Herb and citrus whole roast chicken with turmeric and ginger. Served with a side of roasted vegetables, this makes for a winning meal that happens to be paleo and Whole30 approved.

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables | TheRoastedRoot.net #healthy #recipe #dinner #paleo

This chicken may as well go down in history as the chicken that launched a thousand ships.

Story time!

After preparing and shooting this recipe, I left my boyfriend alone with this chicken for a total of one hour, and I came home to a partially-consumed chicken and no boyfriend.

Turns out he had to leave the premises lest he eat the entire thing.

His words: โ€œI ate a wing, and then I ate a drum, and then I ate a thighโ€ฆโ€ When G has a difficult time controlling himself with food, you know youโ€™ve hit the sweet spot.

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables | TheRoastedRoot.net #healthy #recipe #dinner #paleo

All this to say, if you like chicken at all, I highly suggest you make this whole roast chicken your weekend project.

Oh, and if you have limited or no experience with the whole body chicken thing, no sweat! The process for an entire chicken is virtually the same as pieced out chicken. We season, we bake, we conquer.

While the ingredient list is long on this recipe, you likely already have most of what you need.

How to Marinate and Roast Whole Chicken:

The basic premise behind this chicken is we marinate the whole thing prior to roasting.

Have you ever marinated a whole chicken? In the past, Iโ€™ve always just used an oil and spice slurry, but lemme just tell you…marination is queen.

To make the marinade, we combine tasty ingredients like orange extract, orange zest and juice, oil, vinegar, fresh ginger, and some pure maple syrup. Blend it up in a blender, and presto! You have the marinade that launched a thousand ships.

Once the marinade was properly assembled, put the entire chicken in a large zip lock bag, pour in the marinade, sloshed it around, then stuck it in the refrigerator.

So stinkin’ easy.

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables | TheRoastedRoot.net #healthy #recipe #dinner #paleo

I allowed my chicken to marinate for only about three hours, which turned out to be plenty of time.

If you want to be a real go-getter, you can definitely marinate overnight!

The meat expert boyfriend just suggests you donโ€™t marinate for over 24 hours. 8 to 12 hours is ideal.

Roasting Tips:

  • Choose a whole chicken that looks like it has a great deal of fat on it. The fattier the meat, the more flavorful it will be.
  • You can use chicken that’s already pieced out for this recipe! If so doing, still use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces for the tastiest result.
  • Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes prior to roasting – this ensured the chicken will cook evenly.
  • Tailor your roast time to the size of the chicken. In general, chicken takes about 20 minutes per pound to bake, so a 3-pound bird will require about 1 hour of roast time. Be cautious of over-cooking, as chicken can dry out quickly once it’s over-baked.
  • According to the FDA, chicken is safe to consume once the breast reaches 165 degrees F. Poke a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast (without touching bone) to check the temperature.
  • The wings, drumsticks, and thighs require longer roast time than the breast. If you want to be a real badass, you can pull the chicken out when the breast reads 160 degrees F (it will continue raising in temperature while it rests), dismember it and put the wings, drums, and thighs back in the oven to finish roasting.
  • For crispy skin, broil the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes once it has finished roasting.
  • Once the chicken is fully cooked, allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This allows the juices to distribute throughout the bird, thus ensuring superior flavor and texture.
  • Don’t let the drippings in the roasting pan go to waste! You can spoon them over the chicken and vegetables – there’s tons of flavor in the drippings!

One last thing. I designed this recipe to be a two-parter to include the Orange Ginger Turmeric Roasted Root Vegetables  I posted yesterday, but once it dawned on me how long the ingredient list would be, I turned it into two recipes. 

If you look closely, youโ€™ll notice the marinade ingredients for the chicken are basically identical to the marinade ingredients for the roasted vegetables, so ingredient-wise, you’re pulling the same goods out of the pantry.

To summarize, I highly suggest pairing this chicken with those vegetables. Good talk.

