Halloween may be behind us now, the stores might be putting out all of their Christmas decorations and I might be getting a little too eager to watch Elf, but fall is still in full swing. This chicken dish is the best way to celebrate that fact. This recipe just screams fall. The chicken is stuffed with apples, lemon and cinnamon, topped with bacon and then slow roasted in a bath of chicken broth and apple cider.
It is no secret that I prefer the dark meat of chicken. It’s just so much more tender than the breasts. Especially on roasted chicken. By the time that legs and thighs are done cooking, the breasts are dry. That used to be my problem anyway. Until I discovered that if you place bacon on the top of the chicken breast while the chicken is roasting, the bacon bastes the chicken as it is cooking. This results in one of the most moist chicken breasts I have ever eaten.
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 5 pound chicken
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt
- 1/2 braeburn apple
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 slices pepper bacon
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup apple cider
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Be sure to remove any gizzards that are inside the bird.
- Lightly season the cavity of the chicken with salt.
- Mix together the butter and garlic. Gently separate the skin of the chicken from the breast and place about 1 tablespoon of butter on top of each breast. Rub the remaining butter all over the chicken. Stuff the chicken with the apple, lemon and cinnamon stick. Place chicken in a roasting pan breast side up. Lay the 5 strips of bacon across the chicken securing each with a tooth pick. Pour chicken broth and apple cider around the chicken.
- Place chicken in preheated oven. Cook for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until temperature of the thigh reaches 170 degrees.
- Remove bacon and discard. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes more to brown the skin. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 10 - 15 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook during this time. The chicken is done when a thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 180 degrees.
- Remove apples, lemon and cinnamon stick and discard. Carve and serve.
This chicken looks yummy and what a combination of ingredients!! I really want to try it. Anyway you can add dietary notes with your recipes? I’m diabetic and am always looking for new recipes. Thanks Jenifer
Nice! Thank you
You’re welcome! I agree the breast gets sooooo juicy.
I tried this recipe last Sunday and it was absolutely the most moist chicken I’ve ever roasted. The breast was SO juicy. Thanks for the recipe.
Hey Stephen- I just realized I never responded. It’s not necessary to discard the bacon. I chose to but it will be cooked by then so you can eat it.
Thanks Darcy! Place uncooked bacon over the chicken. As it cooks in the oven, the fat that it releases will baste the chicken. Hope this helps!
What a great blog! Do you place uncooked bacon or cooked bacon over the chicken? Thanks!!!
Hey Jackie- I rubbed the butter over the entire chicken.
Bacon….of course!! Great idea on keeping that breast nice and moist….plus it’s bacon……mmmmmmmmm!!!! The chicken looks fantastic!
Hi Des
Do you rub the butter mixture on both sides of the chicken or just the front.
I’m always so amazed at the delicious combinations you come up with! Don’t ever stop food blogging! :)
Great idea and I bet that makes for some mighty tasty skin! The chicken looks absolutely delicious.
Oh man this sounds dangerously delicious. Thanks for sharing!
This looks terrific! Thanks for the idea about the bacon.
Did you know that another way to get more moist breasts is to roast the chicken upside down on a rack? It isn’t picture-perfect with the rack lines, but the chicken self-bastes and the breast meat is much better.
I’m going to try your bacon method, though. :)
This looks like an excellent way to roast a chicken. Is it necessary to discard the bacon? By the way, did you see my post from 10/30 where I combined your habanero chicken with Jenn’s chipotle chicken? Reply to scrout1944@msn.com if you care to.