Next Post
Crockpot Carne Asada Beer Chili.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
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!
This is the most memorable recipe of my life. I made it in college for a friendsgiving and I’ve never tasted such an amazingly made chicken before! About 4 years later I had to go through my pinterest to find this recipe as I want to make it again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Aw I am really happy you have been loving this recipe, Polina! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
Amazing. Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you Matt! xTieghan
My house smelled so good last night thanks to this recipe. We’ve made other “chicken/grape” recipes before. What made this stand out was the goat cheese/walnut rub. Added some special flavors.. One question: in your photos, your grapes stayed nice and purple, while mine faded into a purplish/gray and also generated lots of liquid (which was a lovely gravy). Thoughts on the color?
Thanks again!
Hey David! While the grapes roast they will naturally fade in color, especially the longer they roast. If you want the grapes to retain their color I recommend adding the grapes to the roasting pan during the last 40 minutes of cooking. They will not release as much juice this way, but they will have better color. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hello! Do you have any recommendations for high altitude cooking specifically with this dish. We always have a hard time getting the bird fully cooked here in Ridgway, Co high altitude living.
Thank you!
Hi Paige! My recipes should work great for you at high altitude, but if you have specific questions on a recipe please let me know! I am at around 9,000 feet! xTieghan
Do you think it would be OK to prep the chicken the night before (i.e. season and stuff the goat cheese mixture) and leave it loosely wrapped in the refrigerator overnight?
Hi Mary! You can prep the chicken the night before. That should be just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Can I make this ahead of time (tonight) and keep it in the fridge for tomorrow’s dinner?
HI! I am sure that will be just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you loved this recipe and had a great Christmas! Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
Just saw this and it’s already printing. I love roasted chicken and I also love goat cheese to the utmost. Those two (with the rest of it of course) are sooo a perfect match. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I am so glad you loved this Maria! Thank you!
I made this recipe for my book club, and everyone adored it! One of them said this was literally the best chicken they’ve ever had! I’m already excited for the leftovers.
Wow that is so amazing! Thank you so much Karissa!
I’ve looked at all your autumn recipes and I’m cooking my way through them! My friend absolutely loved this chicken, and went wild over the grapes and apples! My sister, who usually doesn’t even try my food, was all over that goat cheese mix.
I think I messed up the temperature, mainly because my oven is fickle, so the chicken had to go back into the oven after I carved it because it was salmonella-raw-pink on the inside!! But overall, this was a resounding success at my place and I’m gonna make this again soon, to get it right this time!!
I am really glad you enjoyed this Maria! Thank you!
Does the apple cider give the chicken a sweet taste? My husband isn’t keen on fruit flavors in his dinner, but I do want to skin you described. Will it work with chicken broth? Or maybe a mixture of the two??
Gonna make this with your buttery pull apart whole wheat potato rolls!
Thanks,
Kim
HI! Using chicken broth will great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Hi! My friend made this recipe and it was amazing! I have a bunch of green grapes at home and was wondering if they could work? Would it be too tart or not sweet enough, or would it not matter? Th aks!
Hello, Green grapes will work fine. It is more of a color issue. Red is more festive. The question you should ask yourself is if you like the taste of the green grapes. They can have a very nice flavor and add a nice contrast to the other ingredients. Have fun. Gayle
I have not tried this with green grapes, but I am sure that would be fine. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
where did your plates come from? they’re beautiful! also this recipe is prepped and ready to go in the oven once my pie comes out!
Those are from Williams-Sonoma, but I bought them a few years back and am not sure if they still carry them. Hope you loved this!
Christmas in South Africa and making this for the Christmas table… can’t wait to get it in the oven, looks so pretty already! ?
Wow so cool! Hope you loved it! Thank you Mel!
I made this. I cannot overstate how good this is. I could’ve wept with joy. The grapes seemed weird, I did it anyway….again. I could’ve wept.
This is my new favourite food group. Brava.
WOW!! So so happy you liked it!! Such nice words!! Thank you Melanie!
Hi! I have a 2.5 lb chicken and would love to make this recipe, but I’m guessing the cooking time will be way too long–how long would you suggest?
Hey Victoria! I would recommend 50-60 minutes. Please let me know if you have any questions. Hope you love this! Thanks! 🙂
Thanks for the quick reply! I did 10 minutes at 450, then 50 at 375 and it came out perfectly! That goat cheese mixture was delicious, might have to serve that on its own as an app sometime…