Jamie Oliver shares his ‘ultimate’ roast chicken recipe inspired by Harry and Meghan

There is nothing better than roast chicken with buttery meat and crispy skin and one chef has explained his method for making the ultimate Sunday roast.

Cooking legend Jamie Oliver has come up with the best roast chicken which should serve around five to six people and only takes an hour to make.

In a video online, the chef explained he came up with this mouth-watering recipe about hearing Prince Harry’s proposal story to Meghan Markle, as the royals have said they got engaged after having a quiet night and cooking a roast together.

Jamie Oliver said: “As we all heard, they got engaged over making a roast dinner, roast chicken, and it got me thinking about the ultimate roast chicken recipe.

“Everyone knows how to roast a chicken, but I’ve got a method which takes it up three notches. Are you interested? Let’s do this royal style.”

READ MORE: Foodie promises his recipe is for ‘the best roast potatoes you will ever eat’

Ingredients

• Whole chicken (1.4kg or 3lb)
• One bulb of garlic
• Two halved onions
• Finely chopped herbs (basil, parsley, marjoram)
• One lemon chopped in half
• Four bay leaves
• Two sprigs of rosemary
• Tablespoon of flour
• Olive oil
• Butter

Kitchen equipment:

• Small mixing bowl
• Sharp knife
• Cooking string
• Chopping board
• Heat-proof roasting tray

Instructions 

To begin, take your finely chopped herbs and combine them with “a nice couple of glugs" of olive oil and then mix them together. Jamie Oliver explained: “The oil will help bring out all the natural flavors from the herbs.”

Next, take your chicken and use a sharp knife to run it across the top of the chicken legs and score the skin.

Take the end of the chicken leg bone, the ball joint, and take it off. Jamie said: “When it cooks and roasts, it just looks beautiful.

Place the chicken on its side and do three large slices down to the bone on the chicken thigh. This is done in order for the thigh meat to cook at the same rate speed as the breast meat.

When it comes to the breast of the chicken, very carefully pull back the skin and use a spatula to get the skin of the chicken and the body. Make sure not to tear the skin and stuff the chicken with your finely chopped herbs

Take two slices of butter and place them between the skin and body of the chicken. Jamie explained: “That’s going to make your chicken breast juicier than ever, and it’s going to make that skin crisper than ever.”

For this last “trick”, Jamie said to cook a lemon until hot, stab it with a knife, and then stuff it into the chicken body to create a “boiling hot citrus time bomb. He explained: “If I put cold lemon in there, the hot air is not going to get in and it is not going to be cooking as even as I would like it.”

Next, it is time to tie the chicken up. Take your cooking string and place it just under the chicken leg, and take it up to the notches where the chicken ball joint was. Tie the string together and then place it towards you on the chicken legs. Turn the chicken over and then tie it again.

Jamie said: “This is going to keep it in shape, and it means you get a nice, neat, even cook.”

Rub any remaining herbs, oil, or butter from your chopping board onto the outside of the chicken.

Place you garlic and onions in a roasting tray and then place your chicken on top. Cook at 220C/425F for one hour. Jamie said: “It’s going to be spectacular.”

Once ready, your chicken will be golden brown and crispy. Take it out of the oven and place aside.

You can then make a garlic by removing the chicken and placing your roasting tin on the stove and adding a tablespoon of flour and water then mashing all the vegetables together.

Let the chicken rest as you finish your gravy, and then your mouth-watering juicy and crispy chicken is ready to be served.