PSA: You're Using the Wrong Pan to Roast Chicken

This is the secret to one of the best chicken dinners you’ll ever have.

When it comes to cooking a whole chicken, you can bet there isn’t a trick we haven’t tried. We’ve cooked the bird in a Dutch oven, a slow cooker, and an air fryer. We’ve spatchcocked it, cut it into pieces, and split it in half for the grill. After so many recipes, it’s hard to believe there’s a totally new, totally genius method out there. Enter: the Bundt pan. Yes, the domed pan with a hollow center that you might use once or twice a year for pound cake or coffee cake. Your Bundt pan is also the secret to one of the best chicken dinners you’ll ever have.

How to Roast a Chicken in a Bundt Pan

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

The method for roasting a chicken in a Bundt pan couldn’t be simpler. Start by tossing a mix of veggies with olive oil and add these to the Bundt pan. Then season the whole chicken and stand it up on the metal tube in the center of the pan. Roast as directed until the veggies are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Add a little crumbled feta and fresh dill to the veggies and dinner is done. Just like a sheet pan dinner, the best part about this recipe is that it makes a full meal so that prep, cooking, and cleanup is as easy and can be. As Allrecipes recipe developer and video series host Nicole McLaughlin says, “Who would have thought all of this came out of a Bundt pan?”

Why Roast a Chicken in a Bundt Pan?

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

If you’ve ever tried beer can chicken on the grill, chances are you’ve seen a whole chicken that cooks standing up before. What makes that recipe work so well on the grill is also what makes the Bundt pan work so well in the oven: The hot air is able to fully circulate around and underneath the bird, crisping the skin on all sides and cooking the chicken more evenly. Cooking the chicken upright also makes the bird wonderfully juicy—no dry white meat here!

The real hat trick is the vegetables. By propping up the chicken, any extra juices and rendered fat drip onto the veggies as they cook, making them incredibly delicious. McLaughlin says it best: “The real treasure is underneath the chicken. The vegetables are worth making this dish alone.”

Get the recipe: Easy Bundt Pan Roasted Greek Chicken and Vegetables

Bundt Pan Roast Chicken Variations

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

  • This recipe uses Greek seasoning on the veggies and the chicken, but you can customize with any flavors you like. Try lemon pepper seasoning and add thin slices of fresh lemon to the veggies for extra zing. Or use Cajun seasoning and swap the carrots for 2-inch pieces of corn on the cob.

  • Instead of dill, you could toss the veggies with fresh basil, parsley, or chopped green onions. Whatever you choose, keep the ratios (the size of the bird and the amount of veggies) about the same so they’ll cook in about the same time.

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

AllRecipes / Qi Ai

Related: How to Roast Chicken: Tips and Techniques

Read the original article on ALLRECIPES