Thanksgiving is my holiday. It’s basically my super bowl! But this year, I thought it would be fun to come up with an idea for smaller groups. You can still have all of the great qualities of Thanksgiving, but downsized. Enter: the Thanksgiving Chicken! I am so delighted by this recipe. It gets all of the luscious flavors of the turkey in a smaller setting!

Thanksgiving chicken in a baking dish

You all know at this point that I absolutely love Cooks Venture Chicken. It’s so juicy and tender, and I knew I could make a fabulous holiday dish with it. What makes it so amazing is that it is a heritage breed chicken, which is an entirely different breed than 99% of the chicken in our grocery stores! It truly stands out among all the rest, and you can absolutely taste the difference. They are bringing the flavor back to chicken, people!

So, get ordering your Cooks Venture so that you have it for the holidays. You can get your whole chicken for this dish, but also have fun trying some of their other products like the ground chicken for my Green Curry meatballs, or the chicken breasts for the Nashville Hot Sandwich! Have fun building a box that will keep your freezer and fridge stocked with deliciousness.

What to Serve at a Smaller Thanksgiving

Alongside this Thanksgiving Chicken, you can choose a few fabulous sides to go with it.

First and foremost, Mashed Potatoes! I love these easy Weeknight Mashed Potatoes. They come together quickly, and they will be perfect with the gravy that the chicken makes in the bottom of the dish! Talk about easy and talk about delicious.

mashed potatoes in pan

If you’re feeling like you want some more sides, you could make Roy’s Sausage Sage Stuffing or this easy and delicious Corn Soufflé. He found it in the newspaper forever ago, and he’s been making it ever since. Then for dessert, you could keep it easy with something like this Jello Mold. It’s light and bright after a Thanksgiving meal for the perfect end to the dinner!

gluten free corn souffle in an 8x8 pan

What You Need for Your Thanksgiving Chicken

  • Whole chicken, brought to room temperature
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Yellow onion
  • Kosher Salt
  • Poultry Seasoning
  • Unsalted Butter

How to Make Your Thanksgiving Chicken

Prep Your Chicken

If you didn’t have time to bring your chicken to room temperature, you can preheat your oven to 175°F. Warm the chicken slightly for about five minutes, and then remove the chicken and preheat your oven to 375°F.

buttered and salted chicken

Make a “mirepoix” mixture with diced carrot, celery, and onion and set aside. Place carrots and celery stalks lengthwise in the pan and nestle the onion wedges between them. Add a sprinkle of salt and a swig of olive oil over them. Salt the cavity of the bird and stuff the chicken with as much mirepoix as will fit. Place in the pan on top of the bed of vegetables.

Gently create space between the skin of the bird and the flesh by slowly wedging a finger or two between them, so as to not tear the skin. Smooth ½ stick of the softened butter between the skin and the flesh of the chicken, distributing as well as you can all over the breasts. Remember, the butter should be very soft. A tip to use is to put the stick in a bowl that will fit within a larger bowl containing very hot water. Remember to keep the stick of butter dry!

chicken with poulty seasoning

Rub the remaining butter over the top skin and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning over the chicken. Put the pan in the oven for about 2 hours. Most important: do not open the oven as it cooks!

Roast Your Thanksgiving Chicken

When the bird is starting to become nice and brown, turn the temperature down to 325°F. For us that was around the 45 minute mark, but it could be an hour. When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and let rest before carving.

thanksgiving chicken with vegetables

Keep in mind: This is intended to be a well-done, fall-off-the-bone chicken. You want to roast for around 25 minutes per pound. Our chicken was about 4 to 5 pounds and we roasted it for two hours. When roasting, resist the urge to open the oven door. If you want to look at the chicken to see how it is roasting, take a peek through the window but keep the door closed!

If you have a smaller Thanksgiving and make this Thanksgiving Chicken, rate and review it below. I can’t wait to read about your small Thanksgiving dishes! If you’re looking for more inspiration, sign up for our Friday Favorites newsletter, and follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok to join in all the fun!

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Thanksgiving chicken in a baking dish

Thanksgiving Style Chicken for a Smaller Group

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Teri Turner
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Oven
  • Diet: Gluten Free
Print Recipe

Description

This Thanksgiving Chicken is perfect for a smaller holiday! It brings all the deliciousness of Thanksgiving flavors with a lot less work!

Ingredients

  •   1 whole (4 to 5 pound) chicken, brought to room temperature
  •   4 medium carrots, peeled, plus 1 medium carrot, finely diced
  •   4 stalks of celery, cleaned and trimmed, plus 1 stalk, finely diced
  •   ½ yellow onion, quartered, plus ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
  •   1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
  •   1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
  •   1 stick unsalted butter, softened and divided

Instructions

  1.   Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2.   Note: if you didn’t allow your chicken to come up to room temperature before, you can preheat your oven to 175°F and warm the chicken ever so slightly for about five minutes, and then remove the chicken and continue preheating your oven.
  3.   Make a “mirepoix” mixture with diced carrot, celery, and onion (it should be about 1 ½ cups) and set aside.
  4.   Place 4 carrots and 4 celery stalks lengthwise in the pan and nestle the onion wedges between them. Add a sprinkle of salt and a swig of olive oil over them.
  5.   Salt the cavity of the bird and stuff the chicken with as much mirepoix as will fit. Place in the pan on top of the bed of vegetables.
  6.   Gently create space between the skin of the bird and the flesh by slowly wedging a finger or two between them, so as to not tear the skin. Smooth ½ stick of the softened butter between the skin and the flesh of the chicken, distributing as well as you can all over the breasts. Note: The butter should be very soft. If you haven’t allowed it to come to room temperature, and maybe even a little more than that, a tip to use is to put the stick in a bowl that will fit within a larger bowl containing very hot water. Keep the stick of butter dry.
  7.   Rub the remaining 1/2 stick of butter over the top skin of the chicken and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning over the chicken.
  8.   Put the pan in the oven for about 2 hours. Do not open the oven as it cooks.
  9.   When the bird is starting to become nice and brown, turn the temperature down to 325°F. For us that was around the 45 minute mark but it could be an hour.
  10.   When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and let rest before carving.

Notes

This is intended to be a well-done,  fall-off-the-bone chicken. You want to roast for around 25 minutes per pound. Our chicken was about 4 to 5 pounds and we roasted it for two hours. When roasting, resist the urge to open the oven door. If you want to look at the chicken to see how it is roasting, take a peek through the window but keep the door closed!

Keywords: thanksgiving chicken