Mexican Style Roast Chicken
Thu, Mar 15, 2012
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We were in the mood for a roasted chicken but I wanted to change the routine. Since we love to use the roasted chicken meat in Mexican dishes I decided to translate the simple ingredients from my more standard Oven-Roasted Chicken to their Mexican-inspired counterparts. In place of Dijon mustard, herbes de Provence, lemons and white wine, I used salsa verde, cilantro, limes and cerveza.
I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of doing this sooner because my family loved the meat on its own and the subtle differences made the chicken perfect for tacos {or nachos, huevos rancheros, enchiladas or any other Mexican-style meal}. It can also be served simply as roasted chicken with the works {sides of arroz, beans, salsa fresca, guacamole etc.} for a healthy and flavorful meal.
- 1 pound tomatillos
- ½ of a lime
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers
- For a medium spicy salsa, add 1-2 serrano peppers
- For a very spicy salsa, add ½-1 habañero pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-3 garlic cloves
- ½ of a white onion
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1-2 Tbsp Canola oil
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 Tbsp butter, softened
- 2 Tbsp salsa verde
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 onion, cut in 8ths
- 5-7 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup beer
- ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 Tbsp salsa verde
- Lightly coat a large pan with canola oil.
- Place the peeled garlic cloves, onion wedge, whole peppers and peeled and rinsed tomatillos in the pan.
- Cook the veggies on med-high for 15-20 minutes or until browned, flipping them so that they roast on each side. If they start to stick, add a splash of water into the pan.
- Place the cooked vegetables and the remaining ingredients into a blender and purée them until smooth.
- Cool the salsa to room temperature.
- Cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator.
- Mix the butter, salsa verde and chopped cilantro in a bowl to form a paste.
- Rinse the chicken well and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Place it on a roasting pan and spread the salsa verde paste over the entire chicken, getting it in the cavity and under any flaps of skin.
- Stuff the chicken with lime slices, onion chunks and whole garlic cloves.
- Bake the chicken at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours (depending on the size of the chicken), or until the chicken is done. It usually takes roughly 20 minutes per pound but use a meat thermometer to ensure that the meat reaches a high enough temperature, which is a minimum of 165 degrees for poultry according to the USDA.
- For the last few minutes, you can increase the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees to brown the chicken at the end.
- If the chicken is getting too browned while cooking, cover it loosely with a piece of foil.
- Baste the chicken every 15-20 minutes with the drippings to keep the meat moist.
- If there are not enough drippings, combine the olive oil, beer, chicken broth, salsa verde and cilantro to form a basting liquid.
Tags: cilantro, lime, oven-roasted chicken, roast chicken, roasted chicken, roasting a chicken, whole chicken
Can’t wait to try this chicken. it has all the I gradients we love!
Yum! Looks so good!!
We made this recipe using a turkey breast and it turned out great! We loved the extra heat!
Why is the chicken upside-down?
Bill, I guess there is no specific reason except that I have always done it that way. You can roast a chicken either way; some chefs even recommend flipping the chicken part way through to more evenly cook both sides. I’ve noticed the way that I do it the breast meat turns out very moist and tender.
This sounds/looks delicious and I’m planning to try this weekend. I have a question on the cooking time… Does it really need to cook for 3-4 hours? My typical method is to roast for 1 hour with the dish covered in foil at 350 degrees F and then remove the foil, baste, cook another 15-20 minutes uncovered, baste again and cook for 10-15 minutes uncovered. All in all it only cooks for 90 minutes and it comes out perfectly cooked and the skin is nice and crispy. I use a 4-5 pound chicken. Are you using a much larger chicken or am I missing something here?
Sara, thanks for the catch. That should read 1-2 hours…unless like you say, it’s a really big chicken! 🙂 I always use the general guideline of 20 minutes per pound when planning the cooking time. The important part is to make sure it reaches the USDA guidelines temperature. I’m sure your method works perfectly! I hope you enjoy the dish.
just wondering what kind of beer do you recommend?
Olivier, I think you could use any beer. I used corona or Dos Equis to fit the theme but I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.
Had for dinner and was VERY tasty! Thanks for posting 🙂