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Happy Fall!!! {enter all the fall emoji’s you can think of!}
I’m sure you guys have noticed, but I’ve been waiting for the official start of fall and finally, it has arrived, I am pumped!
It’s my favorite time of year. So much to look forward to over the next three-ish months. So much to do, so much excitement and of course, so much awesome food! The food is my favorite thing about fall, it’s THE BEST.
Clearly, I NEEDED to start off autumn with a roasted chicken. It’s just the quintessential fall thing to do. When I was a kid roasted chicken was my mom’s thing. It was one of the handful of dinners she would make, and she’d only make it on a Sunday night. She’d do all the prep for the chicken, roast it, check it, baste it, add more butter… Dad would make the rice, and possibly some kind of green, but I must admit, the greens were kind of scarce.
SIDE NOTE: Dad used to ALWAYS eat salad every night for dinner, no matter what he was making us kids. He’d literally mow giant bowls of salad for dinner…the rest of just weren’t into that. Since I started cooking (and making food other than chicken and rice) dad has changed his ways, but he still loves a good salad.
Mom would always attempt to make bread in her bread machine…but most of the time she’d start the bread at like five or six and with a four-hour cooking time, the bread was normally served after dinner, but before dessert. Either that or she’d throw loaf of bread in the oven from the store, BUT, there was an 85% chance she’d burn the bread. I am not trying to be harsh on her, but she is notorious for burning bread and or starting it way too late, and she’ll fully admit to it too. It’s just mom and we all love her for it.
Anyway, I think my point in all this was, that to me, a roasted chicken symbolizes fall and family dinners. It’s such a loved meal for me solely for that reason. Well that and I swear, no one makes a roasted chicken better than my mom. Her secret? Salt, pepper, chicken broth, Vegata seasoning and umm, butter.
Butter is a must, you knew that one was coming. She made it simple, but GOOD.
I kind of fancified her chicken a bit though and stuffed a whole bunch of goat cheese and fresh herbs under that chicken skin. Oh my gosh, I know. WHAT!
Yes, I somehow found a way to add cheese to a classic like roasted chicken. I think I have issues.
WHATEVER. Everyone’s got issues. I can deal with it. Cheese rules, especially goat cheese. So it’s totally cool.
I still kept the actual process of roasting the chicken simple and easy. I know the title sounds kind of fancy, but it’s really not, it’s a simple, easy meal to make for your family… or maybe even just for one. Then you can just eat the leftovers all week long. YUM!
Ok, so what else!
You’ve got the goat cheese stuffed under that skin. You also have some caramelized walnuts, sage and just a little rosemary in there too. From there you just rub the chicken with a little olive oil, salt + pepper. Oh, and butter…of course.
Then throw some grapes in a roasting pan and place the chicken on top of the grapes and roast away! Don’t be weirded out by the roasted grapes. They’re kind of my new favorite thing!! I love, love, love using grapes in a savory way like this and the flavors pair so perfectly with the flavors from the chicken + goat cheese. It’s kind of magical. <–Truth.
OH! And one of the most important parts is the apple cider. You know how some people baste their chicken with chicken broth? Or maybe you don’t baste your chicken, I don’t know, but today we are basting our chicken in a reduced apple cider sauce. It’s sweet and makes for the most perfect, golden caramelized skin. If you’re a lover of the skin (which oddly not a single soul in my family is), than you will LOVE this little step.
Plus, it really helps to keep the chicken moist and tie in all those awesome fall flavors!
*Lastly, for those of you who saw this post earlier today. I want to you to know that your efforts to contact Pinterest on my behalf of my issue have worked! Pinterest finally contacted me to let me know that we have been removed from their blacklist. They apologized for the inconvenience and said that, “Occasionally good websites get caught in the mix when we’re looking for spammy sites. This shouldn’t happen again, however, please let us know if it does”. Thank you all for being such AWESOME loyal readers. You have no idea how much this means to me. 🙂 Tieghan
Fall Harvest Cider Roasted Chicken with Walnut Goat Cheese + Grapes.
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 667 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 8 ounces goat cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound whole chicken 4-5
- 1 cloves head of garlic bottom sliced off to reveal the
- 2 apples quartered
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh red grapes
- 3 cups apple cider
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place a small skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts + honey and cook until toasted and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Remove the walnuts from the skillet and spread out on a plate in a single layer. Allow to cool and then finely chop the walnuts.
- In a small bowl, mix together the goat cheese, chopped walnuts, sage and rosemary.
- Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat the outside dry. Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the garlic and 1 quartered apple. Slide your hand between the meat and skin of the chicken and then carefully stuff the goat cheese mixture under the skin, pushing it as far back as you can get it without actually ripping the skin. Depending on the size of your chicken, you may not use all the goat cheese. If this is the case, just sprinkle the goat cheese around the grapes before roasting.
- Rub the chicken all over with olive oil and then sprinkle generously with salt + pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
- Place the grapes and remaining apples in a roasting pan or large cast iron skillet. Drizzle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Add a few fresh sage leaves and any remaining goat cheese.
- Place chicken onto the grapes. Add four tablespoon size pats of butter around the chicken.
- Roast the chicken for 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Add the cider to a medium size pot and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until it thickens and is reduced by about half. Halfway through cooking the chicken, brush the bird with half of the cider. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done cooking, brush it again with the remaining cider. If desired, you can also reserve some cider for serving.
- Allow the chicken to sit for 10-20 minutes, covered with foil and then slice and serve!
Notes
*To intensive the cider flavor you can also brine the chicken in cider overnight. Add the chicken to a LARGE pot or even a plastic box of some sort. Pour over 16 ounces of apple cider and then add enough water to cover the chicken completely. Add 1/2 cup kosher salt and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage + rosemary. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the chicken from the brine and pat completely dry, follow the directions above.