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables | TheRoastedRoot.net #healthy #recipe #dinner #paleo
Get your mitts on this lovinโ€™.

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables | TheRoastedRoot.net #healthy #recipe #dinner #paleo

Orange Ginger Turmeric Whole Roast Chicken

4.58 from 7 votes
Roast Chicken and vegetables makes for a winning, nutritious meal!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 3 to 4 pound whole chicken
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger peeled and grated
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

  • Add everything but the chicken to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
  • Place the chicken inside of a large (gallon-sized) zip lock bag. Pour in the marinade, seal the bag, and slosh it around to be sure the full chicken is coated. Refrigerate 3 to 24 hours. If possible, slosh the marinade around a few times during the marination process.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Place the chicken (and all of the juices) on a roasting pan (or baking sheet or casserole dish). Note: it's best if you can allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes prior to roasting to ensure it roasts evenly.
  • Place the chicken on the center rack of the preheated oven and roast 1 hour to 1.5 hours (depending on size of chicken), or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. A 2.5 to 3 pound chicken should take just over an hour.
  • Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to rest 10 minutes to allow the juices to distribute throughout the bird. This will ensure the chicken has the best texture and will make it easier to cut as well. Dismember the chicken and serve alongside roasted vegetables.

Notes

You can swap out any of the dried spices for your favorites.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 6 ยท Calories: 461kcal ยท Carbohydrates: 3g ยท Protein: 37g ยท Fat: 33g ยท Sugar: 3g
Author: Julia
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked chicken, chicken dinner recipes, healthy dinner recipe, keto, low-carb, paleo dinner recipe, roast chicken, roasted chicken, whole chicken
Did You Make This Recipe?I want to see it! Tag @the.roasted.root on social media!
Julia Mueller
Meet the Author

Julia Mueller

Julia Mueller is a recipe developer, cookbook author, and founder of The Roasted Root. She has authored three bestselling cookbooks, – Paleo Power Powers, Delicious Probiotic Drinks, and The Quintessential Kale Cookbook. Her recipes have been featured in several national publications such as BuzzFeed, Self, Tasty, Country Living, Brit.co, etc.

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Questions and Reviews

  1. This is divine! Just finished off a plate accompanied with the roasted root veggies. itโ€™s hard not to go back for moreโ€ฆ. Chicken is very tender and moist. I did pour some juices from the pan over the breast meat.
    Big fan of your recipes Julia. Have just purchased your paleo cookbook and making my way through it. Love your taste for mixing sweet and savoury, yummy!

    1. I’m so happy you enjoy the recipe, Nicky! I feel the same way about dishes like this – I always want seconds! Happy you enjoy the meal and thanks so much for your support! I hope you love everything you make out of the cookbook. xoxoxo ๐Ÿ˜€

  2. Sorry, none of the comments I read did this recipe justice. It is without a doubt the MOST DELICIOUS CHICKEN recipe I’ve ever made. Started roasting 5 lb chicken & it looked like we were going to run out of sauce. I wanted to add vegetables to chicken for last 35 minutes. BTW, I had increased spice amounts & liquid b/c chicken was larger. I added 1/3 c. more olive oil & 1/3 c. more orange juice, plus 4 minced garlic cloves to sauce & poured over vegetables to roast with chicken. Think the marinating made it most tender ever!

    1. I’m so happy you love it, Mary!! You’re inspiring me to make one again this week, since it’s been a while for me. Thanks for the sweet note and for sharing your adaptations! This is very helpful ๐Ÿ˜€ xoxoxo

  3. Can you roast the chicken and veggies at the same time? Or do you have to roast each separately and reheat one? This meal looks amazing and I’m thinking of cooking it this weekend!

  4. O Yum! I love it! I FINALLY tasked myself with roasting my first whole chicken 2 weeks ago! I had the house to myself so I just went at it (kinda gross!) but it was so worth it and came out perfect! My family was impressed ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. OMG i love that extract! but more, i love this recipe and TURMERIC! We are turmeric twinning today. But you knew that. PINNING