Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken With Crispy Drippings Croutons

By Melissa Clark

Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken With Crispy Drippings Croutons
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 25 minutes
Rating
5(729)
Comments
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This roast chicken recipe puts all of the juices that normally collect at the bottom of the roasting pan (only to be discarded) to gloriously good use. The bird, which is stuffed with garlic, lemon and herbs, is placed on top of a pile of stale bread (all different kinds of breads work, including baguettes, country loaves and even pita) that's been drizzled with olive oil. As the chicken cooks, the juices are absorbed by the bread, resulting in arguably the most delicious jumbo-sized croutons in the history of the world.

Featured in: Pan Drippings, Gloriously

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Country bread, ciabatta or other sturdy bread, preferably stale, sliced at least ½-inch thick
  • 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, more as needed
  • 2teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
  • ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more as needed
  • 14- to 5-pound chicken, patted dry
  • 1garlic head, sliced in half horizontally, through the cloves
  • 1bay leaf
  • ½lemon
  • ½bunch thyme sprigs
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange oven rack so that it is in center of oven. Lay bread slices in a thick, heavy-duty metal roasting pan in one layer. (Try not to use a thin or dark colored pan, which may cause bread to burn: see note.) Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Rub 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper inside cavity of chicken. Stuff cavity with garlic, bay leaf, lemon and thyme. Rub outside of chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle all over with remaining salt and pepper. Place it breast side up on bread.

  3. Step 3

    Roast chicken until it is deeply browned and juices run clear when thigh is pricked with a knife, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve chicken with bread from pan.

Tip
  • If you use a thin or dark roasting pan, you might consider lowering the oven temperature to 375 degrees to prevent the bread from getting too dark. Check the pan periodically during cooking and lower the temperature as necessary (you can open the oven door for a minute to reduce heat quickly.) It may take longer for the chicken to cook through at a lower temperature.

Ratings

5 out of 5
729 user ratings
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Comments

Figaro

I've been making this one for about 6 years. It's unctuously wonderful. Use any kind of stale bead you have about. When you pull the bird out to rest, turn over the bead that's already crisp and put it under the ones that are still a bit soggy; return to oven. Also, if you pull out the garlic half way through cooking time it will cook and soften. Then you can squeeze it on your croutons - yum!!!

JJ

You can substitute small potatoes cut up for the bread on the bottom of the pan. I've done that for years and folks eat the potatoes first.

Dan

I also mixed in a teaspoon of dried thyme to the salt and pepper mixture for a little more flavor. Delicious!

Andrea

This chicken was moist and so flavorful. I rested the bird on tiny yellow Dutch potatoes seasoned with salt, and pepper, and rubbed with olive oil. I used a glass baking pan so lowered the temp to 375. Everything came out perfectly. No reason to roast a chicken any other way!

Sara

I love this! I toast the bread to make it crispy crunchy and that works just fine.

Zelda

1. Why are comments that say anything that doesn't work right not considered most helpful. Of course they are helpful. Come on NYT, really? 2. Wouldn't the bread (croutons) be filled with fat from the chicken? 3. Would gluten free bread work?

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