Portuguese Style Roast Chicken With Potatoes

The all time favorite; “Portuguese Roasted Chicken” is simple to prepare and comes out perfect every time.

Every Portuguese home cook can make this chicken practically with their eyes closed and each family has their own recipe.

In fact many of you will probably say, why post such an easy recipe when anyone can do it!

Through the years I’ve had many of my non Portuguese friends request the recipe for Roasted Chicken and Potatoes served at Portuguese weddings.

They claim to have tried to replicate many times it but never achieved the same flavor.

I believe the reason is because they didn’t use good olive oil, and they didn’t coat the chicken with enough paprika which gives it the unique smokey flavor.

Most of the time when I make the chicken I cook  Portuguese Style Roasted Potatoes *(recipe below) and Classic Portuguese Rice for a perfect combination to serve your family on a special Sunday afternoon.

But this is optional. You can make the chicken without the potatoes.

My husband on the other hand is not a chicken fan, but he loves the chicken flavored potatoes.

He always says to me; “honey you have to make chicken and potatoes all the time, but through out the chicken after your done cooking”!

This leaves me speechless!

Enjoy!

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Ingredients:

1 Roasting Chicken

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp Paprika

1 small onion (Quartered)

1 small celery ( Chopped)

1/2 lemon

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 sprig fresh parsley

1/2 cup of white wine

Cook chicken at 400 degrees – cook for 1 – 1/2 hours for a small 3 pound chicken or 2 hours for a large 4-5 lb oven Roaster.

I like my chicken well done so I let it cook until the thigh bone separates from the chicken.

Roasted Potatoes & Carrots

*Skip this part if you don’t want to cook potatoes along with the chicken.

Potato Ingredients:

2 lbs potatoes (either Russet, Sweet Potatoes or Yams) cut into 2 inch pieces

2 large carrots peeled and cut into chunks  (optional)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp Paprika

1/4 stick of melted margarine or butter

1/ 4 cup of olive oil

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Instructions:

Wash the Chicken and place in roasting pan. Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl. Rub the chicken with olive oil and margarine.

Coat with the seasonings. Insert, onion, celery and parsley into cavity. Pour the wine into the cavity.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top of the chicken and place the lemon into the cavity.

*Leave chicken marinating for at least 2 hours in fridge if you have time, but it’s OK to cook it right away too!

When ready to cook, place the chicken in a large roasting pan with the seasoned potatoes along the sides.

Cook at 400 degrees for (1 -1/2) – to 2 hours depending on size of your chicken.

Shake the pan every 15 minutes to stir potatoes.

Even though your timer on the chicken may pop up, let the chicken cook longer until it’s crispy and golden colored on the outside!

I like a well done, crispy chicken. Test if it’s cooked by cutting into the thigh. The thigh should be easy to cut away and the juice should be clear.