As the weather begins to cool this time of year my cravings for the comfort of a simple but delicious roasted Chicken increase. Like most, I have stuffed a multitude of Turkeys over the years but I honestly can’t remember stuffing a chicken. Roasting a stuffed whole fresh chicken couldn’t be simpler, is quite economical, and when cooking for two there are always leftovers to graze on the next day.
Selected a fresh 5 pound Foster Farms Young Chicken. This being my first stuffed chicken I decided to add some pizazz by first injecting the poultry with Tony Chachere’s Roasted Garlic & Herb Marinade before seasoning the chicken under and on the skin with Annie’s Roasted Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Jans Dry Rub. Wrapped the chicken tightly in plastic and refrigerated for 3 hours.
With all the food safety talk and issues concerning stuffing being cooked inside poultry I wanted to make it easy to fix the stuffing and have all the ingredients fully cooked. I also desired to raise the flavor profiles up a notch and came up with the following easy stuffing recipe:
Stuffing Ingredients:
- ½ lb Jimmy Dean Regular Pork Sausage
- Stove Top Chicken Stuffing Mix (6 oz)
- 5 Baby Bella Mushrooms
- 2 Celery stalks
- ½ Red Bell Pepper
- ¼ small Red Onion
Directions:
- Prepare Stove Top Chicken Stuffing Mix as per box directions
- Cook the Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage
- Sauté diced Mushrooms, Celery, Red Bell Pepper & Red Onion (seasoned to taste with garlic salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic)
- Mix stuffing, sausage, and vegetables
- Stuff the chicken cavity loosely with an ample amount of stuffing. Retain the remaining stuffing and cook separately
- Tie the legs together and use Silicon Food Grade High Temperature Cooking Bands to bind the bird
- Place Stuffed Chicken on a V-Rack over a foil pan to catch the drippings and keep your grill clean
Preheated the MAK 2 Star Wood Pellet BBQ Smoker-Grill to 325ºF using Alder wood BBQ pellets.
The stuffing recipe made more than enough so the extra stuffing was cooked for 1½ hours alongside the stuffed chicken. Used the SRG on High with the lid Open to bake potatoes that were rubbed with Roasted Garlic EVOO and Fagundes Seasoning. Steamed Asparagus and Cauliflower for the vegetable side.
When roasting a stuffed Chicken you need to adjust your roasting time to compensate for the stuffing. I knew it would take longer and quickly learned just how long. My cooking logs, I document every cook, show that roasting a chicken at 325ºF in my MAK 2 Star normally takes 2 hours + or – 15 minutes for the thickest part of the breast to reach 170ºF but with the stuffing it took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Roasting the stuffed chicken at 350º to 400ºF is an option to reduce the cooking time and produce crispier skin.
Fortunately the additional time did not affect the timing of the dinner because the SRG baked potatoes were wrapped in foil and remained hot until served. The stuffed roasted chicken was rested under a foil tent for 20 minutes and steamed the vegetables while the chicken was resting. As noted earlier there are plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.
The $Money$ Shot … A Roasted Garlic & Herb injected Chicken Breast, Stuffing, Baked Potato, and steamed Cauliflower … Bon Appétit
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