Truly Yummy Roast Chicken
Truly Yummy roast chicken with a rich homemade gravy that’s gluten free and dairy free.
My Truly Yummy Roast Chicken is naturally gluten free and dairy free but what really makes this recipe special is the gravy. Made while the chicken roasts, it develops an incredible depth of flavour and takes your Sunday roast to the next level.
I first discovered this roast chicken recipe with its delicious homemade gravy in Pippa Kendrick’s book, The Intolerant Gourmet. It’s wonderfully simple and works beautifully with both chicken or turkey. In fact, this is the very recipe I use for my Christmas turkey each year. It’s perfect for special occasions such as Mother’s Day, birthdays or simply a relaxed Sunday roast with family and friends.
Not only is it easy to prepare but the flavour of the meat is far better than any supermarket chicken cooked in a roasting bag which often contain butter or milk and therefore not suitable for dairy free diets.
One of my favourite tips is to cook two smaller chickens rather than one large bird. One becomes our family roast, while the other is perfect for sandwiches, salads or a quick stir fry the next day. Try using any leftover meat in my Truly Yummy Sweet & Sour Turkey recipe as chicken works just as well. It’s far more cost effective to cook two meals at once and a whole bird is usually cheaper than four chicken breasts plus it gives you more meat.
Serve with roast potatoes, steamed vegetables and of course my Truly Yummy Stuffing, especially if you’re cooking a turkey crown.
The information and product recommendations in this recipe are for general information only. Please always check ingredient labels, as manufacturers can change ingredients over time. See our full Disclaimer for more details.
Truly Yummy Roast Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Roasting tin with rack recommend with rack but can also use a roasting tin without a rack
Ingredients
- 1.6 kg fresh whole chicken or two smaller birds
- 2 large onions, peeled and sliced into 1½ cm rounds
- 20 g fresh sage, leaves only and roughly chopped recommend a small packet of fresh sage
- 4-6 cloves of garlic, whole and unpeeled
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 chicken stock cube mixed in 400ml of hot water recommend Knorr Chicken Stock Pot
- 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon recommend two rashes per person and enough to cover the bird
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with a little water to form a paste. recommend Brown & Polson Cornflour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃/ Gas Mark 6.
- Place the onion rounds, sage, garlic, lemon juice, sugar and chicken stock into the roasting tray.
- Add the rack (if using) and rest the chicken on top of the rack or directly on top of the onions.
- Lay the bacon rashers over the chicken and season with pepper only as there is plenty of salt in the bacon and stock.
- 15 - 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the crispy bacon and allow the chicken to golden on top. See Notes Below.
- Cook in the oven until the chicken juices run clear. See Notes Below.
- Once the chicken is cooked remove from the tin together with some of the onions.
- Add the cornflour paste to the roasting tin and cook on top of the stove until the gravy is thickened to your liking. Using a sieve strain the gravy into a jug removing the onions slices and garlic cloves.
- Serve sliced with a little cooked onion, a couple of slices of crispy bacon and lashings of gravy.