Roast Chickens With Plums
Updated Feb. 28, 2024
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus marinating
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2large lemons
- 2tablespoons ground sumac
- 4teaspoons kosher salt
- 1tablespoon black pepper
- 1teaspoon cinnamon
- 1teaspoon allspice
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4garlic cloves, grated or minced
- 2chickens, 4 to 4½ pounds each
- 1bunch thyme, more for garnish
- 2¼pounds plums, halved or quartered if large
- 4shallots, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
- 2tablespoons honey
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon allspice
- 1bay leaf, torn in half
For the Chicken
For the Plums
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
716 calories; 47 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 51 grams protein; 1058 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Grate the zest from the lemons and place in a small bowl. Set aside the zested lemons.
- Step 2
Stir sumac, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice into the lemon zest. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic. The mixture should feel like wet sand. Rub it all over the chickens, including inside the cavity.
- Step 3
Divide thyme bunch in half and place in the chicken cavities. Place chickens on a roasting rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, and let marinate, uncovered, in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Step 4
When ready to roast, let chickens come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Step 5
In a large roasting pan, toss together plums, shallots, honey, oil, salt, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaf and 2 tablespoons water. Spread out plum mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place chickens on the rack over the plums in the pan. Roast for 30 minutes.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from reserved lemon and mix it with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Drizzle this over the chicken, then continue to roast until the birds are golden-skinned and cooked through, about 30 to 45 minutes longer.
- Step 7
Let chickens rest, covered lightly with foil, for 10 minutes. Carve and serve with the plums and more thyme for garnish.
Private Notes
Comments
This is the most delicious thing I have ever served. I think the problem many of the others noted (burnt edges around plums, black and gooey perimeter) occurred because the recipe should say to turn the oven down to 350 or 375 after the first twenty minutes. Having roasted lots of chickens, I did that, and it was fabulous. My guests loved it. We found the sumac at a middle eastern store and it added so much and was worth the effort.
I just made this with boneless breasts (because there will be many eating on Rosh Hashana who don't eat anything else). It was amazing! I made half the spice and plum sauce recipe for 4 boneless breast pieces - which gave some extra sauce (a good thing). I didn't have fresh thyme and don't love it so I left that out. The breasts cooked in about 35 minutes, which was enough time for the plums to cook down without burning.
You'd only need to cook the chicken pieces for about 30 minutes, and you can add the plums at the same time. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees.
This was delicious, but even though I reduced the temperature to 400° with a convection oven, the plums still burned. I intend to try it again at some point and follow some others’ suggestions including adding a bit more water, and perhaps adding the plums halfway through. I’m not sure reducing the heat would make much difference because my 5 pound chicken already took quite a bit longer to cook than the recipe stated.
What kind of plums do you use?
My husband made this last night using pluots and apricots from our garden. Out of this world! Even better the next day! We used one chicken, brined for 24 hours in salt, sugar, star anise, peppercorns and cardamon pods. Baked it in a Pyrex dish directly on top of the fruit (mostly because it's a pain to clean the rack from our roasting pan). Served with Adirondack blue potatoes from our garden and cauliflower puree. Will make again with chicken thighs instead of whole chicken for simplicity.