Honey Mandarin Roasted Chicken – An unbelievable juicy, tender and delicious chicken perfect for a weeknight dinner, ready in less than 40 minutes!
Let’s talk about this tasty chicken!
I can honestly say that this chicken is unbelievably juicy, tender, delicious, and a million times better than the roasted chickens you get at the grocery store. Sometimes, I avoid roasting the whole chicken because of the cooking time.
Who has 1+ hour to wait for dinner to be ready? I certainly don’t.
So this time I used a technique called “spatchcocking”. You only have to cut out the backbone to flatten the chicken. I used kitchen shears and it was very easy. It’s essentially “butterflying” a whole chicken. That means it cooks faster and more evenly, producing wonderfully juicy meat while still getting that great golden roasty-toasty skin!
This chicken is amazingly flavorful, and that is because of the combination of flavors. I loved how the citrus of the mandarins was balanced by the honey and soy sauce. I used Don Victor honey, which is orange blossom honey that is 100% pure and naturally packed with a large piece of honeycomb inside. I also received other Don Victor products, like olive oil, and whipped honey with caramel, chocolate, and cinnamon…all delicious and beautifully packaged! You can find Don Victor honey at your local Walmart, in the international aisle, or here.
Mandarin, Tangerine, Clementine… Oh boy! I got really confused. Back home, we called this fruit “Mandarina” and I believe we only have one variety. Here it’s totally different. You can find all kinds of varieties. The other day, while making my produce shopping, these gorgeous and vibrant Satsumas (a seedless mandarin variety) caught my eye. I bought them just because I wanted to take a photo of them. The color in the image below has not been altered; I just played with the lights and shadows. Aren’t they beautiful?
This recipe is delicious, impressive, and, at the same time, easy and inexpensive. I added some white pearl onions. Oh God… can you imagine how tasty they were? All infused with the flavor of the mandarin and the chicken juices. Heavenly.
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You just need a side dish and you’re good to go. I served mine with my potato-onion gratin. we do love onions here, so it was the perfect combination!
Comfort food at its finest…
Comfort food at its finest…
Happy Cooking!!!
Honey Mandarin Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasting chicken (about 4 lb)
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup mandarin juice (see notes)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 10 oz white pearl onions (optional but recommended)
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat over to 475º F.
- Place chicken, breast side down, on a work surface. Starting at thigh end, cut along 1 side of the backbone with kitchen shears. Turn chicken around; cut along another side. Discard backbone or save for stock.
- Transfer chicken, breast side up, to an iron skillet, and splay it open. Use your hand to press firmly on the breastbone to flatten.
- In a small bowl, mix butter and garlic.
- With your fingers, ease the skin away from the chicken and spread some of the butter mixture inside. Spread the rest of the butter on the outside, all over the chicken. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Scatter white pearl onions around chicken.
- Mix in a bowl the mandarin juice, soy, honey, and rice vinegar.
- Add mandarin mixture over the chicken. Distribute the white pearl onions around the chicken (if using) and bring the skillet to the oven.
- Roast the chicken for 30 – 40 minutes, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes. Continue to roast chicken until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast reaches 165 degrees F.
- Transfer chicken to a carving board, and let rest 8 -10 minutes. Cut chicken into pieces, and serve with pearl onions, and pan juices.
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Nutrition
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- Cast Iron Skillet
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- Kitchen Shears
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- Measuring Cup Set
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- Bamboo Cutting Boards
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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DonVictorHoney #CollectiveBias
Hello! Looks delicious. I had a question about the last step as it mentions shallots which is not on the ingredient list. Do you mean the pearl onions? Thanks! Wendy
Hello Wendy! I apologize for the confusion. For shallots, I meant pearl onions. I fixed the recipe to avoid future confusion. Thanks for your interest in my recipe. Please come back and let me know how you like it =)
Hi! Im big on making whole chicken, I do it maybe 3 times a month. I wanted to make it differently this time. I thought why not with the sweet citrus fruit I always have in my kitchen we also call “mandarinas”! Looks delicious and we can’t wait to try it! It’s in the oven right now.
Hello Erika!! Thanks so much for trying my recipe. Hope you love it. ?
All due respect….I (a grandfather that’s loves to cook) made this, when my grandkids saw it they went wild, said that looks good gram paw, I told them “oh it’s just something I threw together” (sorry ?)!!!, it was a huge hit….next time have have to make more than one….lol
I am so glad that this recipe worked so well for you and your family, Joe!! Thanks so much for coming back and leaving your feedback. Happy Cooking =)
Me encanta la comida y la gente de Venezuela!
Me encantan tus recetas!
Roxy
una Argentina de TX
Hola Roxy!! Que bueno tenerte por aqui. A mi me encanta la comida y la gente de Argentina
Looks extremely delicious! I love the crispy skin! Can’t wait to give it a try! Gorgeous pictures, as always. Pinned 🙂
Sounds absolutely fantastic! I adore those flavours together, and your photography is just amazing!
Thanks Alessandra… I’m glad you stopped by!
Wow, gorgeous styling and photography!! And it sounds delicious! And i totally need to know…where did you get those gorgeous fruits with the leaves? I love everything about this! Pinned!
Phi… I got the satsumas at Whole Foods!! They are sweet and juicy, my fave mandarin variety so far. Thanks for stopping by =)
This looks so juicy and the colors in the photography are just gorgeous. I love that this can be made in less an hour AND is packed with flavor and deliciousness. Pinned!
A whole chicken done in 40 minutes? Oh count me in. Yours looks absolutely gorgeous! Pinned!
Uumm! Que rico se ve, me imagino el delicioso sabor!
Es muy rico Mayito!!! Espero que te animes a hacerlo. Un abrazo y gracias por tu visita =)
My kids love whole chicken. I think they will fall in love with this recipe too. It looks so delicious!
Katherine the chicken was delicious!! I hope your kids like it. The best part is it cooks in 30 min. Thanks for stopping by.
Incredibly delicious congrats and thanks for your participation #client
Thank you Adriana!!!
Thanks Jessica!!! It was super delicious =)
This chicken – so beautiful! I can only imagine how wonderful it tastes!