How To Bake Chicken

Learning basic instructions for how to bake chicken develops a kitchen skill that opens the door to a wide range of future main dish recipes. Baked chicken is a versatile meat that can be used in a variety of flavorful dishes. 

Ingredients and Kitchen Tools Needed to Bake Chicken

• Shallow baking dish or roasting pan
• 1 (3 to 5 lb) roasting chicken
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 stalk celery with leaves, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large carrot cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 cup water or chicken or vegetable broth

1. Preheat oven and prepare the baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dark chicken meat contains more fat that's released in the pan as it cooks, making it less necessary to oil baking pans for baking whole chicken. However, you may opt to lightly spray the pan with cooking spray to aid with cleanup.
2. Prep and season the chicken. When preparing a whole chicken, it is necessary to rinse the chicken and remove the giblets from the bottom cavity if they are present. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and place the chopped onion, celery and carrot inside the large cavity of the chicken. Place the chicken into the pot and brush lightly with melted butter.
3. Add broth or water and bake. Pour the liquid around the chicken—vegetable broth is preferred as it adds additional flavor to the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour to 90 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
4. Serve. This basic baked chicken is flavorful enough to eat as a main dish meat with selected side dishes such as a baked potatoes and a green salad. It is also seasoned so basically that it can be used in additional recipes as leftovers and will not impact the final flavor of the dish.