Whole Roasted Chicken and Potatoes Italian-Style | The Perfect Holiday Dinner

Looking for a holiday main dish that’s juicier than turkey and bursting with authentic Italian flavor?

Nonna Margherita shares her family recipe for whole roasted chicken and potatoes — a simple yet unforgettable dish we make every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This Italian-style roast chicken is seasoned with fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil, and lemon — then baked until golden, juicy, and aromatic. Every bite is pure holiday comfort. ❤️ #comfortfood #thanksgiving #roasting

We’ve never found a chicken (or turkey!) recipe that’s more flavorful, more tender, or more satisfying at the table.

✨ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
✅ Perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner
✅ Healthy Mediterranean flavors
✅ Nonna approved 😉

👩‍🍳 Inspired by the comforting flavors of Italy and timeless roast chicken traditions — Nonna will pit her roasted chicken against even chefs like Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, Jamie Oliver, and Gordon Ramsay any day!
✨ INGREDIENTS ✨
✅ whole chicken – 6 lbs (2.8 kg)
✅ potatoes – 3 lbs (1.5 kg)

✅ garlic – 8+ cloves
✅ fresh rosemary – 2 handfuls
✅ black olives – 10+
✅ lemon – one
✅ olive oil (extra virgin) – 1/2 cup + / 120 ml
✅ water – 1/2 cup + / 120 ml (see video)
✅ salt – several teaspoons
✅ pepper – 1/2 teaspoon

CHICKEN ROASTING: 485° F (250° C); 3 HOURS OR SO
POTATO ROASTING: 485° F (250° C); 45 MINUTES

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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0:00 – intro
0:20 – prepare the chicken or turkey to marinate
2:50 – how to roast a whole chicken in the oven
4:10 – how to make crispy roasted potatoes

📖 Get the Full Recipe & More Italian Classics:
👉 https://www.piattorecipes.com/rosemary-chicken-with-potatoes-italian-whole-roasted-chicken/

🍗 Serve this with:
– Roasted vegetables or sautéed green beans
– A fresh salad
– Homemade gravy or lemon butter sauce

If you’re tired of dry turkey, this Italian roasted chicken will be your new holiday tradition.

In this video, Italian Grandma Margherita is 
cooking up a whole roasted chicken. Let’s get started. Check the video description for a quick 
list of ingredients. This whole chicken is 6 lb. Grandma starts by giving the chicken a lemon 
massage. She rubs the juice from half a lemon all over the outside of the chicken skin. 
She says this not only flavors the chicken, that lemon is important for helping to create a 
crispy skin. As the chicken roasts in the oven, here she’s minced one clove of garlic and 
about 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary. She’s mixing in a teaspoon of fine salt 
and a pinch of black pepper to create a rub. Time for the marinade and rub. Margherita 
loosens the chicken skin gently with a knife, then with her fingers. This lets her add 
herbs between the skin and the chicken meat. First, the minced rub, a piece of halved 
fresh garlic, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Grandma adds the rub, the fresh garlic cloves, and sprigs of rosemary under the 
skin of the chicken in many places. the legs, breast, thighs, and even inside the chicken 
cavity. This gives her chicken its amazing flavor. Like most Italians, Grandma Margherita never uses dehydrated garlic or onion powder 
to flavor. Always fresh garlic. She’s taken this fresh rosemary from the 
hedges growing outside of her kitchen. After rubbing salt generously on the chicken skin, she flavors the chicken cavity 
with the rest of the fresh garlic, the other half of the lemon, and a handful of black olives. And of course, 
another pinch of salt and black pepper. always freshly grind the black pepper as grandma 
was doing for the best flavor. And finally, she adds a drizzle of extra virgin olive 
oil inside the chicken cavity as well. Use toothpicks or skewers to pin any open 
skin closed. This will ensure the chicken meat doesn’t dry out as it cooks. And it’s 
time to let the chicken rest overnight. The secret to Grandma Margherita’s 
incredible, flavorful roasted chicken. The next day, Margherita finishes the chicken 
skin off with a few more pinches of salt and pepper and a generous amount of extra virgin 
olive oil, which will help the skin crisp up. Grandma says this is her secret to 
juicy roasted chicken. Surprisingly, she doesn’t basee her chicken, but simply adds 
water to the pan, covers the chicken with foil as it cooks, and flips the chicken halfway 
through the cook time. For the last hour, she removes the foil to let the skin crisp up, 
and flips it more frequently. Grandma says the rule of thumb for roasting chicken is about an 
hour for every kilogram or 2 lb of chicken. for her whole chicken. That’s about 3 hours of 
roasting. And it’s into the oven. 485° F, 250° C for the entire cook time. The chicken 
is in the oven, and it’s time to move on to the crispy roasted potatoes. After peeling and 
cutting the potatoes into bite-sized pieces, she soaks the potatoes in filtered water 
for at least 2 hours before roasting them. This is her little secret for removing the 
starch from the outside of the potatoes. Starch on the outside of the potatoes can cause 
the potatoes to stick to the tray as they roast. After the 2-hour soak, she dries the potatoes 
and they go into the roasting pan. She coats the potatoes generously with extra virgin 
olive oil. This olive oil is special as it came from olives harvested on her land. And 
here’s grandma’s little secret for making her potatoes crispy. She says to be sure 
not to salt the potatoes at the beginning. Salting at the beginning will drag too much 
moisture from the core of the potatoes, making the potatoes dry inside and moist 
outside. The opposite of what we are looking for. Grandma roast the potatoes at the same 
485° F, 250° for about 45 minutes, uncovered. And here’s Grandma’s chicken after 
cooking for about an hour. Time to flip. Add a bit more water to 
the bottom of the roasting pan. And it’s back into the oven. And here’s Grandma’s roasted chicken after 2 
hours in the oven. It’s starting to turn golden, so it’s time to remove the foil cover. 
Grandma says it’s splendid already, and we have to agree. At this point, Grandma 
says we want to flip the chicken every 10 to 15 minutes for the last hour of cook 
time to ensure a nice crispy skin. After about 20 minutes in the oven, Grandma 
flips the potatoes and only now adds the salt. some sprigs of fresh rosemary and of 
course another drizzle of olive Now, Click the thumbs up button to let Nonna 
Margherita know that you like her video. There’s a danger this chicken is 
never going to reach the table. [sisters speaking Italian]