Thyme-Roasted Chicken with Pan Jus, Grilled Zucchini, and New Potatoes with Basil Butter
A golden, juicy roast chicken rubbed with thyme butter and roasted until the skin is crisp, served with a quick thyme pan jus made right in the roasting pan, charred grilled zucchini with lemon and mint, and tender new potatoes tossed in fresh basil butter. A simple, perfect summer Sunday supper.
Yield: Serves 4–6 · Active: 40 min · Total: 1 hr 45 min (plus 12–24 hours dry-brining, if you can) · Best in North America in summer, when zucchini, basil, and new potatoes are at their peak · Best eaten: early evening
Your Game Plan
The day before (optional, but worth it): Dry-brine the chicken.
About 1 hr 45 min out: Heat the oven to 425°F. Rub the chicken with thyme butter, and roast.
About 45 min out: Make the basil butter. Start the potatoes.
About 20 min out: Take out the chicken to rest. Grill the zucchini.
About 10 min out: Make the pan jus. Toss the potatoes in basil butter.
Ingredients
Roast chicken
1 whole pasture-raised chicken (4–5 lb)
1 tbsp Baja Gold sea salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
4 tbsp grass-fed butter, softened
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus a small bunch of whole sprigs
3 garlic cloves, grated, plus 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
1 lemon, halved
1 onion, cut into thick rounds (to set the chicken on)
Thyme pan jus
1 shallot, finely minced
¼ cup dry white wine (optional)
1 cup chicken bone broth
2 tbsp cold grass-fed butter
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Squeeze of lemon
New potatoes with basil butter
1½ lb small new potatoes
4 tbsp grass-fed butter, softened
½ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, grated
Zest of ½ lemon
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Grilled zucchini
3 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into ½-inch planks
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Squeeze of lemon, plus a handful of fresh mint or basil leaves
Method
Dry-brine (optional). Pat the chicken dry and season it all over, inside and out, with the salt and pepper. Refrigerate it uncovered for 12–24 hours. This seasons the meat all the way through and gives you the crispiest skin.
Prep the chicken. Heat the oven to 425°F. Mash the softened butter with the thyme leaves and grated garlic. Gently loosen the skin over the breast and thighs with your fingers, and rub half the thyme butter underneath it, then rub the rest over the outside. Tuck the lemon halves, halved garlic, and thyme sprigs into the cavity, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
Roast. Set the chicken on the onion rounds in a roasting pan or cast iron skillet. Roast 60–75 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and the thickest part of the thigh reaches 175°F.
Rest the chicken on a cutting board for 15 minutes, so the juices settle.
Make the basil butter. Mash the softened butter with the basil, garlic, lemon zest, and salt.
Cook the potatoes. Simmer them in salted water 15–20 minutes, until tender. Drain, and toss with the basil butter while hot.
Grill the zucchini. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Brush the zucchini with olive oil, season with salt, and grill 3–4 minutes per side, until charred and tender. Finish with lemon and fresh mint or basil.
Make the pan jus. Pour off all but 1 tbsp fat from the roasting pan (save the extra for roasting vegetables). Set the pan over medium heat, add the shallot, and cook 1–2 minutes. Add the wine (if using) and scrape up all the browned bits, then add the broth and the softened onions, and simmer 4–5 minutes, until reduced by about half. Strain it, return it to the pan off the heat, and swirl in the cold butter, thyme, and lemon. Add any juices from the resting chicken.
Carve and serve. Carve the chicken and serve it with the potatoes, zucchini, and a generous spoonful of pan jus.
Faster option, spatchcocked chicken: Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone, then press the chicken flat, skin-side up. It roasts in just 40–50 minutes at 425°F, and more evenly.
Storage: Chicken, up to 4 days refrigerated; potatoes and zucchini, up to 4 days; jus, up to 5 days. Save the carcass for bone broth (see my Broths 101).
Nourishment Notes
Pasture-raised chicken — complete protein, B vitamins, selenium, and collagen from the skin.
Grass-fed butter — vitamins A and K2, plus butyrate.
Bone broth — gelatin, glycine, and minerals.
New potatoes — potassium, vitamin C, and B6. Cooled leftovers form resistant starch.
Zucchini — potassium, vitamin C, and lutein.
Basil, thyme, and mint — eugenol, thymol, rosmarinic acid, and vitamin K.
Garlic and lemon — allicin, vitamin C, and d-limonene.
For your cycle: This nourishing, balanced plate supports every phase, and the potatoes' steady carbohydrate is especially welcome in the luteal phase.
Sourcing
Chicken — pasture-raised, from a local farm raising birds on pasture, or White Oak Pastures
New potatoes, zucchini, basil, thyme, mint, garlic, shallot, onion, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Chicken bone broth — homemade from pasture-raised chicken, or Bonafide Provisions (organic, sold frozen)
Dry white wine (optional) — organic and dry, low in added sulfites
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall