Frugal Recipe: Cooking a Whole Chicken

Written by FrugalTrader on Mar 13, 2008 filed under Frugal Recipes

Ever wonder how to cook a whole chicken? I was preparing supper yesterday evening and I realized that I don’t post a lot about cooking here on MDJ. Cooking/recipes can become a popular topic as everyone eats and why not save some money while your at it?

This recipe is for cooking a whole chicken. There are various times at the grocery store when they have fresh whole chickens on sale. I consider them on sale when they cost around $4.39/kg (~$2/lb).

Here are the goods:

What you’ll need:

~ 2.5-3 lb fresh whole chicken (if frozen, thawed first)
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Other spices/herbs that you enjoy. I personally like to use chicken boullion (low salt, no msg), savoury, and italian spice mix.

Preparation

Remove the bag that sits inside the chicken.
Thoroughly clean the chicken under running water.
Place chicken in a roasting pan, generously coating (inside and out) with salt, pepper and other spices/herbs that you enjoy.
Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over chicken
Preheat oven to 350F

Cooking

If you like the breast to be extra juicy (who doesn’t), then make sure to cook with the breast side down (opposite of the picture).
350F preheated oven for 25-30 min/lb. Works out to be about 1.5 hrs for a 3 lb chicken.
You’ll know when it’s done when the thighs internal temperature reaches 180F or if it bleeds clear. I usually use the indicator of a nice browning of the skin.

Serving

After the chicken is done cooking, take it out of the oven and let it sit for around 10 min before carving.

Done! An easy peasy recipe that can be extremely cost effective providing you find the chickens on sale.

Do you have any frugal recipes to share?

Photo credit: ninjapoodles

33 Comments, Comment or Ping

1. Richard

Nice recipe and cost-saving tip. I haven’t been in Canada in a while (working in the UK for the past 2.5 months) so my pricing knowledge is all skewed right now, but doesn’t a Loblaws or Costco rotisserie chicken only cost about $5 or $6 after taxes? I didn’t think that you would only be saving a dollar or two…

I never realized that the profit margins for them are so low (not factoring in that the chicken probably costs them $2).

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 8:30 am
2. Four Pillars

I’ve found the store rotisserie chicken to be cheaper than the fresh chicken – seems silly.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 8:38 am
4. FrugalTrader

Hey guys, I would also pick an already cooked chicken, but the best price around here is $7.99/chicken + tax (not unless you buy cold) and they aren’t as good as home cooked ones (imo).

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 9:55 am
5. Hannah - The Penny Mine

Lovely recipe! I also personally enjoy some of that Kraft 5-minute rice with soy sauce and a can of corn to make it a full meal, and still keeps it to be very cheap per serving!

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 9:58 am
6. Andrew

Sorry to be a bit of a spoilsport, but as somebody who cares about what he eats both from a quality and from a cost perspective, buying cheap chicken is a bad idea for several reasons:

1. Health. Cheap, factory farmed chicken WILL arrive laced with antibiotics and hormones. If you’re investing in yourself you should try and live long enough to reap the rewards.

2. Animal rights. I am a confirmed carnivore and have no problems with killing animals for food. However, I don’t want to be responsible, and our buying habits do make us responsible, for the life factory chickens are subjected to.

My solution is simply to eat less meat. When I eat it i should be the best I can afford, a free range, organic bird rather than something that spent a miserable life in a concentration camp for poultry. I then make a number of meals out of one chicken. If I roast it, I use the bones to make a soup the next day. I keep some of the meat back and add it for extra flavour. If I don’t feel like soup I will make a stock for another day. Nothing is wasted, everything is used.

I don’t meant to rant or preach, but this is something that’s close to my heart.

Cheers,

Andy

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 10:18 am
7. FourPillars

FT – I agree that cooking your own chicken is better (and more fun).

Andrew – if I have to make a choice between following your advice and the juicy picture that FT provided – I’m sorry, but the picture wins hands down! :)

Mike

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 10:22 am
8. Ramona

It’s 8:49 in the morning & my mouth is watering! My frugal recipe isn’t really a recipe. Cook some pasta, like rigatoni or penne. While it is cooking (8 – 10 minutes), chop up some veggies like red pepper, green pepper, onion, broccoli, and garlic, fry these up with a little olive oil, add some jarred sauce. Then drain your pasta, throw in with the sauce for a minute or two to mix well. Dump it all into a pasta bowl and enjoy!! Got this from going to Cuba and enjoying at the buffett – very yummy, and meatless, and quick and easy.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 10:23 am
9. Richard

I’m all for animal welfare and eating organic, but the price is what usually turns me off. I am trying to eat the cheapest food possible, so even when it comes to a large bag of carrots for 55p (GBP) vs. half the bag at 65p, I’ll go for the bigger bag. This organic wave of thinking is still relatively new, while we forget that they’ve been using hormones and antibiotics for much longer.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 11:57 am
10. DAvid

Rotisserie Chicken — best deal out there. They are cheaper fully cooked than in the raw or frozen state, costs nothing in time or cooking, and there is a fine selection ready just in time for the after-work crowd.

The only problem I have is they cool down a bit on the walk home.

DAvid

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
11. Mike

quick tip here: I’ve found making from scratch is usually cheaper, and I can choose how healthy it is. Ex. Granola bars, a 1 kg box of them is about $10, a quick guestimate says my recipe is made for $3-4 … But you sacrifice time, which is really what convenience foods are selling– the time it takes to learn howto and to physically prepare good tasting things.

-MikeG

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
12. Canadian Dream

FT,

Ah I do like to roast my own as well. Here’s a twist for you. Soak the chicken in a salt water solution for 24 hours in the fridge. Then put it in a slow cooker with two oranges cut up and some fresh roasmary (in and out of the chicken). Cook for 10 hours.

The meat just falls off the bone and is SO GOOD!

Tim

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
13. Phil

I have to agree with Andrew here. If you are buying chicken at 2$ a pound you are basically buying hormones and water. They are boosted with hormones during their short lives and then the packaging process involves literally using syringes to shoot the meat with a water-based solution to increase it’s weight.

Now I don’t mind the hormones so much, but buying water really ticks me off.

Better go for the 10$ to 12$ 2-pounder from a small producer. Yes, it’s 5$ a pound, but it’s real meat. Anyway, once you try it you won’t go back.

Another trick to reduce cooking time, is to wrap the chicken in parchment paper or aluminum foil with vegetables inside. Cook it at 425 F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. It keeps all the juices inside and makes your chicken tender and juicy.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 1:35 pm
14. Spiderman

very nice, i agree with that.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
15. FourPillars

FT – I just left a comment over at your GRS thread – what a bunch of whackjobs over there! Any thoughts I’ve had of doing a GP there have evaporated quickly…. :)

Recipes: One recipe I’ve done in the past is “beer can chicken”.

Get a whole chicken and a 24 of your favourite beer.

Put a bunch of herbs on the outside and inside of the chicken.

Stand up the chicken on an open beer can which is mostly full. This can be done on the bbq or in the oven. Getting the chicken to stay up is the hard part.

Cook at 375? for I think 2 hours or so.

Eat the chicken and do what you can to the rest of the 24. :)

Mike

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
16. FrugalTrader

FP, lol, the bigger the audience, the more criticism one faces. I can only imagine the comments that J.D gets on a daily basis. Great recipe btw.

I’m going to try both and slow cooker recipe a la Tim and the beer one a la Mike. Beer one sounds more fun. :)

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
17. Andrew

One more comment from the chef – this time about beer can chicken: If you want to try this, use something stainless steel, not an actual beer can. The temperatures the beer might reach in a stove (or worse, on a BBQ) are high enough to leach solvents from the paint into the food. So, don’t do it, it’s bad for your health.

Sorry to be the resident killjoy today :( but I’d thought it important to pass this on.

Andy.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 2:46 pm
18. ETF Income

It is good to eat that MDJ talks about other interesting posting other than finance. Good job!

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
19. nobleea

Just a reminder to everyone that chicken should be thawed in the fridge, NOT the counter, or anything around room temperature.

Takes some planning (have to start thawing stuff on monday for a wednesday meal), but the nasty bacteria in chicken starts growing at around 10C. Of course, cooking it properly should eliminate problems, but why increase the possibility?

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
20. Dividendgrowth

The best frugal recipe out there is to cook at home rather than eat out. :-)

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
21. Acorn

FourPillars,
My advice… use very few spices and a bottle of beer instead of a can… Much easier to maintain vertical chicken position. Spread 1/8″ of course salt inside the pan. (salt vaporizes, it gives extra test) Also, wrap the wings in the foil. Used this recipe hundreds time …always works… especially with shot of vodka or whiskey before you eat…strait.…no ice.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
22. Jeremy

Whole chickens are extremely cost-effective when compared to buying most pieces of the chicken individually. Sure, you might be able to get a rotisserie chicken pre-cooked in the deli section of your supermarket, but they are usually quite small and very overcooked. Not to mention, you don’t have all of the great natural juices that go into the roasting pan that allows you to make the best gravy ever.

We usually roast a chicken once a week or at least every two weeks. For the two of us, that can typically mean more than enough for one good dinner, possibly lunch the next day, and the chicken carcass is great for making homemade chicken stock that can be used in soup or a number of other great recipes.

Way better than spending 8 dollars for a package of boneless chicken breasts for just one meal.

Mar 13th, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
23. Little Ms. Scoroge

Just thought I will add my family’s 2 fav recipes.
1)Put chicken pieces( thighs/ drumsticks) in a slow cooker. Add a cup of BBQ sauce (any store bought one will do). Now add a cup of coke,not the diet one. Cook it on medium for 6 hours and serve with salad. The sauce is very delish to mop up with bread.
2)Leave chicken coated with tandoori spice(dry powder or bottled paste available at any supermarket’s International aisle)and yoghurt for 1-2 hours or even overnight for a tastier and tender chicken.Youghurt makes the chicken tender. Grill it/BBQ it. serve with naan bread and raitha( grate cucumber into yoghurt, add salt,paste made of crushed mint leaves &1or 2 green chillies)for a truly satisfying meal.

Mar 14th, 2008 @ 1:06 am
24. Harrington Brooks

Thanks for the recipe ideas, shame you had to post such a nice picture of a chicken when I haven’t ate yet ;)

Mar 14th, 2008 @ 5:46 am
25. Livingalmostlarge

Slow cook the chicken. You get broth out of it and the meat is so tender it falls off the bones to get the most meat out of the chicken. Use the bones to get the broth extra tasty, stew it for a bit.

Use the chicken for a main dish, enchiladas, tacos, chicken salad, pretty much anything.

Mar 17th, 2008 @ 2:21 am
28. Thanh Dang

If you want to live frugal, I would add this part:

When I cook a chicken, I fill my oven with other stuff (ex. lasagna, oven potatoes, muffins … and such.

Mar 24th, 2008 @ 12:02 am
30. James

The thing is they use chickens that are ready to expire when they make the roasted ones in the grocery stores.Doesnt mean they are bad it just means they are not the freshest.

Apr 23rd, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
31. Rhonda Farrell

When i cook a chicken i always save enough meat and all the bones for the next day and make a soup for dinner.I find when i roast the chicken it really makes the soup a nicer flavour. I serve it with homemade garlic bread also! Yum

Sep 22nd, 2008 @ 3:37 pm