This Christmas Roast Chicken is a sweet and tangy whole roast chicken with pomegranate, orange, and fresh herbs. Super moist on the inside, with flavorful and crisp skin on the outside!
Celebrate the season with a stunning Christmas Roast Chicken infused with holiday flavors! Garnished with fresh oranges, pomegranate seeds, and fresh herbs, this dish is as beautiful as it is delicious. Prepare to impress everybody’s taste buds when this Chicken slides onto the table!
Perfect for cozy gatherings or family get-togethers, slide this Christmas Roast Chicken on the table with a side of simple maple Brussels sprouts and a sweet potato side dish!
Use up the last of that late Autumn-early winter produce, and make a batch of my simple homemade Cranberry Sauce which only requires 6-ingredients and 20 minutes until it’s ready to enjoy!
This Christmas Roast Chicken starts with a flavor-infused butter rub that is packed with fresh herbs, oranges, pomegranate juice, and maple syrup. Once this is rubbed all over the chicken (inside and out!), the chicken gets stuffed with leftover oranges, even more herbs, and garlic goodness!
To keep this chicken juicy and moist, we take it out of the oven during the roasting process to baste it with all of that chicken juice and other flavors that are oozing out of the chicken.
You don’t want to cut into this chicken too soon after it’s fully cooked and removed from the oven; it needs to rest! This allows for maximum flavor and juices to seep back into the meat.
Holiday Flavors
Taste: This Christmas Roast Chicken isn’t all about presentation; it will rock your taste buds! Its blend of savory, sweet, and tangy flavors bursts in your mouth when you take a bite! Notes of orange and pomegranate combine with maple and fresh herbs to make a flavor explosion that everybody is going to want seconds of at your Holiday gathering!
Texture: No need to worry about dry and boring poultry over here. Christmas Roast Chicken is moist and juicy on the inside from all of the basting done during the roasting process, and by allowing the chicken to rest and absorb all of the flavors that dripped out of it while it was cooking before. you slice into it! Not to mention, the skin on this chicken is crisp and tasty!
Christmas Roast Chicken Ingredients
This dinner centerpiece uses flavors that are best enjoyed during the holiday season and during winter time. Using produce at its peak season, like we do with oranges and pomegranates, completes the flavor profiles and really makes this chicken pop in your mouth!
- Unsalted butter
- Maple syrup
- Pomegranate juice
- Orange juice
- Orange zest
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh rosemary
- Fresh sage
- Whole chicken (about a 6.5 lb bird)
- Half an orange
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
Variations And Substitutions
- Maple Syrup- This can be substituted for honey and it will still be just as delicious. If you like a sweeter and stickier chicken skin, add about ¼ cup more to the butter mixture.
- Fresh Herbs- Fresh herbs can be swapped for dried herbs, just half the amount needed.
- Unsalted Butter- You can use salted butter if that’s what you have on hand, just keep in mind this will make the entire chicken taste saltier.
- Fresh Orange Juice- You can use pulp-free store-bought orange juice if you can’t juice your own oranges.
Pomegranate Orange Maple Butter Rub
This chicken starts by being rubbed down with a Pomegranate Orange Maple Butter rub that is super easy to make! All you have to do to make this delicious spread is combine your softened butter with orange juice, pomegranate juice, fresh chopped herbs, orange zest, and maple syrup.
I like to make sure my herbs are finely chopped before adding them to the butter rub, so they’re evenly dispersed, and nobody is chewing on large pieces of herbs that others may not get a bite of. Fine, even chopping is best!
To really make this chicken skin crisp and flavorful, you’ll want to make sure the chicken is patted dry with a paper towel before rubbing the butter on it. Carefully separate the chicken skin from the breast and rub that buttery goodness under the skin, as well as inside the cavity, and of course on all other sides and parts of the chicken! Save some of this butter for basting the chicken later on.
