Easy Roast Chicken With Asparagus and Leeks Recipe

This complete chicken dinner is delicious as well as efficient: get your chicken roasting, prep the vegetables, then cook them while the bird rests.

By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Kenji Lopez Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated December 18, 2023
Easy roast chicken with asparagus and leeks, arranged in a deep serving platter.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Why It Works

  • Removing the backbone and spatchcocking (a.k.a butterflying) the chicken makes it easy to get perfectly roasted breast and leg meat.
  • Spring leeks and asparagus cook while the chicken rests, making this a convenient and complete meal.
  • Every part of the chicken is used, and both vegetables are imbued with its flavor: The neck and backbone are used to make a jus for braising leeks and the asparagus roasts in flavorful rendered chicken fat.

One of the great things about spring is that it provides you with a plethora of vegetables that need only brief cooking stints to become delicious. This makes them the perfect companion for a roast chicken dinner.

Simply roast your chicken, have your vegetables prepped, then cook them while the chicken rests. All of your food comes out piping hot at the exact same time.

I've already talked about the merits of butterflying your chicken before roasting. It's faster, gives more consistently cooked results, and is by far the easiest way to get your breast meat and leg meat to finish cooking at the same time (breast meat needs to cook to around 150°F or 66°C, while legs need to reach at least 165°F or 74°C). Check out the linked recipe for a more thorough explanation.

This time of year I like to pair my chicken with roasted asparagus and some nice braised spring leeks, which are sweeter and more tender than their fall or winter counterparts.

This recipe uses a couple different cooking methods to finish the vegetables. The asparagus are roasted in the same pan as the chicken so they pick up that nice chicken-fatty, roasted flavor. The leeks get braised in a quick chicken jus made from the chopped-up neck and backbone of the chicken. You can make that while the chicken roasts.

Throw in a quick salad (made even quicker and easier once you know this squeeze bottle trick, and you've got a meal fit for company.

June 2011

Recipe Details

Easy Roast Chicken With Asparagus and Leeks Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 60 mins
Active 20 mins
Total 65 mins
Serves 4 servings
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Ingredients

  • 1 whole butterflied chicken (about 4 pounds, see note), neck and backbone reserved
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 large leeks, whites and greens reserved separately, whites trimmed, washed, and split in half lengthwise
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 1/2 pounds asparagus stalks, trimmed and peeled if necessary
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons butter

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 500°F (260°C). Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season on all sides generously with salt and pepper. Line heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place chicken on foil, skin-side up. Transfer to oven and roast until thickest part of breast registers 150°F (66°C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 minutes (see note). Remove from oven, transfer chicken to a cutting board, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

  2. While chicken roasts, make jus. Chop neck and backbone into 1-inch chunks with a cleaver, heavy chef's knife, or poultry shears. Place in a medium saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add leek greens and bay leaves and cover with water. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain, discarding solids. You should have about 2 cups of jus.

  3. Place leek whites in a large saucepan and pour chicken jus on top. After chicken comes out of oven, bring leeks to simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to cook until leeks are tender and chicken is ready to serve, about 15 minutes. Season leeks and jus to taste with salt and pepper.

  4. While chicken rests, place asparagus in the now-empty pan that the chicken was roasted in. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven and roast until tender and browned, about 10 minutes.

  5. Carve chicken into serving pieces. Transfer leeks to serving platter with a slotted spoon, leaving jus in pan. Stir butter into jus until emulsified. Transfer asparagus and chicken to serving platter and pour jus all around. Serve immediately.

Special Equipment

Rimmed baking sheet, aluminum foil, instant-read thermometer

Notes

For crispest skin and best results use an air-dried chicken. To butterfly a chicken, use poultry shears, a cleaver, or a heavy chef's knife to remove the chicken's backbone. Lay chicken out flat with breast facing up. Pull legs out to sides so that entire chicken is skin-side up. Press down firmly on breast with hands to flatten.

I cook my chickens to 140°F, though you may want to cook them hotter if you are squeamish about food safety (150°F is very safe, 165°F is what the USDA recommends. Your chicken will be hopelessly dry by this point).

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