Christmas Stuffed Roast Chicken with Sage and Cranberry Bread Stuffing
- Savory
- No rush
- Oven
A whole chicken filled with a sage, onion and cranberry bread stuffing and roasted until the skin is golden and the meat is juicy. A festive centrepiece that stays simple.
- Total
- 1 h 55
- Prep 25 · Cook 75 · Rest 15
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting · Resting meat
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 200°C.
~10 min
-
While step 1 cooks
While the oven heats, tear the bread into 1 cm pieces and spread on a tray. Bake until dry and lightly golden, about 8 minutes, then tip into a mixing bowl.
~8 min
Drying the bread first lets it soak up butter and juices without turning the stuffing soggy.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the bread toasts, peel the onion and chop it finely. Pick the sage leaves and chop them. Cut the potatoes into 3 cm chunks.
~10 min
-
Melt the butter in a small ovenproof dish in the hot oven, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, sage, cranberries, 1 tsp salt and the black pepper to the bread, pour over half the melted butter and mix into a moist stuffing.
~3 min
-
Pat the whole chicken dry inside and out. Rub the skin all over with the remaining melted butter and season with the remaining 0.5 tsp salt. Fill the body cavity loosely with the stuffing, then tie the legs with string.
~10 min
Dry skin and a butter coating help it crisp and brown rather than steam, while tying the legs keeps the bird compact for even roasting.
Loosely pack the stuffing: it needs room to heat through, and an overfilled cavity slows the cooking of the meat around it.
-
Set the chicken breast-side up in a roasting tin. Toss the potatoes with the pan juices and scatter them around the bird. Roast uncovered for 30 minutes.
~30 min
Roasting uncovered at high heat drives off surface moisture so the skin browns and the potatoes catch colour.
If the potatoes look pale after the first 30 minutes, spread them in a single layer around the bird so they brown rather than steam.
Roasting Roast uncovered first for colour, then lower the heat and cover with foil so the bird cooks through without drying. Watch the skin: deep gold, not dark brown.
-
Lower the oven to 180°C, cover the tin loosely with foil and roast until the thigh juices run clear and a thermometer in the thickest thigh reads 74°C, 40 to 45 minutes more.
~45 min
Lowering the heat and covering with foil lets the centre cook through without the outside drying out or burning.
Roasting Roast uncovered first for colour, then lower the heat and cover with foil so the bird cooks through without drying. Watch the skin: deep gold, not dark brown.
-
Rest the chicken in the tin for 15 minutes before carving, keeping the potatoes warm. Spoon the stuffing out of the cavity into a dish and slice the chicken.
~15 min
Resting lets the juices redistribute through the meat so it stays moist instead of running out onto the board.
Resting meat Rest the bird for 15 minutes before carving so the juices settle back into the meat. Cutting too soon lets them run out and leaves it dry.
