Making a Roasted Salt Crusted Chicken is as cool as making a papier maché sculpture! Truly! It's the easiest, most delicious way to roast a chicken. And the result is unbelievably scrumptious.
You guys! This salt roasted chicken is amazing! It's a whole chicken baked in a salt crust.
I'm so excited to share this awesome salt crust cooking technique with you. Not only is it fun to do, but it creates the most succulent, tender, moist, and flavorful roasted chicken ever.
What's the purpose of roasting a whole chicken covered in salt?
- The salt forms into a crust as it heats and insulates the chicken, cooking it gently and evenly. At the end of the cooking time, the salt can be removed in pieces, revealing an incredibly moist, tender-beyond-belief, fragrant treasure.
It might seem like a rather odd concept to you. I thought so too. After all, it's not really an instinctive move to completely bury a whole chicken in several inches of salt.
I've done this a handful of times now, and let me tell you -- the results are truly amazing -- and the salt roasted chicken will not taste salty! It's really fascinating.
How to Make Salt Crusted Chicken
It's easy!
- Remove the insides of the chicken, rinse and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Truss the chicken, or at the very least, tie the legs together. (Here's How to Truss a Chicken.)
- Heat the salt in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, until it's hot. The pot should be large enough to fit the chicken with a couple of inches around it. This one is perfect for a 5-pound chicken.
- Pour or scoop out all but a few inches of the hot salt into a bowl. Move the salt around so one side is a bit higher than the other. Place the chicken on the salt, breast side down on the lower half of the salt. Completely cover the chicken with the remaining salt.
- Uncovered, place the pot in a 400°F oven and roast until the internal temperature of the chicken is 155°F to 160°F. The final internal temperature will be about 165°F, as the chicken will continue to cook for several minutes outside of the oven. Cooking times might vary, but it should take about 1 hour.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and use a piece of crumbled foil to place under the chicken, opposite the breast side, to ensure the juices are flowing down into the breasts. Loosely cover the chicken with foil to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
- When you're ready to carve, simply crack the salt off the chicken and cut! The skin will slide right off.
What to Serve With it
Here's the deal, with absolutely nothing added, this salt roasted chicken it's fantastic! That said, here are a handful of delicious ideas for how to use it:
- It's awesome in sandwiches, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, tacos and lettuce wraps.
- And this salt-crusted chicken is so tasty mixed into salads and pasta or quinoa dishes.
- It can be drizzled with all sorts of sauces. (Ancho Chile Sauce would be lovely.)
Recipe Tips
- I always roast chicken with the breast side down, and slightly lower than the back end. This allows all of the juices to flow down into the breasts during the entire cooking process. This will keep them extra succulent and tender.
- As you carve this chicken, the skin will slide right off, and you shouldn't eat it. It will be very salty -- unlike the chicken meat which should not taste too salty.
I hope you find this as amazing as I do!
Roasted Salt Crusted Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 approximately (5-pound) whole chicken
- 4 cups kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the insides of the chicken, rinse it lightly inside and out, pat dry with paper towels, and then truss it with butcher twine. Set aside.
- Pour the salt into a large, heavy-bottomed pot and place it over medium-high heat. Stir frequently and "cook" the salt until it's very hot to the touch, about 5 minutes. (The pot should be large enough to fit the chicken with a couple of inches around it.
- Pour or scoop out all but a few inches of the hot salt into a bowl and set aside. Move the salt around so one side is a bit higher than the other. Gently place the chicken on the salt, breast side down on the lower half of the salt. Add the remaining salt to the chicken, covering it as thoroughly as possible.
- Without a lid, place the salt covered chicken in the preheated 400°F oven and roast until the internal temperature is 155°F to 160°F. (You can gently stick the thermometer directly through the salt crust.) The final internal temperature will be about 165 degrees, as the chicken will continue to cook for several minutes outside of the oven. The juices should run clear and the legs should move easily when it’s done. Cooking times might vary, but it should take about 1 hour.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and use a piece of crumbled foil to place under the chicken, opposite the breast side, to ensure the juices are flowing down into the breasts. Loosely cover the chicken with foil to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
- When you're ready to carve, simply crack the salt off the chicken and cut! The skin will easily just slide off. This is an exciting part -- you're unveiling your masterpiece!
