Whole Roasted Chicken with Dried Fruit and Wine is the most incredibly juicy and tasty roasted chicken. My mom’s amazing recipe is here to save your day. Pop all the ingredients in a pot, marinate the chicken overnight to infuse the flavors, and this succulent chicken is on the table with ease.
Why this Recipe Works
The element of this recipe that produces the succulent, flavorful chicken is the red wine and dried fruit marinade. The acidity of the wine mixed with the herbs and the variety of fruit; raisins, cranberries, and prunes infuse and penetrate flavor into the chicken over the marination period and produce a great taste on the chicken as well as juicy chicken inside.
Putting the herbs under the skin of the chicken instead of over the skin adds another depth of flavor to the dish. Because the chicken is marinated in liquid, it helps keep the herbs in place.
The roasted fruits reduce down to a soft, pulpy layer that can be served over the top of a chicken, as the juices provide a great sweet sauce to contrast with the more savory herbs.
Ingredients & Substitutions
chicken – this recipe works best with chickens 4+ pounds. It doesn’t work as well for chickens less than 4 pounds because the onions and garlic need a bit longer to cook.
onions – you can use pearl or cipollini onions in this recipe.
herbes de Provence – herbes de Provence is a spice blend combining rosemary, thyme, oregano, and other Provencal herbs like lavender. If you cannot find it, you can substitute it with a mix of dried rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
wine – use a not-so-sweet red wine you would drink, because the dried fruit already brings a ton of sweetness to the dish and the flavor of the wine infuses into the chicken and sauce.
How to Make this Recipe
Season the chicken with turmeric, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, and salt. Get it under the skin.
Add the rest of the ingredients to a dish. I like to use the dish I plan to roast the chicken in. Mix them, and add the chicken. Marinade for 2 hours overnight in the refrigerator, flipping the chicken halfway through.
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator so it can come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 375F. Roast for 75-90 minutes until the internal temperature registers 165F with an instant-read thermometer.
Covering the chicken depends on the size of the chicken. Larger birds need to be covered for the first 30 minutes of cooking because cooking uncovered will cause the skin to brown before the chicken is cooked. Smaller birds can be cooked without covering.
Note: The USDA recommends 165F internal temperature for chicken. I take the chicken out of the oven around 160F and rest it for up to 10 minutes to get up to USDA’s end temperature of 165F. It does continue to cook slightly once removed from the oven.
More Roasted Chicken Recipes
Succulent, flavorful chicken is perfect for your weeknight menu.
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Whole Roasted Chicken with Dried Fruit and Red Wine
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Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup prunes pitted
- 5 dates pitted
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- 3/4 lb. cipollini onions or pearl, peeled and large ones cut in halves or quarters
- 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp herbes de Provence
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup stock/broth
- 1-2 cups dry red wine depending on the size of your pot/pan. A snug fitting chicken should only use 1 cup and a larger pan will need 2 cups.
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the turmeric, herbes de provence, red pepper flakes, and salt. Get it under the skin.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to a dish. Mix. Add the chicken. Marinade 2 hours-overnight.
- Take the chicken out of the refrigerator so it can come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 375F.
- Roast for 75-90 minutes until the internal temperature registers 165F with an instant-read thermometer*.
Apologies for above. I do actually punctuate and could not edit once posted.
The post lost the separation of sections.
One last thing. The fruits i had were: apricot, prune, cherry, dates.
This was fantastic! I did a bit of a riff – added a moroccan spice blend to the suggested dry spices (and it seemed to make friends with the herbs d’provence )
For the cooking liquid/marinade:
I added 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise
Forgot the oil – not sure what it might have added frankly
I had leftover Pinot and Petite Syrah (both nice bottles) from a dinner party in the fridge. Ended up with roughly 2/3 bottle in the pot. 1 cup chicken stock.
Marinated total of 5 hours – flipped halfway as directed
I also started roasting breast down, flipped after 30 min. Uncovered the whole time.
While the chicken rested I reduced the sauce a bit. As she says, the dried fruits just melt into it. It was beautiful. The chicken had a deep, brown skin – just what we pray for.
Divine. Definitely will make anytime i have leftover wine.