Hello! Welcome to Mediocre Chef. You’re probably here to learn how to roast a whole chicken. We can help you do that! Keep on reading. However, if you’re wondering why you should roast a chicken when you can buy a roast chicken at the grocery store for cheaper… Well, economics is black magic and no one really understands it. Something something roasting chickens before they expire, something something economies of scale. (Thanks Priceonomics for solving this mystery!)

How to Roast a Chicken

Roasting a chicken is super simple. It takes no time at all to prep — the hardest part is waiting for it to cook. While it’s in the oven, you’ll have time to make side dishes and watch Netflix (or both at the same time).

What you’ll need to get started:

One whole chicken

A roasting pan (with some olive oil on the bottom so your chicken doesn’t stick)

A rub to make your chicken tasty

An oven (duh)

That’s it. We discuss two different rubs below — one is super budget-friendly, and the other is more extravagant, but it can be budget-friendly if you swap the butter for margarine and use dried herbs instead of fresh.