What to pay for chicken

I get lots of questions on what is a good price for an item, the most popular is chicken. Below are rock-bottom prices and a good recipe from my friend Christina to make a “rotisserie” style chicken that can be used for any recipe that calls for pre-cooked chicken. It tastes amazing!

• Whole Roaster/Fryer Chicken $.59 – $.99/lb (right now it is $.59 at Harris Teeter!)
• Bone-In Chicken Breast $.99/lb
• Boneless Chicken Breast $ 1.99/lb (many times I buy the flash frozen bags at Costco/Sam’s Clubs for around $2.19/lb, saves on storage bags and time)

Roasted Sticky Chicken

4 tsp salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne (red) pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp white pepper (I usually omit this, don’t have it)

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp black pepper

1 large roasting chicken, big as you can find (I usually use this recipe on a 3 lb chicken and I double it and cook two of them at a time)

1 cup onion, chopped

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove the giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a resealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onion, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered at 250 degrees for 5 hours (yes, 250 for 5 hours). After the first hour baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop up thermometer, ignore it. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.

**TIP: I will use this same recipe for bone-in chicken breasts, and just cook on 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Here are a few meals I can prepare throughout the week when I make a bunch of chicken this way.

1. Roasted Chicken with Veggies (first night I’ll stick root vegetables, red peppers, mushrooms on a pan to cook on the bottom shelf while the oven is already on)
2. Chicken Tacos
3. Raspberry Chicken Salad (I sub with strawberries or whatever is in season)
4. Chicken Poppyseed Casserole (to freeze)
5. Pesto Chicken Pizza
6. BBQ Chicken Nachos (my hubbys favorite!)