Here's How You Can Make the Perfect Roast Chicken This Christmas

As the year winds down, we must absolutely dust off the old apron and belt out some festive grub.

(This article has been reposted from The Quint’s archives on Christmas Day. It was first published on 25 December 2021.)

Hey! Hey! Hey! My apologies. Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s that time of the year again when we may struggle to get out of bed but make sure we party into the night.

As the year winds down and we all pause to celebrate each day that gets us closer to the new year, we must absolutely dust off the old apron and belt out some festive grub.

Having said that, we all must agree that Christmas is incomplete without a proper roast chicken.

And this year, we got everyone covered. No fastidious trussing or the panicked basting and intimidating filling.

This Christmas, we want you to focus on the mulled wine rather than stress in the kitchen and cook this dish in 4 easy steps.

Oh, don’t worry, we made sure it’s super healthy as well.

The Perfect (and the best) Lemon-Rosemary Chicken with Roasted Broccolini!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

• 1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped

• 2 tsp mustard

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

• Salt to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 lemon, cut into thin slices, divided

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or skin-on chicken thighs (about 1 kg)

• 2 bunches Broccolini (about 500 gm)

• 1 onion, cut into 1/2" wedges

• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, plus more for serving

How to Make it

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

2. Combine parsley, rosemary, garlic, mustard, and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.

3. Place 8 lemon slices and half of rosemary mixture underneath skin of chicken, dividing evenly. Be careful not to tear the skin.

4. Rub remaining rosemary mixture generously over the chicken, dividing evenly. Roast, on a baking sheet, 20 to 22 minutes.

5. While the chicken is cooking, toss Broccolini, onion, red pepper, remaining lemon slices, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.

6. Remove baking sheet from oven and arrange vegetables around chicken. Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes more. If you have an instant-read thermometer (absolute must have in my opinion) cook till the thickest portion of the chicken reaches 75 degrees C

7. Serve with red pepper for sprinkling.

Now take a nice picture and don’t forget to tag @quintfit and yours truly @thyhungrypanda for the insta cheer!

(The author is a lawyer turned business intelligence consultant turned chef. He also designs weekly and monthly meal plans for clients and conducts baking and cooking workshops.)