Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken and vegetables is a one pot whole chicken dinner recipe that can be roasted on a campfire or in the oven!
Nothing beats a good hot dog by the campfire, but sometimes a complete main course like this mouthwatering Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken just hits the spot. I have tons of information below on how you can make the most delicious whole roasted chicken complete with seasoned tender potatoes, onion, carrot and a buttery sauce.
WHOLE ROSTED CHICKEN in the DUTCH OVEN
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I love to roast chicken in my dutch oven when we go camping. This is the absolute best recipe for a whole roasted chicken and vegetables, and with a little prep work, it’s an easy one pot dinner!
Now, when I say camping, that means we rented a full service cabin that has its own private bathroom, a refrigerator, and futon beds. Before you judge, I’ll have you know that it qualifies as camping if we get eaten alive by mosquitoes (which we did), sit around a campfire (which we did), eat s’mores daily (which we did, a lot), and we cook outdoors.
Dutch oven camping recipes:
I absolutely love campfire cooking. Don’t get me wrong – we most certainly grill up some dogs and whole ears of corn on the first night, but after a full day of hiking, biking, making insanely large bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and reading, I love to sit down and listen to the sizzle and smell the aroma of a chicken roasting right in front of me.
There are a million different camping recipes you can enjoy in your dutch oven. My family loves to start the morning off with a berry filled Dutch Oven Dutch Baby (or two). You can use your dutch oven on the campfire to reheat any kind of recipe you’ve already made at home, much like you would a crockpot, but you can also make entire dinners like this roast chicken recipe and it’s just so easy!
How to roast a whole chicken in a cast iron Dutch oven while camping:
- Before we left the house, I mixed up some of my one spoon dry rub, coated the entire chicken, and then wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap. Sure, you can use a store bought rub, but if you’ve never made my dry rub I will vow that its the best you’ll ever try. I just shoved my wrapped chicken in a tupperware to keep all of the juices confined and stuck it in the cooler, errr cabin refrigerator, until we were ready to use it. We love our little coal starter tower thing. It heats ’em up fast and then we just pour the coals where we need them.
- I seared the chicken breast in a bubbling cube of butter – ohhhh yeah.
- Then I took the chicken out and tossed the vegetables in. Note – I kept my potatoes whole because I was lazy and thought they would cook just fine since I knew the chicken would take at least an hour. Do yourself a favor and quarter them. this way they’ll be ultra soft and they’ll soak up all that delicious flavor.
- If the fire isn’t too hot, I like to set the dutch oven in one of those disposable aluminum turkey roasting pans on the grate above the fire. That keeps all of my coals in one place and using the grate just gets it up off the ground. If your fire is roaring, just cook it on the ground so you can maintain total control of your heat source.
How many coals are needed to roast chicken in a dutch oven over a campfire:
I like to maintain a 2:1 ratio of hot coals on the lid compared to the base. I learned my lesson the hard way a couple years ago when I first started dutch oven cooking and everything I made was burnt on the bottom.
Heat rises, yo, so you need more coals on top to create an even cooking temperature.
I just love my Lodge dutch oven. I never go camping without it. Once you get the hang of dutch oven cooking, you’ll never go back.
What temperature do you cook a whole chicken in a Dutch oven?
If you aren’t cooking outside and are using your oven to roast a whole chicken, I recommend an oven temperature of 350 degrees F. You can certainly increase or decrease the temperature from that value as long as you’re prepared to adjust your cooking time as well.
The trick to sealing the outside of this chicken to lock in all the juices and flavor is to sear the chicken, breast side down, in the hot cast iron dutch oven before roasting it.
How long to roast a chicken in a Dutch oven?
With recipes like this Dutch oven whole roasted chicken and vegetables, I don’t like to give an exact time. Depending on the size of your chicken, the starting temperature, as well as fluctations in the cooking temperature, the time can vary.
A good rule of thumb to follow is 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. A trusted digital thermometer is always recommended. Especially when cooking meat.
Doesn’t that look amazing? I’m not gonna lie – that cube of butter with all the seasonings from the dry rub combined with a slow cooked chicken is nothing short of amazing.
Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken
RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dry seasoning rub I made my one spoon dry rub and used all of it - see recipe in notes
- 1 whole chicken mine was around 6 pounds
- 1/2 cup one cube butter
- 1 pound baby yellow potatoes quartered
- 4 large carrots peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 yellow onion peeled and quartered
equipment if cooking on campfire:
- 24-40 charcoal briquets
- 12 inch 6 quart camping dutch oven
- Lid puller
- meat thermometer
equipment if cooking in oven:
Instructions
- Prior to cooking, coat chicken in dry rub and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. I did this at the house a couple days before the chicken was cooked and kept the wrapped chicken in tupperware.
