Our Christmas Herb-Roasted and Orange-Glazed Chicken

So delicious -- the glazed skin is sweet and herby, the meat is tender, and the gravy is delectable.

I based this recipe on a turkey recipe from a Southern Living Christmas cookbook (about 2010). Their recipe called for sage, savory, salt, pepper, butter, orange juice, orange marmalade, and honey. My version is suited for a smaller whole poultry, is more intense in herb flavor, adds onion, and uses a slightly less sweet glaze.

Here's the recipe:

Christmas Chicken

• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• the juice from 1/2 an orange
• 1/4 cup of jam or cranberry sauce (I've used plum jam, but other jam flavors would work. We also really love this glaze using cranberry sauce.)
• additional 1/2 teaspoon dried sage

In a small bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients. 

After cleaning and patting dry a whole chicken (about 4 to 5 lbs), tie the legs and wings with kitchen twine, then rub the dry seasonings all over the top and sides of the chicken.

Bake the chicken for about 1 hour at 325 degrees F. Meanwhile, combine the orange juice and jam (or cranberry sauce), and additional sage.

After 1 hour of roasting, spoon the glaze over the entire partially-roasted chicken. The chicken goes back into the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature is checked in the leg/thigh and in the breast. If it is not quite to doneness, loosely tent the glazed chicken with foil (to prevent the glaze from burning) and return to the oven. Once the chicken has reached the desired temperature, remove it from the oven, leave tented and allow to sit for 15 minutes before transferring to a cutting board.

The juices in the pan are used to make a sweet and savory gravy. Pour the juices into a glass measuring cup and chill briefly. Scoop/spoon the fat that has risen to the top and heat it in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to cook out any liquids before adding flour, followed by remaining pan juices plus some water. No additional seasoning to the gravy is needed, in my opinion.

If what you have is orange marmalade, by all means you can use it. If you have orange juice and not a fresh orange, orange juice will work, use about 1/4 cup of juice  The primary dried herb to use is the sage. If you don't have thyme, then marjoram, savory, or additional sage could be substituted. You could omit the onion powder, but I like the flavor it adds to the herb rub.

I've roasted a whole chicken for the last several Christmases and Thanksgivings using this process of herb rub followed by sweet glaze. A whole chicken is a more manageable size for our family. As well, we prefer the flavor and texture compared to turkey. 

If you were planning on roasting a whole turkey for Christmas (I know that's customary in some areas), you may want to consider an herb rub followed with a sweet glaze. My recipe is the right amount of seasoning and glaze for a 5-lb bird. For a larger turkey, do the math to increase the amounts of both herbs and glaze and roast for longer with just the herb rub, glazing in the last 30 minutes to an hour (tenting with foil as needed to prevent burning the glaze).

Happy eating!