden brown. Oh, look what's down here. I know, but they're not done cooking yet, and I want them to get a little bit more browning there. So I'm gonna return the vegetables to the oven, and I'm gonna let them cook for about 15 more minutes. I've got one more trick up my sleeve. Lastly, I'm gonna make a sauce. I've got three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. I'm gonna add some herbs. Two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. One and a half tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I've got a teaspoon of salt. A teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. One clove of garlic. A quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika. And then finally, a quarter teaspoon of pepper. And then, world's cutest whisk. So again, we're gonna let those vegetables go for about 15 more minutes. Oh, boy. This smells heavenly. Ooh, look at those. Look at all the juices in the bottom of that pan. Oh my goodness. We've got some good fond going on. We've got some beautiful browning, and it just smells so nice. I always like to remember to put a towel at the handle of anything that's hot. Don't wanna get burned. You don't want anybody else to get burned either. Everything is almost ready. While the vegetables hang out for a minute, I'm just gonna carve our chicken. So I like to use some tongs, and just with a sharp boning knife, I'm just going to simply run my knife just like so. And you can tell it is so beautifully cooked because it popped right off. Mm, that is a juicy chicken as well. All right, now, when it comes to the breast, I'm just gonna make long slices just along that breast bone. And then, using the tip of the boning knife, continue to run my knife down. I'm gonna just slice this breast. Look how beautiful that skin is, too. Staying intact, which I always appreciate. Yes. Okay, Bridget, here is some breast meat. Oh my goodness. And a thigh for you. Oh boy. Oh my goodness, look at those potatoes. Before I do anything else. Yep. And how about a couple carrots for you? There you go. I'm just gonna whisk this sauce just to recombine everything. And is it okay if I put it on everything? I would love that. All right. Thank you. You are very welcome. Here we go. Oh, I don't know what to go for first. I know. You know what? I'm gonna go for some of the chicken. Okay. Star of the show. Piece with a little bit of that skin, the sauce. The sauce. The sauce is where it's at. It really is. Chicken is perfectly cooked. Nice and moist, still very, very juicy. The skin is really well rendered. For full episodes of your favorite cooking shows, head over to ATK's full episodes channel on YouTube. You can stream complete seasons of America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, and more. See you there.