To cook over a campfire:
- To prepare for cooking, heat 24 coals. Place 8 of the hot coals evenly under dutch oven.
- When the cast iron is hot, add the butter and melt. Sear the breast side of the chicken for about 5 minutes in the hot butter.
- Remove the chicken and spread the vegetables in the pot.
- Then return the chicken to the pot, breast side up with the meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast. You may need to redistribute the vegetables to get the chicken to fit. Ideally you want the chicken in the middle of the dutch oven and not touching the lid or the base.
- Cover with the lid and add remaining 16 coals to the lid. Rotate the lid a quarter turn every fifteen minutes or so. After about 45 minutes of cooking, you may need to add a few more hot coals. Just be sure to add twice as many to the top as you do the bottom. Continue cooking until the internal temp reads 165 degrees F and the drumsticks start to pull away from the body. This may take 1-1.5 hours.
To cook in your oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with dutch oven in oven. You want it to get hot.
- When the cast iron is hot, add the butter and melt. Add the chicken to the dutch oven, breast side down, and cook in oven for about 5 minutes in the hot butter.
- Remove the chicken and spread the vegetables in the pot. Then return the chicken to the pot, breast side up with the meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast. You may need to redistribute the vegetables to get the chicken to fit. Ideally you want the chicken in the middle of the dutch oven and not touching the lid or the base. Cover with lid and return to oven.
- Continue cooking until the internal temp reads 165 degrees F and the drumsticks start to pull away from the body. This may take 1-1.5 hours. If your chicken starts out at room temperature, you can plan for it to take about 20 minutes per pound.
To serve:
- I personally enjoyed carving up the chicken and returning the meat to the dutch oven with all the liquid and vegetables prior to soaking. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally created in July 2016 and has been updated with more fun facts and tidbits for your reading pleasure.
I’m going to be doing this recipe tomorrow night and already prepped the chicken with your dry rub. Can’t wait! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on other veggies for the bottom? I’m on a low oxalate diet so potatoes and carrots are out for me. We were thinking about radishes and something else.
Oh boy, I don’t know what low oxalate means but I think any root veggies do well in this type of recipe. Enjoy! Krissy
We made this tonight and it was soooo good! I’ve never done a whole chicken in the Dutch oven before so I appreciated the guidance. And it was also my first time to use a dry rub. I will never buy a dry rub from now on, this was amazing and amazingly simple.
Thank you!
Thank you! Yes – I always refer to my own recipe for dry rub. Not to brag, but I think I nailed that one! -Krissy
Wow, looks terrific!
If I were to try this in my home oven, what temp would you suggest ~ 350?
Thanks!
Yes! 350 degrees F. I’ve been meaning to update that recipe for kitchen cooking too. Thanks for the reminder!
This is a great way to keep your chicken moist when cooking in the oven!
Only butter no other liquids like chicken broth or anything
The onions produce a lot of liquid.
I’m wondering about the sugar, never added brown sugar to chicken. Is the sugar overwhelming?
Not at all! I use that One Spoon Dry Rub recipe all the time and the sugar just balances out the heat. So good!
Just tried this recipe last night with 5 hungry men. This has to be the best dry rub for Dutch oven cooking. I’ve only cooked rosemary chicken in the Dutch oven before this and everyone loved it, but this recipe has my old recipe beat hands down, I’ve never seen a chicken carcass devoured so much that there was literally no meat left on it, none! and all the veggies were gone, the only problem now is my friends want me to do it every week.
Thanks for the recipe, keep up the good work, this recipe was a big hit and very flavorful, I’ll be cooking this one again real soon.
Thanks, Jack
Tried your recipe with a small chicken and you dry rub in the oven. Meat and veggies were great!!!!! Because it was a small bird I only used half the dry rub. The chicken was fully covered after half so I stopped because it was falling off. I only wish the skin came out crispy. I will definitely made this again. Really enjoyed it. Thank you very much for the recipe!!!!
I did it with some thigs, Seared them. Cooked them in a cast iron dutch oven on my grill. used Uncle Chris seasoning. Came out great.
I made this at home in oven it was a big hit. Everyone really liked it.