Roast Chicken (Caribbean style) {Whole30}

Roast Chicken (Caribbean Style) or Caribbean Roast chicken is sometimes just called baked chicken. In fact, most chicken cooked in the oven is called baked chicken. This chicken is however, cooked at a higher temperature and roasted to perfection. So follow along below for the perfect Caribbean Roast Chicken.

What makes the roast chicken Caribbean Style:

The difference between this recipe and other roast chicken recipes out there is that the chicken is marinated in Caribbean Green Seasoning. Caribbean Green seasoning, also called sofrito, epis and recaito in some cultures is a herb based marinade. It is called green seasoning because of the bold green color. Marinating your chicken for at least 4 hours or over night makes this dish as Caribbean as it gets.

Prepping the chicken before roasting:

I'm Guyanese so I always prep and wash my chicken before cooking. For whole chickens, I remove the giblets, neck bones first. Sometimes I set them aside for bone broth but most times, I cook them with the chicken.

For this recipe I spatchcocked (sometimes called butterflying) the chicken. To spatchcock or butterfly a chicken you completely remove the back bone of the chicken and press it flat, breast side up. This significantly reduces cooking time. My husband loves the chicken back, so I don't completely remove the chicken back bone, but rather I just cut it down the back and press the chicken flat.

Cutting the chicken down the breast

Alternatively to the traditional spatchcock, I sometimes cut the chicken down the breast bone and press it flat, or I cut it completely into halves. And I must say that chicken done this way is the juiciest. All the fat from the back runs down into the breast and the skin crips up evenly. If I don't plan on plating up the chicken for the table, this is my preferred method. It is less pretty but oh so tasty.

Roasting uncovered first, then covering:

I learned this trick from her royal highness Ina Garten and it makes such a huge difference. Roast the chicken uncover for 30 minutes, then cover and continue to cook for another 15 to 30 minutes. I go for the full 30, because I like my chicken falling off the bone!

Making the Roast Chicken Whole30

To make this recipe Whole30 simply skin the wine and use apple or pineapple juice instead, and as always ensure that your juice of choice is Whole30 Compatible.

The Printable Caribbean Roast Chicken Recipe:

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5 from 2 votes

Roast Chicken (Caribbean style)

A simple roasted chicken recipe loaded with notes of Caribbean flavor and roasted to perfection.

Prep Time8 hrs

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time9 hrs

Course: Chicken Main Dish

Cuisine: Caribbean

Keyword: Caribbean roast chicken

Servings: 8

Author: Althea Brown

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken 5-6 pounds
• 2 teaspoons of salt or salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos
• 1 cup of white vinegar used with water to wash the chicken
• ½ cup white wine or pineapple juice

Green Seasoning:

• ½ yellow onion
• 2 heads green onion
• 1 bundle of fresh thyme leaves removed from the stem
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 stalks of celery
• ¼ cup of cilantro
• 2 wiri wiri peppers seeds removed, substitute with scotch bonnet pepper if necessary.
• 1 tablespoons of olive oil

Instructions

Making the green seasoning

• Add all of the green seasoning ingredients listed above to a food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms.

Seasoning the chicken:

• Wash and prep chicken with vinegar and water. Remove the liver, neck bone and gizzards if included. You can discard these bits or add them to the roasting pan if you like.
• Using kitchen shears, cut the chicken down the breast bone, then turn chicken back side up and press on the back bone to flatten chicken.
• Turn chicken breast side up and dry inside chicken with paper towel.
• Using half of a lemon, drizzle lemon juice over the chicken, followed by 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the coconut aminos. Rub to cover the chicken evenly.
• Sprinkle generously with salt and paprika
• Add half of the green seasoning to inside of the chicken, ensuring to get the seasoning in all the nooks and grannies and any parts of the breast that may have pockets.
• Place chicken breast side down into a roasting dish or pan.
• Press to ensure chicken is flat, then repeat the seasoning steps above: dry chicken skin with paper towels. Drizzle the juice of half a lemon, followed by 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Rub to cover all visible surface area of the chicken. So basically anywhere else that you didn't add seasoning to before. Sprinkle generously with salt and then lather with the remaining green seasoning.
• Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and place seasoned chicken in the refrigerator to marinate over night.

Roasting the chicken:

• Remove chicken from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before roasting to allow the pan and the chicken to come up to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 450 °F.
• Remove plastic wrap from chicken
• Place chicken uncovered on the middle rack of the oven
• Roast uncovered for 30 minutes
• Add ½ cup pineapple juice (or white wine If not doing Whole30) to pan and cover with aluminum foil. Do not spoon juices on the chicken.
• Continue to roast for another 15 minutes to 30 minutes, then remove chicken from oven.
• Let rest for 15, then spoon pan juices over the chicken before serving.

Notes

Season the chicken overnight or at least 6 hours before roasting for best results. Trust me it is so worth it.