MY FAVORITE HEALTHY ROAST CHICKEN & GRAVY RECIPE
MY FAVORITE HEALTHY ROASTED CHICKEN
My family and I love to make roasted chicken for Sunday lunch, and serve it with my healthy crispy roasted potatoes recipe, oven roasted vegetables, rice and gravy. We also love to have this recipe for Christmas Dinner.
This recipe is a healthier chicken recipe roasted with apple, onion and thyme (the secret ingredients). This recipe is also gluten, wheat, dairy and refined sugar free.
It’s really easy to make, it’s basically just the roasting time (but you can just leave it in the oven to do it’s thing), and the gravy is pretty simple to make too!
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
LIEZL JAYNE XO
PS. This is a special family recipe from my granny, past down to my mother and now to me!
THE RECIPE
Ingredients (chicken):
-1 whole free-ranged chicken (giblets removed)
-5 to 6 apples
-5 to 6 onions
-about 10 grams fresh thyme
-sea salt
-black pepper
-2 to 3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
Ingredients (gravy):
-1 or 2 teaspoons coconut flour/ corn starch
-sea salt
-black pepper
(SERVES 4 to 8 portions)
THE METHOD
Instructions (chicken):
-preheat the oven to 160 degree’s Celsius (340 F)
-core and quarter 2 of the 5-6 apples, leaving the other 3 whole (leave all peels on)
-peel all of the onions, quarter 2 of them and halve the other 3-4
-stuff the chicken with a few sprigs of fresh thyme, the 2 quartered apples and the 2 quartered onions
-turn the stuffed chicken upside down and season the underneath with sea salt, a generous amount of cracked black pepper & fresh thyme (pulled from the thyme sprigs)
-turn the chicken facing right side up again & season the top with sea salt, a generous amount of cracked black pepper & a generous amount of fresh thyme (I use lots)
-place the chicken in a roasting pan and drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the chicken (optional – no more than recommended amount)
-add the 3 halved onions & the 3 whole apples (remove the stalks) to the roasting pan
-cover the chicken with more fresh thyme sprigs
-cover the roasting pan with a lid
-roast the chicken for about 2 hours at 160 degree’s Celsius (340 F)
-you will know that the chicken is cooked when you can cut it open and there is not pink or jellyish looking meat (2 hours should be good)
-after 2 hours, remove the lid & turn up the oven heat to 180 degree’s Celsius (360 F), leaving the chicken to cook for another 10 minutes (this will make it brown on top)
-remove from the oven when cooked & serve on a platter with the cooked onions and apples
-garnish with additional fresh thyme (optional)
-get ready to make the gravy
Instructions (gravy):
-remove the chicken, onion & apples from the roasting pan and keep the juice/ liquid that cooks out of the chicken to make the gravy
-pour the liquid into a small sauce pan with 1 or 2 teaspoons of either coconut flour or corn starch
-simmer & stir continuously over a medium-high heat for 2 to 5 minutes until it starts to thicken
-when it is at your desired thickness, drain it through a sieve (to remove any lumps) and add sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste
-you can always stir in more hot water if you have made it too thick
-serve the gravy in a gravy boat/ server and drizzle over the chicken when served
-serve with your favorite vegetable dishes, potatoes, rice or a fresh salad
Serving suggestions:
-slice the chicken and serve with the cooked apples & onions (you can also eat the stuffing)
-drizzle the chicken with gravy
-serve with healthy crispy roasted potatoes
-serve with quinoa or brown basmati rice
-serve with a fresh green salad
-eat and enjoy every bite!
Made with love by Liezl Jayne xo
Preparation time: 10 to 20 minutes
Roasting time: 2 hours + 10 minutes
Total time: about 2 hours and 30 minutes
VIDEO: Watch me serve this roasted chicken with Christmas dinner in my recent What I Eat On Christmas Day video (below)
Photos and recipe by Liezl Jayne Strydom – for liezljayne.com
