Meat

Hot Honey Butter Roast Chicken with Cider Braised Shallots and Fennel

September 22, 2021

Roasted chicken has literally never tasted this good.

Inspired by my love for Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits, this roast chicken is perfectly balanced with the richness from the butter, sweetness from the honey, spiciness from the cayenne, and acidity from the apple cider.

The backbone of this dish is the hot honey butter. A simple combination of softened butter, chili infused honey, fresh thyme, and just 4 common spices. I call for stuffing the compound butter underneath the skin of the chicken, a trick I learned early on in my cooking career. It infuses the chicken with the flavors of the compound butter, and helps keep the lean breast meat from drying out as it cooks. I then take it 1 step further by coating the entire chicken in the butter. This helps the skin get nice and brown and crispy, while also seasoning the exterior with the spice blend.

Setting the chicken on top of your vegetables will 1.) expose more of the skin to the direct heat of the oven for maximum browning, 2.) allow the veg to soak up all of the honey butter infused chicken juices that render as it cooks, and 3.) minimize dishes because you only used one pan.

If you dont own a cast iron skillet, I highly encourage you get one. BUT, any medium-high sided oven proof pan will work for this.

If you’re not comfortable cooking a whole chicken, this recipe works great with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs too. Follow the directions the same. Cooking time may be shorter (400 degrees for 30-45 min).

Hot Honey Butter Roast Chicken with Cider Braised Shallots and Fennel

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Ingredients

For the Hot Honey Butter

1 stick unsalted butter softened
2 tbsp hot honey or sub regular honey & an extra pinch of cayenne
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh thyme rough chop
1 tsp salt plus more

For the Roast

1 whole chicken
5 large shallots peeled and halved
4 large fennel bulbs trimmed and quartered, reserve the fennel fronds for garnish
4 springs fresh thyme
1 tsp olive oil
1 bottle hard cider my favorite is Stella Artois Cidre

Instructions

Move your oven rack down to the lowest or second lowest position. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Make the Hot Honey Butter

In a bowl, combine softened butter, hot honey, cayenne, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chopped thyme, and 1 tsp of salt. Mix together until thoroughly incorporated.

Prep the Chicken

Before any roast chicken recipe, I like to remove the chicken from its packaging, pat dry with paper towels, place on a paper towel lined plate and transfer to the fridge uncovered for a few hours. This will dry out the skin and allow it to become super crispy when roasting.
Remove the chicken from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temp for 15 minutes. If the chicken is too cold it will cook unevenly, and the honey butter will harden on contact and be difficult to spread.
While the chicken comes to room temp, transfer your prepped shallots and fennel to a large cast iron skillet. Toss in 1 tsp of olive oil, remaining sprigs of thyme, and some salt and pepper. Arrange in 1 even layer for the chicken to rest on top of.
Flip your chicken breast side down and coat the back with about 1/3 of your butter mixture. Then transfer the chicken directly to the cast iron skillet on top of the vegetables, flipping it breast side up.
Using your hands, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat. With a spoon or rubber spatula, add some of the butter mixture directly under the skin and use your hands to spread it into an even layer. Then, cover the outside of the chicken with the rest of the butter mixture.
Pour the bottle of cider into the bottom of the cast iron skillet.
Transfer the skillet to the lowest rack in your preheated oven and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more, until the internal temp reaches 165. Check frequently, every 15 minutes or so, to monitor the skin browning. The sugar content in the honey butter will cause premature charring, so tent with foil when necessary.
Allow the chicken to rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before carving.
For the pan-sauce, you can either serve it as is, or you have the option to use a fat separator to remove some of the excess fat. I've done it both ways and both are delicious.
Carve and serve the chicken with your braised vegetables, pan-sauce, and garnish with fresh fennel fronds & fresh thyme.

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