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Roast chicken with lemon, oregano and olive breadcrumb stuffing

Published: 7 Mar 17
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This roast chicken recipe is succulent, full of flavour and the stuffing is tasty enough to eat on its own. We recommend serving alongside crispy roast potatoes.

Or, for something speedier and simple, try our quick lemon chicken traybake. It’s ready in 35 minutes.

Easy
February 2017

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4-6
Hands-on time 40 min, oven time 60-65 min, plus resting

This roast chicken recipe is succulent, full of flavour and the stuffing is tasty enough to eat on its own. We recommend serving alongside crispy roast potatoes.

Or, for something speedier and simple, try our quick lemon chicken traybake. It’s ready in 35 minutes.

Nutrition: For 6 servings

Calories: 351kcals
Fat: 14.5g (5.6g saturated)
Protein: 46.5g
Carbohydrates: 8.2g (0.9g sugars)
Fibre: 1.1g
Salt: 0.8g

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Ingredients

2kg good quality British free-range chicken
40g unsalted butter, softened
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 fresh oregano sprigs, leaves stripped from the stalks
100g fresh sourdough bread, torn into 2cm pieces
Finely grated zest 1 lemon
50g pitted black kalamata olives (about 16)
1 large free-range egg, beaten
Steamed cavolo nero or cabbage and roast potatoes to serve

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Method

Remove the chicken from the fridge an hour before you start. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Heat 10g of the butter in a frying pan and fry the shallot with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes or until just starting to soften. Stir in half the crushed garlic and the oregano. Set aside to cool slightly.
Whizz the bread to fine crumbs in a food processor. Add the shallot mixture, lemon zest, olives and egg, then whizz again until combined. Transfer to a bowl and season with lots of pepper and a little salt (the olives will be salty).

In a small bowl, mix the remaining butter and garlic, then season well. Working your hand in from the neck cavity, gently separate the skin from the meat and spread the garlic butter between the skin and the breast of the chicken. Follow this with half to three-quarters of the stuffing, but don’t push it all the way down the breast, keeping an even amount on each side. Stuff the remaining mixture into the cavity, then pull and secure the skin under the bird.
Season the skin of the chicken generously, then transfer to a roasting tin and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Cook for 45-50 minutes more or until the juices run clear when you push a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh.
Rest the chicken for 10 minutes on a carving board, loosely covered with foil, then carve and serve with steamed cavolo nero or cabbage and plenty of roast potatoes.