How To Make Christmas Roast Chicken
Once the chicken is rubbed all over with the Pomegranate Orange Maple Butter Rub, you’ll stuff the cavity with oranges, garlic, and more sprigs of herbs. Tie the chicken legs together and tuck the wings under the bird. Season with some salt and pepper to taste, and you’re ready to slide this chicken into the oven!
The key to getting a moist and juicy chicken is to baste it. Once the chicken has cooked some of that juice, chicken fat, and flavor out of it, you’ll remove the chicken from the oven and baste it with the drippings that are in the pan. The basting continues every 30-45 minutes for best results until the chicken is fully cooked.
Don’t get too excited once this chicken comes to temperature. You want to carefully tent some aluminum foil over the bird to retain heat and allow the chicken to rest and reabsorb all of those lost juices. This is how you get a juicy roast chicken!
How To Serve Christmas Roast Chicken
Christmas Roast Chicken is perfect for holidays, get-togethers, or Sunday family dinners. This bird is the star of the show, but you don’t want to skimp on sides!
Serve this Christmas Roast Chicken with sweet potatoes and green vegetables for a well-rounded, flavor-packed meal. Take advantage of in-season fruits and vegetables to find flavor pairings that are wonderful together!
Roast your vegetables at the same time as the chicken, and use some leftover Pomegranate Orange Maple Butter Rub to coat and season!
FAQ’s
No! The maple syrup pairs nicely with the citrusy notes from the oranges and pomegranate combined with the herbs. If you are worried about the chicken being too sweet, use about 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons of maple syrup instead of 1/4 cup.
If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs. Just half the amount needed.
The chicken is fully cooked when you can stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken (typically in the thigh), and the temperature reads 165 degrees F. Another way to tell if the chicken is done cooking is if you cut into the thigh and the juices run clear; you’re good to go!
I don’t recommend skipping basting the chicken. The basting essentially promotes browning and refills the chicken with moisture and any of the juices and flavors that may be seeping out during cooking.
For the best possible results, I highly recommend allowing your chicken to rest! The resting period ensures the chicken soaks up any lost liquid that drains from it during cooking. This means all that flavor soaks right back into the meat, making it extra juicy and moist!
If you’re short on time, you can half the rest time to speed the process along.
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
I like to sprinkle on a little more seasoning and chopped herbs after my last baste and return to the oven. Sometimes, basting it with a brush will move things around too much or to one area. Plus, it just comes out of the oven so beautifully and evenly covered.
Christmas Roast Chicken
EQUIPMENT
- Roasting pan with rack
- Roasting pan for vegetables
- Medium mixing bowl
- Meat thermometer
INGREDIENTS
Pomegranate Orange Maple Butter Rub
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
Chicken
- 6.5 lb whole chicken giblets removed
- half an orange quartered
- 1 bulb of garlic
- sprigs of herbs
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the butter rub and set aside. The butter should be soft but not melted. It’s ok if some of the juice does not fully incorporate with the butter, we will baste with it.
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Place the chicken with the breast side up on the wire rack of a roasting pan and pat it dry with paper towels. Gently loosen the skin and rub some of the butter mixture underneath. Take some butter and rub it all around the chicken and inside the cavity. Save some of the butter rub for basting.
- Stuff the cavity with half an orange, a bulb of garlic with the top chopped off so the garlic is exposed, and a few sprigs of each of the herbs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under the bird. Season all over with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Once the chicken has roasted for 30 minutes at 425℉, remove from the oven and baste it. Reduce the oven to 350℉ and return to the oven to bake for about another hour and a half to two hours, basting every 30-45 minutes. A 6.5 lb whole chicken should cook for about 2 hours and 30 minutes total. If the chicken is browning too much, loosely tent it with aluminum foil. The chicken is done cooking when the thickest part of the breast meat measures 165℉ and when piercing into the thigh, the juices run clear.
- When the chicken has finished baking, allow to rest out of the oven and loosely tented with foil for 30 minutes before slicing. This allows for maximum flavor and the juices to seep back into the meat.
NOTES
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