Come on, doesn’t this fall harvest cider roasted chicken just make you feel all warm and cozy?!?! YES!
Hi! I’ve made a few of your recipes before and have 2 questions about this one.
1. For the garlic- it just says to chop off the bottom to reveal the cloves. Am I also removing the paper’y skin? I’m just envisioning all the papery skin flaking off inside the chicken so I have to ask for more clarification on the garlic…
2. When you say to put 4 T size pats of butter “around the chicken” does that mean slap it right on the chicken or around it like basically ON the grapes the chicken is resting on?
THANK YOU! I love your recipes and can’t wait to make this with your pumpkin soup for my hubby (we LOVED that soup last fall!)
Hi!!
Q1: so peel away most of the skin, leaving just one layer and then chop off the top 1/3 of the garlic to reveal the cloves. Does that help at all? Let me know if you have further questions.
Q2: I mean to put the butter on the chicken.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love this! 🙂
I just bought my first roaster and this is going to be my first recipe to try! I’m excited and VERY nervous! I have never worked with a whole chicken before. Thank you for all the detail in the recipe!
I see you served this with rice. Another side dishes that would accompany this? Is another side even necessary?
Happy Fall!
Thanks!
Hey Kristen I love serving this with wild rice or mashed potatoes and then always a side of bread! Let me know if you have any questions at all. Happy to help! Hope you love this! 🙂
Sorry, I forgot to ask if the goat cheese has to be crumbled or in bigger chunks? THANK YOU!
Hey! I was just wondering when you put the goat cheese mixture in between the meat and skin, do you put it all the way back or do you spread it out between the meat and skin? I love this recipe and the pictures look beautiful!
Hey Brooke! You spread it under the skin, between the meat + skin. Don’t pull the skin all the way back. Use your hand to kind of push it back. Does that make sense? The goat cheese should be crumbled. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks so much and I hope you love this!
THANK YOU! I can’t wait to make this for a HALLOWEEN dinner! AHHHH!
Good stuff!!!
Thanks Peggy!
Amazing recipe!!! I am a college student, but I love cooking and I made it yesterday. It’s juicy and delicious. I couldn’t find Apple cider in the store, so I just used organic apple juice and While zinfadel wine. Your recipe rocks!
I have a question though. The top of the chicken turned black. I baked it with 426F. Any idea why?
Here’s a picture: http://s15.postimg.org/nx2cr4tob/IMAG2798.jpg
Thank you for the recipe!!!
Hey Polina! Did you have the chicken up towards the top of the oven? You can also cover the chicken towards the end of cooking to keep it from burning on top.
So happy you loved this! 🙂
Thanks!
Made this yesterday for a Sunday roast and OMG it was amazing! Everyone absolutely loved it! Even without brining they said it was the juiciest chicken they’ve ever had and the even the picky eaters LOVED the grapes! Another GREAT recipe! Thank you!
YA!! So happy it was a huge success! THANK YOU!
I made this the other night and it was amazing!! The chicken was incredibly moist and tender, and the grapes were a sweet and juicy touch! Love it.
Hi- looks amazing and I’m planning on making it this weekend. Question: What kind of apple cider did you use? Sorry for not grasping, but is it the cider with alcohol, or without?
Thanks!
HI! I just use cider without alcohol, but hard cider will work too. Hope you love this! THANKS!
Ya know, my grandma used to say, just because it looks good doesn’t mean it tastes good. Your photos are amaaaaaazing. I guess I want that chicken, & that cook to make it for me lol.Or maybe if I had gorgeous serving pieces, earthware, I guess you can see where I’m going with this…. Constructive feedback if I may: I didn’t get the goat cheese because under the skin, not only did it melt/breakdown was pretty much gone. But it was on the hard side.The remainder of the cheese when sprinkled with grapes burnt to a crisp. Loved the grapes but I recommend taken off their stalks. Both me & my husband felt that way. We couldn’t eat the grapes with out getting messy. Have you tried lowering the heat maybe after 15 min in the oven. So keep posting your fabulous photos. Thanks
Hi Karen, I am sorry this recipe did not go over well for you. I have had many readers make it with success, so I am not sure what happened. If you feel the chicken/cheese was a little burnt, I recommend covering the dish with foil until the chicken is cooked through. That should fix your issue. Also, what type of goat cheese did you use?
Again, sorry for the trouble and please let me know if you have any questions. Tieghan
this looks so delicious!!! just curious as to if this could be done with a small turkey instead of a chicken?
Hi Taryn! I honestly am not sure, BUT I would think so. I have actually not cooked a ton of turkey, so I am not as comfortable instructing you on that. But again, if I had to guess, I think it would be great!! Let me know how it goes!
Tieghan! 🙂
I am planning to make this recipe this week and have a quick question! When you say to put the four pats of butter “around the chicken” do your mean to put them ON the chicken in various places or around the chicken as in on top of the grapes? Thanks!
Hi Liz, yes, I mean on the chicken. Sorry, this is kind of confusing!
Hope you love the chicken and let me know if you have any other questions!
Will my grapes burn? I feel like an hour or more is a lot. Yours didn’t burn though right?
HI! Mine did not burn. A few on the top got a little charred, but mostly I think the chicken protects the grapes from burning. If you want, you can cover the grapes with foil towards the end of cooking if they look like they are getting brunt. Hope that helps and I hope you love this dinner!
I just came across your blog a couple of weeks ago and this was the first recipe I have attempted. I made this last Sunday and- BEST. CHICKEN. EVER. We absolutely LOVED it and I’m sure I will be making it again. Thanks for putting together such an awesome combination of flavors!
You add lavender asswell, or is that just decorative, it’s looks great if love to try making this for my friends and family