Whole chicken massaged with “Green Salt”, then roasted to perfection; Recipe two ways for easy delicious pressure cooker or oven-roasted “Green Salt Roasted Chicken”.
Instant Pot Roasted Chicken
©Tangled with Taste by TangledwithTaste.com
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Chicken brined in a lemon and herb salt brine for extra depth of flavor and added moistness in the meat. Then rubbed down inside and out with a salt mixture made from herbs and salt combined in a food processor. Now at this point you have two options; either quickly sear both sides of the chicken and then throw it in an Instant pot (or other pressure cooker) with carrots and potatoes. Or slow roast it in the oven. Both options produce an amazing roasted chicken bursting with flavor and juiciness.
Fame and fortune
Fame; haha! And fortune; hahaha!!!
For as long as I can remember I have always always always wanted to be the voice of a Disney Princess. It was my dream job. I didn’t want to be a princess; you know, the girl’s at the parks waving their hands and wearing their wigs and making little kid’s dreams come true. I wanted to be the voice behind the character of a Disney Princess. My actual goal was to be the voice of Rapunzel or the Princess and the Pea.
Well, Mandy Moore beat me to the job of being the voice of Rapunzel and fate (aka a very traumatic experience that left me partially deaf and mostly tone deaf) beat me well enough that the Princess and the Pea is good and gone for me as well.
Never fret though! Fame has found me anyway; by way of this roasted chicken. Hahaha!
Okay not really. But I’m going to tell you the story anyway…
Once upon a newspaper
I live in a small town in central Texas. It’s a quaint and quirky and beautiful little town that someone like me would thoroughly enjoy. We have a local newspaper that I’m not sure more than 100 people read, but it’s quaint and quirky and perfect just like our little town.
Recently an editor from our local paper contacted me wanting to do a story about Tangled with Taste. Her idea was to come to my house and cook something with me while she interviewed me. The editor had some different dietary restrictions that we needed to take into account and so all of my specialty desserts were no longer an option. We decided on Roasted Chicken.
I had recently read a Thomas Keller article on how to create duck confit. If you’ve read my previous posts then you know I am completely obsessed with Chef Thomas Keller. The man is a culinary genius. Anyway,
Duck confit…
Duck confit is prepared in a 3-stage process; one, the duck is dry marinaded in a “green salt” marinade of salt, herbs and aromatics. Then the duck is cooked at a low-low temperature in the oven for 10-12 hours. And finally; cool the duck submerged in it’s own fat.
This sounds kind of disgusting, but Thomas Keller says that when it’s time to serve the confit you remove it from the fat and finish the duck slowly in a moderate oven until the skin is crispy and perfect.
“Very crispy skin is the benchmark of a great duck confit. Part of the pleasure of eating confit is the crispness of the skin and the contrasting tender succulence of the meat.”
Seriously y’all, doesn’t it sound like he flirts with food?! Crisp skin and tender succulent meat… Oh man.
Reading that made me desperate to try making duck confit. However I don’t have the time to try making that right now, but I absolutely loved the idea of “Green Salt”. And so, the idea for a Green Salt Roasted Chicken was born…
The Instant Pot
I have been dying to try out an Instant pot. I love the idea of pressure cooking food because it just sounds like it would be bursting with moisture and goodness. When I finally got an Instant pot I was so intimidated by it that the box literally sat on my kitchen counter for two and a half weeks before I even opened the box. Then, once I got up the guts to open the box; the actual pot sat on my counter for another couple days before ever even getting used.
I have anxiety issues. You should ask me about how long my silhoutte was in a box before I finally dared try it out. First world problems…
I digress.
Remember that newpaper lady I was telling you about?
Well the day came and she and her daughter spent a couple hours in the kitchen with me blabbing their ears off. I tried making the green salt roasted chicken that had taken life in my brain, and it was as amazing as I had thought and hoped it would be. I had actually brined two chickens so that I’d have one to feed my family after “the press” left. They raved over the roasted chicken, took notes, asked questions and then they left.
Now it was time to try out my Instant pot. Using the same ingredients I had used for the roasted chicken with the newspaper lady; I instead tried cooking it in the Instant pot with a small potato medley under the basket.
YOU GUYS!!! I was so pleasantly surprised with how incredible the chicken turned out being! And you will be too ;).
