This whole chicken recipe allows you to bake everything in one dish AND gives you a gravy with the pan juices afterwards for a complete, Autum inspired meal that celebrates the season without breaking the bank!

Roasted chicken is a staple for most, and my favorite way to keep making it year-round is to simply pair it with ‘seasonal’ vegetables.

For the fall months, a roasted chicken is easily paired with sweet potatoes, cranberries, and onions; a slightly sweet & savory way to have dinner that’s still pretty easy to put together.

Here I go into tools you need, ingredients, and written instructions on how to make this Roasted Chicken recipe with Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries.

Let’s Dive In…

Roasted Chicken with Autumn Vegetables & Cranberries

Although sweet potatoes are definitely in season during the autumn months, many of the pumpkins you see in the grocery stores come fall are edible. Instead of sweet potatoes, you could also try these winter squashes for this recipe:

• Butternut or Honey-nut squashes
• Acorn squash
• Long Island Cheese (although use a partial pumpkin for this one)
• Jarrahdale (again, partial pumpkin)

All of these could easily be grown in your garden as well. Just remember to fertilize your pumpkin plants well for good production.

Tools you need

• 9×13 casserole dish
• Aluminum foil
• Small saucepan

Ingredients

Bottom of the casserole dish:

• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes, peel and cut to 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup cooking wine (chardonnay is a great dry wine to cook with)
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 grinds of pepper
• 3-5 fresh sprigs of both thyme and sage

Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken; giblets removed, rinsed, patted dry
• 3 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
• 3-4 teaspoons of dried green herbs mixed together: rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley (use what you have on hand or what sounds good, just don’t under-season it)
• A good pinch-ful of both garlic and onion powder
• Salt, pepper
• 1 head of garlic cut OR 1/2 of a lemon (this will go on the inside of the chicken)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
2. Wash, peel and cut your sweet potatoes to 1/2 inch cubes. Layer on the bottom of the casserole dish evenly.
3. Cut your onion, layer on top of the sweet potatoes evenly.
4. Sprinkle your dried cranberries over the onions.
5. Pour your wine, broth overtop the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and tear apart your fresh herbs and layer evenly.
6. Wash your chicken and pat very dry. Place on top of the vegetables breast side up.
7. Take your butter and smear it all over the skin, making sure to shove some underneath the skin where you can.
8. Liberally sprinkle with your dried herbs and add a good pinch-full of salt and pepper all over.
9. For the inside of the chicken: you can place a half of fresh lemon OR cut an entire head of garlic and place in there (this will make sure the deepest cuts of meat will get some flavor)
10. Place some aluminum foil over the wing tips. Place into the oven.
11. Bake at 400 Degrees for 25 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.
12. Then pull your chicken out and baste with the juices. Place aluminum foil over the entire chicken if you feel the vegetables are not quite halfway cooked.
13. Place back into the oven and bake another 15 minutes or until the chicken is done cooking.
14. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting, serve warm. OPTONAL (but recommended): you can easily make gravy with the juices like this:
    • Separate the veggies and chicken out of the pan and set aside. Pour the juices into a small saucepan.
    • Put on medium heat. Add 1 cup of broth, 1/2 cup of cooking wine, along with some more salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Turn the heat off and Add 2-3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, whisking vigorously until thickened and well combined. Serve warm over the veggies and chicken. Enjoy!

That’s It!

A big part of ‘slow living’ is making sure you don’t rush onto the next holiday or season before it’s time, and cooking seasonal foods is a great way to keep yourself in check.

I always like to squeeze out autumn for what it’s worth, which means I do not run into winter on November 1st (because here in Michigan we have about 6 months of winter, so we will have plenty of time to celebrate the snowy season!).

Foods that are in season for autumn:

• Root vegetables: carrots, beets, potatoes
• Squashes and pumpkins
• Apples and Pears
• Pomegranates (you could easily sub the dried cranberries for some of these)

It’s also a great time to circle back to what you preserved and gathered in the springtime (rhubarb, berries, your farmer’s market meats, etc).

Also, this is a great time to start making a list of what vegetables your family loves to eat on the regular to prepare you garden planning for next year!

Enjoy!