On many Sunday nights at our house, we like to prepare roasted chicken because it’s tasty and comforting—and also provides great leftovers for countless meals during the week.

But we don’t do a whole chicken for a few reasons—one, we’re more of a breast-meat family and too much of the bird would go to waste and two, doing individual split bone-in breasts gives you more variety in terms of flavor options. When you’re roasting, they can all go into the oven (or on the grill) at the same time, so it’s pretty efficient to cook multiple flavors at once. Portion wise, we’ll each eat about half our breast at dinner and save the rest for leftovers. For a family of four, you’ll probably want to make 6-8 individual, large breasts (about 4-5 pounds).

Here are the recipes for the two different varieties you see in Episode 1, Lemon Rosemary and Jamaican Jerk.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

For each, individual split bone-in breast you will need:

3 ¼-inch wide strips of lemon peel

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh Rosemary

Kosher Salt & Pepper

1 ½ teaspoons Olive Oil (eyeball it)

The key to getting the juicy, flavorful meat is putting all the yummy seasonings underneath the skin. So, first things first, gently loosen the skin from the breast by inserting your fingers and gently pushing between the skin and meat. (As you see in the show, yeah, dealing with the raw chicken is not my favorite activity, and I usually let my husband Kevin take the lead on this duty!)

Next, arrange the garlic, lemon peel and rosemary on the meat, underneath the skin. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and rub in 1 teaspoon of the olive oil – again, all of this happens underneath the skin. Rub remaining olive oil on top of skin. Place breasts in a Ziploc bag to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To roast:  Usually we like to roast the chicken on the grill, using a convection or “indirect” method. But, you can also roast them in the regular oven, of course!

Preheat to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken breasts in a roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes, until the skin is sizzling golden brown, then reduce temp to 400 and roast until the meat is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Note: if your kitchen gets too smoky, lower your temperature a bit, and lengthen cook time accordingly.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

1 bone-in split chicken breast

¼ cup store-bought Jamaican Jerk marinade

For each, individual bone-in breast, you’ll need about ¼ cup of a store-bought jerk marinade. We like The Shizzle Sauce, Voodoo Hot variety (it’s super spicy!).

Place the chicken breast in a Ziploc or plastic bag. Add marinade and squish it all around, making sure to rub the marinade underneath the loosened skin, onto the meat directly. Place meat in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Quick tip: if you have the time, let the marinated meat stand at room temperature before roasting for 15-20 min; ice-cold chicken doesn’t brown quite as nicely.

Roast chicken at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 400 and bake until the meat is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Add a little extra jerk sauce on top before serving. Delish! Note: You can also do this same method with all kinds of store-bought marinades. We often roast a third flavor of Teriyaki Chicken. Our favorite marinades are by Soy Vay or Trader Joe’s Trader Ming’s Soyaki. These can both be a bit sweet so I’ll add a splash of plain soy sauce to the mix to make it more savory.

I like to serve the chicken with rice and roasted or steamed vegetables on the first day. Then, as you see in the show, we reinvent shredded or sliced chicken for a number of other recipes including:

1. Shredded Rosemary Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
2. Easy Biryani with Green Beans and Hard Boiled Eggs
3. Shigley Spicy Chicken Tacos

Enjoy!

Photo by Lauren Hunter