How to work your Instant Pot:
If you’ve never used an Instant pot before than it is totally intimidating. I get it. Let me explain step by step how simple making this chicken is.
- Brine the Chicken. Drain and rinse the chicken. Rub the chicken down with “Green Salt” and stuff it’s tummy with more fresh herbs. Then if you want- tie it’s legs for a prettier presentation.
- In the bottom of the Instant pot; place a layer of small uncut potatoes, water and sugar. (You wont need any other seasoning because the seasonings from the chicken will flavor the potatoes).
- On top of the potatoes place the Instant pot wire rack thing.
- Quickly sear the top and bottom of the chicken in a frying pan with a little bit of oil.
- On top of the rack in the Instant Pot, put your chicken.
- Close the Instant pot with the little knob on the top set to “Sealing”
- Press the “Manual” button. Then press the plus sign until it gets to 21 minutes.
- At this point, the instant pot will beep. Inside of the pot it will start growing in pressure and steam will be escaping through the top valve until it reaches the pressure it needs to be at. Then the count down timer will start.
- At the end of the 21 minutes, you instant pot will either slow release the steam, or you can turn that knob on the top to “venting” and it will fast release the pressure. I fast release the pressure for this chicken.
- Once the pressure has released you can open the pot and serve the most glorious chicken and potatoes ever!
Recipe for Green Salt Roasted Chicken in the Instant Pot:
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1(or two) 3-4lb young chicken(s)
- 1 cup Water
- 1 small bag medley small potatoes (such as red new and finger potatoes)
- 1 TBS sugar
- Small handful of parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs thyme
- Canola or Vegetable Oil
- (This makes enough brine for 2 or 3 chickens)
- 3/4 heaping cup salt
- 1 gallon water
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/4 c brown sugar
- 2 lemons washed and quartered
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 Tbs minced garlic
- Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, or until salt and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Then place chicken(s) in brine for 6-8 hours.
- 1/4 c salt
- 6 sprigs Thyme
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1/2 bunch Italian Parsley
Instructions
- When your chicken(s) have been in the brine for 6-8 hours.
- Rinse your chicken and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Then season it generously inside it's cavity with the green salt.
- Place a small handful of parsley in the cavity, 1 more bayleaf, and 2 more sprigs of thyme.
- Rub the outside's of the chickens down 1TBS oil, then sprinkle generously with Green Salt.
- Heat a large ovenproof skillet with a thin layer of oil in the bottom. When hot, add the chicken to the pot.
- Sear the chicken skin until browned (about 90 seconds), then turn over and sear the other side as well.
- In the bottom of the Instant pot; place a layer of potatoes, water and sugar. (You wont need any other seasoning because the seasonings from the chicken will flavor the potatoes).
- On top of the potatoes place the Instant pot wire rack thing.
- On top of the rack in the Instant Pot, put your chicken.
- Close the Instant pot with the little knob on the top set to "Sealing"
- Press the "Manual" button. Then press the plus sign until it gets to 21 minutes.
- At this point, the instant pot will beep. Inside of the pot it will start growing in pressure and steam will be escaping through the top valve until it reaches the pressure it needs to be at. Then the count down timer will start.
- At the end of the 21 minutes, fast release the pressure by turning the knob on top of the pressure cooker to "vent".
- Once the pressure has released you can open the pot and serve the most glorious chicken and potatoes ever!
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How to Oven Roast this Chicken Instead:
For those of you who would rather cook this chicken in your oven, here are the directions, starting at the point of the chicken having been brined already (follow the brining directions in the official recipe):
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Rinse your chickens and pat them dry with paper towels. Then season them generously inside their cavity with the green salt. Place a small handful of parsley in the cavity, 1 more bayleaf, and 2 more sprigs of thyme.
- Rub the outside’s of the chickens down 1TBS oil, then sprinkle generously with Green Salt.
- Heat a large ovenproof skillet with a thin layer of oil in the bottom. When hot, add the chicken(s) to the pot.
- Put the entire skillet pot into the oven.
- Roast the chicken for 40 minutes; Opening the oven to baste them every 10 minutes of the cooking.
- Check the bird’s temperature where the leg meets the body. At 160 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the skillet from the oven.
- Let the birds rest in a warm spot for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
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