Cooking On The Weekends is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Paul
I am so excited to see this recipe! I have been roasting a chicken every weekend and this recipe looks great! Do you think a cast iron skillet would work for roasting?
valentina
Hey Paul! 😀 Yes! Cast iron skillet is great -- then you can heat the salt in the same pan you roast the chicken in! I hope you love it! xo
Barbara
I am so hungry right now that I am going downstairs to start heating up the salt. Have you tried this with fish or would it overpower it?
valentina
Hi Barbara, I haven't done this with fish (other than cold curing a salmon) -- I do think it would become salty. Somehow with the chicken, the salt helps cook the chicken in a way that tenderizes it and keeps it incredibly moist without ever becoming salty. It's amazing. I hope you tried it and loved it! 🙂 Cheers!
beti
I love how healthy and fresh it looks, I can easily combine it with almost any veggie
mary jo frazier
I have found a great way to bake potatoes in salt. Fill a deep roasting pan with several cups of kosher salt. Wash and dry four potatoes. Place them in the bed of salt half submerged. I also like to place a sprig or two of fresh rosemary, but that is optional. Then seal the entire top with aluminum foil and place in a preheated oven at 400. I bake it for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil. Brush olive oil on the top of the four potatoes and place it back in the oven until they are soft in the middle....about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the salt bed and brush off the extra. These are the BEST baked potatoes I have ever had. To go along with the BEST salted chicken. And, you can save the salt for several uses. Can't wait to try the chicken tonight. XOXO
valentina
Mary Jo, the potatoes sound fantastic and you can bet I'm going to try them! 🙂
Mimi
I can’t wait to try this Valentina! I’ve made salt-crusted fish as well as a beef tenderloin, and I know how well the salt works as a crust. Plus, it really doesn’t taste salty! but using a whole chicken is intriguing! Thanks!
valentina
Thanks. I'm excited you want to try this, Mimi. It's fun and delicious! I'm intrigued by the beef tenderloin -- I'll have to give that a go. 🙂 ~Valentina
Nancy Buchanan
Salt crusted chicken, fish and shellfish is AMAZING! I haven't done this in a while and it's high time I make it again! Wonderful instructions on how to make this fabulous dish!
valentina
Thanks so much, Nancy. So fun, right!? 🙂 ~Valentina
angiesrecipes
The chicken looks succulent and so very tender! I have only tried salt roasted duck before and it was long time ago...time to make one with chicken. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Valentina.
David @ Spiced
Interesting! I have never heard of this style of cooking, but I am super intrigued now. This definitely needs to go on my list of recipes to make! I love keeping roasted chicken around as an easy ingredient for other dishes like tacos, quesadillas, soups, etc. Salt roasted chicken is on the menu now!
valentina
This is super fun do to. If you try it one day, I hope you love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
So unique! I've never salted chicken like this before, but it looks incredibly flavourful!! Love a good roasted chicken for Sunday supper so will have to get this one on the menu soon 🙂 Happy Monday, Valentina!
valentina
Thanks, Dawn. I hope you try and love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
Kelly | Foodtasia
Valentina, what a fascinating way to roast chicken! And I can't believe how juicy it is! This is definitely how I'm going to make my next roast chicken! Pinned!
valentina
I hope you love it as much as I do, Kelly. Cheers! 🙂 ~Valentina
Marissa
I'm so intrigued by this cooking method, Valentina! Your chicken looks so tender and juicy. Definitely a must try recipe!
valentina
Hope you try and love it, Marissa! Thanks for checking it out. 🙂 ~Valentina
David Scott Allen
I made a salt-crusted chicken several years ago from a French children’s book of recipes. It was fantastic! The skin wasn’t pretty, but inside was the most succulent chicken I have ever tasted.
valentina
Exactly, David. Perfect description. 🙂 ~Valentina
Molly
This seems so simple – and yet I've never heard of it. I'm definitely going to give it a shot!
valentina
Thank you! I hope you love it, Molly! 🙂 ~Valentina