Stuffed roast chicken for a smaller Christmas dinner
Prep: 30 min · Cook: 100 min · Makes: 4-5 · For:
Not every Christmas needs a huge turkey. For a smaller table, a good stuffed roast chicken is festive, affordable and much less stressful: it fits in any oven, cooks in under two hours and everyone gets crispy skin.
The stuffing is soft bread with apple, chestnuts and sage. It soaks up the juices inside the bird, and the extra dish on the side turns crisp on top.
Serve it with
Roast potatoes or a creamy potato gratin, braised red cabbage, Brussels sprouts with a little butter, and the pan gravy.
Tips
- Dry skin crisps best. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper before you rub in the butter.
- Use a thermometer. It is the only reliable way to know the chicken and stuffing are cooked through.
- Rest it. Fifteen minutes under foil keeps the meat juicy.
Little helpers
Children can tear the bread, mix the stuffing with clean hands and pick the sage leaves. The raw chicken and the hot oven are for grown-ups, and everyone washes hands after touching raw meat.
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken of about 1.8 kg, free-range if possible
- 40 g soft butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt and black pepper
- 150 g day-old white bread, crusts removed, in small cubes, for the stuffing
- 1 tart apple, peeled and diced, for the stuffing
- 1 onion, finely chopped, for the stuffing
- 100 g cooked, peeled chestnuts (vacuum-packed), chopped, for the stuffing
- 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped, or 1 tsp dried sage, for the stuffing
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley, for the stuffing
- 1 egg, for the stuffing
- 80 ml chicken stock, for the stuffing
- 20 g butter, for the stuffing
- 2 shallots and 250 ml chicken stock, for the roasting tin
Method
- Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, gas mark 5).
- Make the stuffing: melt the butter in a pan and soften the onion and apple for 5 minutes. Tip into a bowl with the bread, chestnuts, sage, parsley, egg and stock, season and mix well.
- Spoon the stuffing loosely into the cavity of the chicken; do not pack it tight. Put any extra stuffing in a small buttered ovenproof dish.
- Mix the soft butter with the paprika, salt and pepper and rub it all over the chicken. Tie the legs together with string.
- Put the halved shallots in a roasting tin, set the chicken on top and pour in the stock.
- Roast for about 1 hour 30-40 minutes, basting twice. Add the dish of extra stuffing for the last 30 minutes. Cover the breast loosely with foil if it browns too fast.
- The chicken is done when the juices from the thickest part of the thigh run clear and a thermometer reads 74°C there and in the centre of the stuffing.
- Rest the chicken under foil for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, skim the fat from the pan juices, bubble them for a few minutes and season to make a simple gravy.
Questions
Is it safe to stuff a chicken?
Yes, as long as the stuffing is loose and reaches 74°C in the centre, just like the meat. If you prefer, bake all the stuffing in a separate dish.
Can I make the stuffing ahead?
Make it the day before and keep it covered in the fridge, but only put it into the chicken just before roasting.
How much chicken do I need per person?
A 1.8 kg chicken feeds 4 adults well, or 4 adults and a couple of children, with all the trimmings.
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