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Apple and Cider roasted chicken

At harvest time, I find roast dinners really comforting. I particularly love cooking with apples and pears - roast pork, chicken and duck are my favourite Autumn meals. I made this apple and cider roasted chicken because I needed to use up come apple cider and bought lots of apples at the market. The chicken was yummy and succulent – I served it with mashed potatoes, honey roasted carrots and parsnips and steamed green veggies.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: British
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium chicken
  • 2 knobs of butter or dairy free spread
  • 6 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 garlic clove
  • ½ onion
  • 250 ml apple cider
  • Salt&Pepper

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Rub the chicken with the butter. Quarter the apples. Put 2 pieces in the cavity together with 2 sprigs of thyme, the onion and the garlic.
  3. Season with salt and pepper pour the cider into a roasting tin then place the chicken in the middle of it. Put the apple pieces around it, then scatter the rest of the thyme leaves all over the dish.
  4. Cover the tin with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  5. Take off the foil, baste the chicken with the cider sauce every 15 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.
  6. Test the legs with a skewer, if the juice coming out of it is clear, then the chicken is cooked through.
  7. Rest the chicken and apple pieces on a plate (covered), the reduce the cooking juice into a thick sauce on the hob. ( You can add some corn flour/ starch to it if you like).
  8. Carve the chicken and serve with the cooked apples, the cider gravy and side dishes of your choice.