One of the best weekend dinners you can make!
 
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A succulent buttermilk roast chicken with crispy golden skin, perfect for a leisurely weekend meal!
Recipe type: Main Course
Ingredients
  • 1 chicken (about 3 ½ – 4 Lbs.)
  • Salt
  • 2 cups buttermilk
Instructions
  1. The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. (You might want to reserve them for stock). Season the chicken generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.
  2. Stir 2 tablespoons of kosher salt or 4 tablespoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-size re-sealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. If the chicken won’t fit in a gallon-size bag, double up two plastic produce bags to prevent leakage and tie the bag with a piece of twine.
  3. Seal it, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed pan, and refrigerate. Over the next 24 hours you can turn the bag a couple of times so every part of the chicken gets marinated.
  4. Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Preheat the oven to 425°F, with a rack set in the middle position.
  5. Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs of the chicken with a piece of butcher’s twine. Place the chicken in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or a shallow roasting pan.
  6. Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the chicken is pointing toward the center of the oven (the back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the over, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done). Pretty quickly you should hear the chicken sizzling.
  7. After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400°F and continue roasting for 10 minutes and then move the pan so the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the juices run clear when you insert a knife down to the bone between the leg and the thigh. (If the chicken gets too brown before it is done, cover loosely with a piece of foil.
  8. When the chicken’s done, remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
Notes
Depending on the size of your chicken, it will need about 1 hour in the hot oven. Some ovens are hotter than others, so watch it closely and cover it if it gets too brown too fast. The safest and easiest way to check for doneness is to use an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. (Take care not to touch the bone with the thermometer.) It should read 165 degrees.
Recipe by Marilena's Kitchen at https://marilenaskitchen.com/buttermilk-roast-chicken/