Perfect Roasted Chicken (and How to Make Bone Broth!)

When I met my husband Isaac here’s what I knew how to “cook”: toast, scrambled eggs and spaghetti. My cooking repertoire was so limited it was kind of embarrassing…in fact, I didn’t realize just how embarrassing it was until I was visiting Isaac and his mom and dad in Canada.

We were at his parents’ house discussing our pending move into Toronto. We were already married at that point and I had moved up to Canada for us to start our life in the “big city.” It had always been a dream of mine and since we were still waiting for Isaac’s green card (that was a long process) we decided to just enjoy the city while we had the opportunity.

His mom is probably one of the most generous people I’ve ever met…and she also has a ton of cooking experience. Isaac has many memories of all the great meals that she used to make when he was growing up.

As we sat around the kitchen table, his mom was busy rummaging through cabinets, looking for extra serving bowls and kitchen items that she could bless us with. She had accumulated a small collection of things in a bowl and she brought them over to the table for us to take a look at.

She went through each item one by one and Isaac and I were nodding our heads, “Yes, we need that. Thank you so much, mom.” At one point she held up one gadget in her hands – I had seen it before, but I was unsure of what it was…so I just asked.

“What’s that for?” I said.

“It’s a potato peeler,” she replied with a little chuckle. I could tell immediately that she was quite surprised that I didn’t know what it was…and I was quite embarrassed. It was still super early in my marriage with Isaac and I really wanted to impress her.

Thankfully, she is probably one of the sweetest women I have ever met and we’ve always had a good relationship. She didn’t hold it against me and we still laugh about it to this day.

I said all that because sometimes people think that good cooks just have “talent” in the kitchen or they just have “good cooking intuition” or “know what goes well together.” That’s not necessarily true.

I now consider myself a pretty good cook, but I didn’t get there because I just have some kind of “talent.” I learned how to cook delicious and healthful meals because I tried recipe after recipe from people that know how to cook really well.

In fact, when I was in Canada for those 2 1/2 years that Isaac spent there I cooked a lot. I followed recipes, I bought weird ingredients, I learned how to blanch green beans, grate ginger and mince garlic. Things I never knew how to do before. And I also learned how to make the perfect roasted chicken.

So, if I can do it I know that you can too. And learning to make roasted chicken is one of the best places to start. This is a fundamental cooking skill that every cook should know (unless you’re vegan or something and then it’s pretty pointless).

The benefits of roasting a whole chicken are numerous. First, you get tons of meat for a better price than just buying chicken breast. You’ve got meat for leftovers, salads and all kinds of chicken dishes. This is super beneficial if you’re feeding a family of 4.

Second, you get both the white meat and dark meat. They both have their benefits. Some people find the dark meat to be more flavorful.

But the best part? You get the carcass – the bones. Why does anyone care about the chicken bones? Because you can make bone broth from scratch. This is probably one of the best things you can learn to make for your health and total well-being. And making it from scratch is waaaaay better than buying store-bought.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with buying boxed chicken broth sometimes. If I’m in a pinch I’ll buy a brand of chicken broth with clean ingredients (it’s hard to find beef broth with clean ingredients though). Even still, making the bone broth from scratch at home ensures that the ingredients are pure, organic and freshly made.

Bone broth has loads of benefits, not the least of which, is supporting a healthy gut. It is also powerful for boosting your immune system and it’s also a rich source of minerals and nutrients.

There’s so much value in knowing how to roast a chicken and subsequently, make bone broth. And I’m going to show you how right now.