Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Recipe below for this easy roasted chicken with stuffing! A good roasted chicken isn’t just for Sundays (although I love a Sunday roasted chicken). During the week, by splitting the chicken in half and laying it on top of a loose stuffing-like layer, you can have all the aromas and flavours of autumn in half the cooking time. What I like best about making faux stuffing (faux because it’s not actually stuffed into anything) is that the bread bits at the bottom of the roasting pan toast up, adding a delectable, caramelized crispy bite here and there when you eat this dish.
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Serves 3 to 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 75 minutes
Note: Leftover chicken and stuffing will keep well wrapped in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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• Ingredients •
2 oz (60 g) pancetta or bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp (4 g) chopped fresh sage or 2 tsp dried sage
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup (125 mL) chicken stock, dry white wine, or dry white vermouth
3 cups (150 g) diced day-old sourdough bread (some crusts included)
¼ cup (32 g) chopped fresh Italian parsley
Salt and black pepper
4 lb (1.8 kg) whole chicken
Olive oil, for basting the chicken
Paprika, for sprinkling
See below for gravy.
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• Directions •
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until it begins to crisp up a little. Add the onions and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onions look translucent. Add the sage, thyme and garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Pour in the vermouth and simmer until the liquid reduces by half.
3. Place the cubed bread in a bowl. Add the sautéed vegetables and the parsley and toss well. Season to taste.
4. Spoon the stuffing into a roasting pan.
5. Use a sharp butcher’s knife or kitchen shears to remove the keel bone and cartilage between the two breasts. Run your knife around either side of the keel bone at the base of the cartilage, and then use your fingers or a smaller knife to run along the cartilage to loosen it. Use your finger to pop out the cartilage, then cut around the backbone to release the thigh from it. Repeat with the other half. The backbone/carcass can be saved for stock. Place each chicken half on the stuffing, skin side up.
6. Lightly brush or drizzle the chicken with oil, sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper.
7. Roast the chicken, uncovered, for about an hour, until an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) is reached when tested inside the thigh and centre of the breast. Serve the chicken on the bone, cutting into smaller pieces, if needed, with the stuffing on the side.
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Perhaps you were reading this recipe and wondering, “Where’s the gravy?” I’ve got you covered. In this recipe, the stuffing absorbs all the juices as the chicken roasts, so making a pan gravy isn’t a realistic option. To make 2 cups (500 mL) of gravy worthy of these autumn flavours, melt 3 Tbsp (45 g) butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ¼ cup (37 g) all-purpose flour and stir continuously with a wooden spoon for 6 to 7 minutes, until the roux turns the colour of peanut butter. Whisk in 2 cups (500 mL) chicken stock in a few additions and bring the gravy to a simmer. Add a splash of vermouth and a little chopped sage, season to taste and serve.
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Excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Recipe below for this easy roasted chicken with stuffing! A good roasted chicken isn’t just for Sundays (although I love a Sunday roasted chicken). During the week, by splitting the chicken in half and laying it on top of a loose stuffing-like layer, you can have all the aromas and flavours of autumn in half the cooking time. What I like best about making faux stuffing (faux because it’s not actually stuffed into anything) is that the bread bits at the bottom of the roasting pan toast up, adding a delectable, caramelized crispy bite here and there when you eat this dish.
--------
Serves 3 to 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 75 minutes
Note: Leftover chicken and stuffing will keep well wrapped in the fridge for up to 2 days.
--------
• Ingredients •
2 oz (60 g) pancetta or bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp (4 g) chopped fresh sage or 2 tsp dried sage
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup (125 mL) chicken stock, dry white wine, or dry white vermouth
3 cups (150 g) diced day-old sourdough bread (some crusts included)
¼ cup (32 g) chopped fresh Italian parsley
Salt and black pepper
4 lb (1.8 kg) whole chicken
Olive oil, for basting the chicken
Paprika, for sprinkling
See below for gravy.
--------
• Directions •
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until it begins to crisp up a little. Add the onions and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onions look translucent. Add the sage, thyme and garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Pour in the vermouth and simmer until the liquid reduces by half.
3. Place the cubed bread in a bowl. Add the sautéed vegetables and the parsley and toss well. Season to taste.
4. Spoon the stuffing into a roasting pan.
5. Use a sharp butcher’s knife or kitchen shears to remove the keel bone and cartilage between the two breasts. Run your knife around either side of the keel bone at the base of the cartilage, and then use your fingers or a smaller knife to run along the cartilage to loosen it. Use your finger to pop out the cartilage, then cut around the backbone to release the thigh from it. Repeat with the other half. The backbone/carcass can be saved for stock. Place each chicken half on the stuffing, skin side up.
6. Lightly brush or drizzle the chicken with oil, sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper.
7. Roast the chicken, uncovered, for about an hour, until an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) is reached when tested inside the thigh and centre of the breast. Serve the chicken on the bone, cutting into smaller pieces, if needed, with the stuffing on the side.
--------
Perhaps you were reading this recipe and wondering, “Where’s the gravy?” I’ve got you covered. In this recipe, the stuffing absorbs all the juices as the chicken roasts, so making a pan gravy isn’t a realistic option. To make 2 cups (500 mL) of gravy worthy of these autumn flavours, melt 3 Tbsp (45 g) butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ¼ cup (37 g) all-purpose flour and stir continuously with a wooden spoon for 6 to 7 minutes, until the roux turns the colour of peanut butter. Whisk in 2 cups (500 mL) chicken stock in a few additions and bring the gravy to a simmer. Add a splash of vermouth and a little chopped sage, season to taste and serve.
--------
Excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
