Cider-Roasted Chicken

Name: Cider-Roasted Chicken
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 4 ounces chicken and about 1 tablespoon jus)
Ingredients: 3 quarts water; 1 quart apple cider; ¼ cup kosher salt; 1 tablespoon black peppercorns; 1 bay leaf; 1 (6-pound) roasting chicken; 2 cups apple cider; 1 large onion, peeled and halved; 4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs; 4 garlic cloves, peeled

12 Ratings
11 Reviews

Brining overnight in a salt-and-cider mixture makes this chicken recipeincredibly flavorful and moist; basting with reduced apple cider adds a hint of sweetness to the finished roasted chicken. Use tongs to carefully remove skin from the hot chicken.

By Kathryn Conrad

Recipe by Cooking Light October 2004

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Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Jan Gautro

Recipe Summary

Yield:

8 servings (serving size: about 4 ounces chicken and about 1 tablespoon jus)

Nutrition Info

Directions

Step 1
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat; cool completely. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Pour brine into a 2-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning the bag occasionally.

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Step 2
Preheat oven to 400°.
Step 3
Bring 2 cups cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until cider has thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Set aside.
Step 4
Remove chicken from bag; discard brine. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Place the onion halves, parsley, and garlic into cavity. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Tie legs. Place chicken on rack of a broiler pan. Bake at 400° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until thermometer registers 175°. Remove from oven (do not turn oven off). Carefully remove and discard skin. Baste chicken with half of reduced cider; return to 400° oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; baste with remaining cider reduction. Transfer chicken to a platter.
Step 5
Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into a small bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Serve jus over chicken.

Chef's Notes

MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

224 calories; calories from fat 29%; fat 7.1g; saturated fat 2g; mono fat 2.7g; poly fat 1.7g; protein 26.9g; carbohydrates 11.3g; fiber 0.4g; cholesterol 80mg; iron 1.4mg; sodium 452mg; calcium 26mg.

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Stacy Coggeshall

11/21/2022

This was loved by the family. I put the cider and chicken in a large container to marinate as the volume was too much for a gallon bag.

JenniferDuke

10/29/2013

One of my Favorite Fall Menu's.....

awedewer

10/12/2012

I *think* the cider reduction amount is wrong. After 15 min I had exactly 1 1/4 cups, which seems like a very reasonable quantity for basting and flavoring the jus. 1/4 cup seems skimpy and would take much, much longer. With that said, this wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. My kids really liked the cider flavor, but there is room for improvement. The brining was more trouble than it's worth and didn't result in special flavor or texture. I won't make this particular recipe again, but I'll use the cider idea for sauces in the future.

alismomma

03/18/2012

I would love to try this.. is there a lower salt or no salt way to make something like this? Healthy doesn't mean just low fat...for many people a no or low salt version is a have to... not a want to.

melissamk22

10/18/2011

VERY delicious and fairly easy, although time consuming. Definitely worth the time for a special dinner!

JoshyStevenson

10/11/2010

I liked it :-)

robinc75

12/31/2009

this is a simple and delicious recipe! A definite keeper in my portfolio!

KLStorck

10/05/2009

I love this recipe! I have to make it every fall. It has such great flavor and is a great comfort meal.

avivaleah

03/20/2009

A good, easy chicken recipe. I followed the recipe except I sprinkled some salt and pepper over the chicken before cooking. I would have given it 5 stars, but my husband didn't like the taste of the cider sauce. I liked it though.

mamaof2

03/18/2009

The chicken was very moist and tender, but was almost bland. My family ate all of it, but they agreed that I have served other whole chicken recipes that were much more flavorful and just as tender. Also,it took much longer than 15 minutes to reduce the cider used to baste at the end. I am unsure what I did wrong. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as given.

robdebtar

02/02/2009

Much ado about nothing! Just got done struggling through this recipe and am thoroughly disappointed. Have enjoyed recipe's from cooking light for over 15 years and have only experienced this twice so the odds are actually wonderful but just had to comment/review (my first) on this one because it was so lack luster. Dry, not flavorful, very tedious to make and all together not a winner!

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Cider-Roasted Chicken

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Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Chef's Notes

Nutrition Facts

Reviews (11)

All Reviews for Cider-Roasted Chicken

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Cider-Roasted Chicken

Gallery

Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Chef's Notes

Nutrition Facts

Reviews (11)

All Reviews for Cider-Roasted Chicken