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This easy Cast Iron Chicken uses your grill as the oven – so you won’t have to heat up the kitchen this summer!
This Cast Iron Chicken recipe is really more of a cooking method than a recipe – and it can be made on the grill during the summer, or in the oven during cooler weather.
Roasted either way, this simply-seasoned Cast Iron Chicken yields perfect-cooked, juicy chicken with a crispy skin that everyone loves.
Either way you cook it – this all starts with a large cast iron pan. Place your cast iron pan on the rack of your grill or oven and heat until scorching hot. Once it’s hot, add butter and sprigs of rosemary to the pan (being sure to use a thick pot holder when you touch the very hot pan!) – then allow the butter to melt.
Next, place bone-in chicken pieces skin-side down into the buttered pan and allow it to sear, turning the chicken with tongs every five minutes or so to ensure that all sides of the chicken brown a bit.
Finally, turn the chicken pieces bone side down and allow the grill (or oven) to do the rest of the work, roasting the chicken until done and cooked through. (It’s always helpful to check the internal temperature of the chicken with a probe thermometer to make sure you don’t over or under cook each piece.)
We love this cooking method – especially in the summer – because we can still enjoy roasted chicken without turning on the oven and heating up the house. Plus – once the grill is hot, it’s also easy to make some delicious side dishes like these Grilled Yellow Potatoes with Mustard Sauce, or this Grilled Graffitti Eggplant. You can even make this Grilled Banana and Pineapple Rum Molasses Glaze for dessert!
You can also swap out the rosemary for any of your other favorite fresh herbs such as thyme or sage – or use all three!
You may also like these grilled chicken recipes:
- Grilled Basil Garlic Chicken Breasts
- Citrus Grilled Chicken
- Marinated Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Marinated Chicken with Tropical Salsa
- Grilled Chicken Skewers with Thai Chili Peanut Sauce
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Cast Iron Chicken
This easy Cast Iron Chicken uses your grill as the oven – so you won’t have to heat up the kitchen this summer!
Ingredients
3–4 pounds chicken parts, bone in (we used three giant bone-in chicken breasts halves that were a little over a pound each)
2 teaspoons of your favorite seasoned salt, we used Lawry’s
4 tablespoons butter
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
Instructions
You can use your grill as an oven or just use your oven. Either way, you will need a large cast iron skillet big enough to hold all of the bone in pieces of chicken you bought without crowding the pan.
Preheat the oven or grill to 425 degrees F and place the empty cast iron skillet in the oven as it heats up.
While the oven and pan are heating, pat the chicken pieces dry and sprinkle on the seasoning salt. Use more or less as desired.
Once the oven is up to temperature, add the butter and rosemary to the cast iron pan.
Let the butter melt completely then add the chicken pieces skin side down and sear for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (Chicken pieces are not a flat surface; therefore, it is necessary to turn the pieces on some odd angles to brown all of the skin. During the first 15 minutes, I moved mine every five minutes to brown all surfaces on the first side.)
Flip each piece over but do not flip back to the original side. The milk fat in the butter eventually burns and if you flip back to the original side, the skin will pick up little burned bits. So once you flip them over to the bone side, leave them there for about another 15-20 minutes without turning back.
Our chicken pieces took 35 minutes total but they were very large and thick. An internal probe thermometer is a must. Breasts can be removed at 160 degrees F and dark meat should be removed at 175 degrees F. Allow all chicken pieces to rest for five minutes before cutting into.
Note, the pan and handle of your cast iron skillet is hot and will stay hot for quite a while. Leave a pot holder over the handle to remind you not to grab it.
Discard the fat and rosemary from the pan.
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Notes
If you prefer the flavor of some other herb other than rosemary, feel free to substitute.
I have made this several times and it has been delightful each time.
Thanks Margaret!