Olive Oil-Roasted Chicken With Caramelized Carrots
Updated Feb. 11, 2020
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds whole chicken legs, or bone-in, skin-on drumsticks or thighs
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1bunch small, thin carrots, preferably with their green tops
- 2heads garlic, left unpeeled and halved crosswise to expose the cloves
- 1lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
- ½bunch oregano, plus more leaves, for garnish
- 1cup olive oil
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
599 calories; 60 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 42 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 387 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Step 2
If the carrots have their green tops, trim them so that the stems are about ½- to 1-inch long. Save the greens for garnish or for using in salsa verde or pesto. (They can be treated like parsley.)
- Step 3
Arrange chicken in a large shallow baking dish or shallow braising pot — about 2½ to 3 quarts — so that the legs are snug and lying flat. Scatter garlic head halves, carrots, lemon slices and oregano sprigs among the chicken pieces, nestling everything in there. (It’s O.K. if the carrots stick out a bit.) Pour the olive oil over the chicken and vegetables. (Yes, you’re using all that oil! Don’t worry, it can be repurposed; see Tip.) Season again with salt and pepper.
- Step 4
Place in the oven, uncovered, and roast until the chicken is so tender it nearly falls off the bone and the carrots and lemons are nicely caramelized, 55 to 65 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Divide chicken, vegetables and lemons among plates (or serve straight from the dish it was cooked in). Scatter with carrot tops, if you have them, and more oregano before eating. Reserve the leftover schmaltzy olive oil in the baking dish for another purpose.
- The schmaltzy olive oil can be strained and stored in an airtight container, and refrigerated for up to 1 month. Use it to fry eggs, roast vegetables, cook more chicken, smear on toast or make bread crumbs.
Private Notes
Comments
Seems to me that this could benefit from a couple of shallots (treated like the garlic) and some thyme.
There is no way in God's green earth that this dish will come out as pictured if you cook it at 350 for 65 minutes. I cooked mine, as recommended by others on this site, for 60 min at 350 and then raised the temp to 400 and cooked for another 20 min. The chicken was pale-skinned, but tough as a boot [I used Mary's chicken which is usually the most tender] and the carrots were al dente and not browned in the least. What a disappointment.
Cook time - 80-90 minutes. After 60 switch oven to 425 to finish and brown. Use 3 whole heads of garlic, cut as described/in the video. Serve on table with cut bakery loaf to dip into olive oil mix. Carrot top garnish is essential. Made with rosemary instead of oregano first time around. Possibly season chicken ahead of time - maybe brown as well?
Absolutely melt in your mouth delicious. I made a few adjustments based on other comments. I did a dry brine for a couple of hours before hand. Browned the skin sides first. Added shallots, cut in half, as did the garlic. Also added celery. The chicken and vegetables almost fully submerged in olive oil after browning. -Pre-heat to 500, adjust to 350 when placing everything in oven for 30 minutes. Lowered heat to 275 for another hour. -Rearrange vegetables and chicken halfway through cook time to be sure everything is submerged. Would definitely make again. It takes time, but mostly unsupervised.
This was delicious. But NYT Food editors need to go back and seriously adjust the time on this recipe. There is no way this cooks in 55-65 minutes. I, like many other home cooks here, pulled it after 100 minutes and it was just done. I'd give it another 30, if i had the time. We readers ought to be able to rely on these recipes. I thank the community for the heads-up on timing.
New favorite recipe!! I took the skin off bone in thighs, cut some regular carrots thin and used about 8 cloves of garlic. I put everything in a large iron skillet and baked as directed. After 60 minutes the chicken was golden, carrots tender and parts that were sticking up were blackened. The lemon and garlic perfect! I kept it in another 15 minutes because I squeezed the thighs together and the directions say to lay them flat. Absolutely perfect. A big hit for the family. One skillet clean up - a new favorite that my college student will take back to his apartment. And I will definitely be making this regularly!