Name: Slow-roast chicken with homemade gravy
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h 40 min
Total time: 2 h 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 2kg chicken; 50g soft butter; 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or use 1 tsp dried), plus sprigs to serve; 1 lemon; 1l chicken stock; 2 tbsp flour; 1 tsp yeast extract if you have it in your storecupboard

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Slow-roast chicken with homemade gravy

Slow-roast chicken with homemade gravy

Sarah Cook

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Serves 6

Easy

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 2 hrs and 40 mins

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.27 ratingsRate

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This can't-go-wrong roast chicken makes a great meal for Mother's Day - the kids can get involved too

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Cauliflower cheese

A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.501 ratings

Crunchy roast potatoes

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.11 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

2kg chicken
50g soft butter
2 tsp fresh thyme

leaves (or use 1 tsp dried), plus sprigs to serve
1 lemon
1l chicken stock
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp yeast extract

if you have it in your storecupboard

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal446
fat27g
saturates11g
carbs3g
sugars0g
fibre0g
protein48g
salt0.96g

low

Method

step 1

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and put the chicken in a roasting tin. Put the butter into a small bowl and add the herbs and plenty of seasoning. Grate in the zest from the lemon and mash everything together with the butter using a fork. Rub this over the chicken breasts, legs and wings, then push the whole grated lemon into the big cavity of the chicken. Pour half the stock into the tin. Use a large sheet of tin foil (or a couple of smaller pieces) to cover the chicken and scrunch together the foil along the edges of the tin so the whole thing is sealed. Put in the oven and set your timer for 2 hrs.
step 2

Carefully remove the foil from the chicken, increase oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7, and put the chicken back in for another 30 mins. If you’re making the Crunchy roast potatoes (see 'Goes well with'), put them in now, under the chicken. After 30 mins, take the chicken out of the oven and lift it onto a serving dish (move the potatoes up). Snugly cover the chicken with foil and set aside while you make the gravy.
step 3

Tip the chicken juices and stock from the tin into a jug. Put the tin over a medium heat on your hob and use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour and yeast extract, if using, with a splash of the juices to make a paste. If you want, spoon the fat off the top of the chicken juices in the jug, then gradually stir this into the tin to make a smooth gravy. Add as much of the rest of the stock as you need to make a good gravy, then serve with the chicken.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2010

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A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.27 ratings

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