Serves 4 to 6 people.
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom.
What you’ll need
One whole chicken 5 pounds 10 ounces in weight
Salted butter
Vegetable or canola oil
Seasonings
1 yellow onion
Garlic
Salt
Black pepper
Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
Chef Paul’s poultry magic
Dried oregano
Dried thyme
Granulated onion (Optional)
Granulated garlic (Optional)
Tools you’ll need
9 by 13-inch standard glass or metal pan
Food processor
Large plastic bag
Pastry brush
Meat thermometer
Food ties
Flavor injector (Optional)
Preparation of ingredients
Seasonings
Step 1- Chop half of a yellow onion and press 3 cloves of garlic with a garlic press.
Onion and garlic marinade
Step 2- Add chopped yellow onion, pressed garlic, 1 or 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 or 2 teaspoons Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 2 teaspoons chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic, 2 teaspoons dried oregano and 2 teaspoons dried thyme into a food processor. You can also add 2 teaspoons granulated onion and 2 teaspoons granulated garlic if you like. Blend for 1 minute.
Chicken
Step 3- Remove chicken parts from the cavity of the chicken and set aside. Trim off any excess skin and fat from the chicken with a knife. Take your hand and place it underneath the skin of the chicken that’s on top of the chicken breast on both sides. We will add some of the marinade inside of this area.
Step 4- Rinse the chicken off with cold water. Place onto a flat chopping board.
Marinating the chicken
Step 5- Add some of the onion and garlic marinade underneath the skin of the whole chicken just above the chicken breast. You can also add the marinade underneath the skin where the chicken thighs are located as well.
Step 6- Slide the whole chicken into a large plastic bag. Add the rest of the onion and garlic marinade on top of the chicken while it’s in the bag. Coat the entire chicken with the onion and garlic marinade.
Step 7- Tie the clear plastic bag and place the bag with the whole chicken in it into a large bowl. Let marinate in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours or overnight.
Final preparation of chicken
Step 8- Remove the chicken from the bag and place it onto a flat chopping board. Place food ties underneath the chicken underneath the chicken thighs and breasts. Bring the food ties toward the top of the chicken. Bringing the chicken wings close to the chicken breast and the chicken legs more toward the breast of the chicken. Tie each food tie and once done cut with kitchen scissors. If you want to add more seasoning around the chicken before you bake it, sprinkle a small amount of salt, black pepper, Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning and chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic all around the chicken. You can also sprinkle poultry seasoning in place of the Poultry magic seasoning. You can also inject the chicken with your favorite marinade using a flavor injector.
Baking the chicken
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Note Important- Baking times vary depending on the size of the chicken, your baking pan, and your oven.
Step 9- Add whole chicken into a regular standard 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Any marinade left over in the bag or on the chopping board, add that around the chicken as well. Pour 1/3 cup water around the chicken. This will keep the chicken moist.
Step 10- Cube 4 tablespoons salted butter. Add the butter cubes around the chicken.
Step 11- Place into a preheated 325-degree oven, one rack above the bottom rack. Bake for 2 hours or until the internal temperature on the thermometer reaches 165 degrees F. Every 30 minutes pull the rack with the pan on it out of the oven. Brush the chicken with the pan juices using a pastry brush. Push the rack with the chicken back into the oven and continue the baking process. Repeat the basting step 3 times (Every 30 minutes).
Step 12- Remove the whole chicken out of the oven. Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh of the chicken without touching the bone. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees F. If it is not at that temperature, you will need to bake the chicken for a longer period of time. If it exceeds the temperature of 165 degrees, that’s fine as well. The only issue is that your chicken may come out dry.
Step 13- Let the chicken cool for 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving. You can also take the pan juices and make a flavorful chicken gravy. Remove the food ties from the chicken cut cutting them with kitchen scissors and remove them from around the chicken. After that you can serve the chicken and enjoy!
YouTube instructional video
