Miso Apple Cider Roasted Chicken
Your next holiday party dish is sorted! This easy roasted chicken recipe requires minimal prep but brings all the flavor. The addition of miso paste takes the apple, onion, and herbs to another level. Paired with a simple arugula side salad, it’s a whole meal ready for your next dinner party or holiday hosting duty.
Miso Apple Cider Roasted Chicken ingredient notes:
Miso paste: Miso paste is an important component of the melted butter compound that smothers the chicken before roasting. It’s main flavor profile is umami, which means it’s very rich and savory. I opt for white miso paste which is sweeter and more mild in flavor than others like red miso.
Honey crisp apple: The best apple to use for this recipe is honey crisp, they’re crisp and hold well with a longer bake time and release a delicious sweetness in the pot that seeps into the chicken. Apple is also added to the arugula side salad, adding a delicious crunch and refreshing element that cuts through the acidity of the vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar: Our acid of choice for both the chicken and the salad dressing is ACV. It’s versatile and mild, like a pantry staple you already have on hand! It functions here to help keep the chicken tender and juicy while it cooks and keeps the skin crisp.
Ground sage and thyme: Two herbs used in the butter compound are ground sage and dried thyme. These classic herbs carry the seasonal flavor into every bite of the chicken.
Miso Apple Cider Roasted Chicken
6
servings30
minutes1
hour15
minutesYour next holiday party dish is sorted! This easy roasted chicken recipe requires minimal prep but brings all the flavor. The addition of miso paste takes the apple, onion, and herbs to another level. Paired with a simple arugula side salad, it’s a whole meal ready for your next dinner party or holiday hosting duty.
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Ingredients
- For the Roasted Chicken
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (use vegan for dairy-free)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons white miso paste
one 3- to 4- pound whole chicken, giblets removed
1 garlic bulb
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
- For the Arugula Salad
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon white miso paste
kosher salt
5 ounces baby arugula
1 honeycrisp apple, unpeeled and small-diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Set out a 6-quart dutch oven and small saucepan.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, garlic powder, sage, thyme, and black pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the butter in the saucepan over medium until melted. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, miso paste, and a pinch of salt. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until the liquid is reduced in half, about 15 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
- While the sauce reduces, prepare the chicken: pat it dry all over with a paper towel. Cover with the spice mix, rubbing all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Stuff the garlic bulb into the cavity, tuck the wings underneath the back of the bird, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Add the yellow onion and remaining cup of chicken broth to the dutch oven. Place the chicken on top, breast side up. When the sauce is done reducing, brush the chicken all over with about half of it (reserve the rest). Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
- After the initial 40 minutes, carefully remove the dutch oven and brush the chicken with the remaining miso-cider sauce. Spread the apple slices around the chicken, filling any open space in the bottom of the dutch oven. Continue baking until browned and crisp on top, about 20 minutes, then cover with foil and bake until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, about 15 more minutes depending on the size. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 15 minutes.
- While the chicken rests, make the arugula salad: In a large bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, maple syrup, miso paste, and a pinch of salt until smooth, about 45 seconds. Add the arugula, apple, and walnuts and toss to evenly coat.
- Slice and serve the chicken between six plates with the roasted apple, onion, and drippings from the pan. Evenly divide the salad between the plates and serve.
Notes
- Store It: Refrigerate the chicken in a sealed container for up to 4 days. The salad is best enjoyed fresh.
- Reheat it: Heat slices of chicken in the microwave until warm, about 1 minute, or return to a small sheet pan and heat in the oven at 350ºF until warm, about 10 minutes.
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Looks delish! Any specific modifications just using chicken breast instead?
For boneless I would recommend roasting it in a 9×13 baking dish and cutting the time all together to closer to 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees F (use an instant read meat thermometer to check for 165 degrees F internally). After the first 20 minutes, add the apples and the second coating of the sauce 🙂 Let me know if you try it this way, I’m curious to hear how it goes!
Forgive my ignorance, but is the garlic bulb supposed to be peeled, or the top cut off? Thanks!
The garlic bulb can go right in as is, and once it’s done cooking and cooled you can discard it or use the softened cloves for something else! I like to add to mashed potatoes!
This was literally the best thing I’ve ever cooked, and the juiciest chicken I’ve ever eaten. So good! My first time roasting a chicken and now I feel like I can do anything.
Only thing I would tweak is that when you add the miso sauce, it makes all the spices run off the chicken. So even though the flavor was still in the pot, my chicken looked very plain and unseasoned, unlike Jenn’s beautiful picture. Next time, I’ll add more seasoning after the sauce is added for the visual effect.
I made this tonight, it was soooo delicious! Thank you for another excellent recipe!!! The flavor profile was incredible. Chicken was so juicy and flavorful. (Plus, I could eat the apples and onions for a week). Instead of arugula salad, I did the smashed Brussel sprouts with balsamic/honey pomegranate seeds for the side. It was excellent… but I didn’t get the timing right (my fault, not the recipe) so some were burnt. I know what to do differently next time, so will definitely keep them both this in the rotation! It was a perfect Halloween dinner…
I hate cooking but this looked good and decided to try. It tastes incredible, next level. Best thing I’ve ever made. As someone living alone, I’m interested in the chicken breast version above (not enough skill to make use of this chicken carcass).
This was SOOOO good! My three year old and five year old gave it “100 thumbs up.” My husband was eating spoonfuls of the sauce and roasted apples straight out of the Dutch oven. An absolute winner!
I can’t wait to make this again & again! Amazing flavor! This is going in our meal rotation for sure. Thank you!
I have a 4 qt dutch oven which I fear will be too small. Would a braiser, baking sheet or casserole dish also work here? Or should I try in the smaller dutch oven?
this was amazing…added some goat cheese to the salad. pomegranate seeds would take it to the next level (love the comments)
Thank you for this amazing recipe! It’s is in my regular winter rotation now, and I’ve made it countless times. Preparing the glaze always makes the house smell amazing. It’s difficult to improve upon such an excellent recipe, but here are some tweaks I’ve found make it perfect: (1) Omit the onion. This is coming from someone who loves aromatics. Somehow the onion seems to water down the depth of the miso/apple pan drippings that you absolutely should use as sauce.
(2) Include the sliced apples under the chicken from jump. Covered with the broth, they don’t burn, and you end up with perfectly textured, apple-y sauce.
(3) The first time you brush the glaze on, spoon it on rather than brush. I find that brushing the raw chicken with the thickened glaze removes more of the spice rub than I’d prefer.
(4) Substitute sugar bee apples for honey crisp if available to you.
Oh, and add the broth last so that you can use it to wash off any glaze that may get on the sides of the dutch oven, which will burn!