Curried Roast Chicken With Grapefruit, Honey and Thyme

Name: Curried Roast Chicken With Grapefruit, Honey and Thyme
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken; Kosher salt and black pepper; 1/3 cup grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed, if possible; 1/4 cup honey; 1 teaspoon curry powder; 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme

By Colu Henry

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Rating: 5(630)
Notes: Read community notes

Sweet and savory curry powder is combined with honey and a pleasantly tart grapefruit juice to create a rich glaze for your above-average weeknight bird. Roasting the chicken low and slow keeps the meat moist, and basting frequently prevents the caramelization of the sauce from scorching. Serve with a side of greens such as spinach, kale or Swiss chard that have been sautéed in lots of garlic and oil.

Learn: How to Roast Chicken

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

1(3½-pound) whole chicken
Kosher salt and black pepper
⅓cup grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed, if possible
¼cup honey
1teaspoon curry powder
1tablespoon finely chopped thyme

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pat the chicken dry and season it well with salt and pepper, both inside and out. Place the chicken breast-side up in a 10-inch cast-iron or ovenproof skillet.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapefruit juice, honey, curry powder and thyme. Spoon all the mixture over the chicken, making sure it is evenly covered.
Step 3
Roast the chicken for 30 minutes, basting every 15 minutes or so. Turn heat down to 325 degrees and continue basting the chicken with the pan juices until the skin is lacquered with sauce and the chicken registers 165 degrees with an instant thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, about 45 to 50 minutes more. If skin is starting to become too dark, tent with foil. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Ratings

5 out of 5

630 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Susan3 years ago

At the first basting, I tasted some of what had been a delicious sauce and discovered that it had taken on an unpleasant metallic taste. I had used a well-seasoned cast iron skillet as suggested in the recipe. A little alarm bell went off about not cooking acidic foods in cast iron. I moved the chicken to a glass pan and quickly made a second batch of basting sauce, and the rescue seems to have worked. I wouldn't use cast iron for this recipe again.

Jess5 years ago

This was delicious. I flipped the chicken over onto a cooling rack to allow the juices from the dark meat to sink into the breast during the resting period. It made for incredibly moist white meat!

Kelly3 years ago

Loved this! During the last 30 min of cooking I added fingerling potatoes and whole garlic cloves to the pan and tossed in the leftover glaze to make a tasty side dish. Next time I would definitely add more curry powder, and possibly swap the regular honey for hot honey to add a kick of spice.

Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor5 years ago

A combination I was unsure of, but needn't have been. It was AWESOME and that skin is sooooo gorgeous. I used storebought fresh grapefruit juice.

Gigi4 years ago

So delicious - Would have added a bit more curry powder just to have more of that flavor. Also would have kept the oven on high for a bit longer, just to get extra crispy skin. Super easy and v good. We ate the whole thing.

Owen4 years ago

I make a lot of roasted chickens. I love them. But I’ve never loved one as much as this.

Stupock3 years ago

as noted, great receipe. Went with the extra curry powder and also added some fresh minced ginger because we had it on hand. Surprisingly good!

Jacqueline3 years ago

Absolutely delicious! A unique, tasty take on a roast chicken. I added a bit of extra curry powder and used fresh grapefruit juice. The basting was key to get the wonderful caramelization; I did it every 15 minutes, but you could probably get away with every 20. Made a quick gravy with the drippings, some stock, and flour. Served with roasted potatoes and a salad. Would definitely make again!

Henry3 years ago

This works on fish as well. I’ve used salmon and cod. Pat fish dry 30 to 60 minutes before cooking and apply glaze. I checked every 15 min and if not glassy wet reapplied. Cooked as usual which for us is oven baking at 425. Very nice.

Richard2 years ago

OK, so here is my biggest gripe I have with recipes that use a whole chicken. Almost every recipe calls for a 3-1.2 to 4 lb. chicken. These are nearly impossible to find in any supermarket these days. Maybe in NYC you can go to a butcher and get one, but here in Palm Springs, that is not an option. Please adjust these recipes for a larger chicken. NYT Cooking is by far not the only one with this issue. ATK and everywhere else writes their recipes with a small chicken.

Lulu3 years ago

We followed many of the suggestions people have here and this was EASY and delicious. Here in Colorado we have a great honey--Bjorn's--and they have a Sweet and Spicy one with JoJo's Sriracha. (I have no association with either company.) It was PERFECT! I'll add a little more spice next time and a little more curry--I did 1 1/2 tsp and will bump that a little. We added potatoes as suggested for the last 30 minutes. I'm making chicken broth now with the carcass. This was a winner!

nicolepgh2 years ago

We had a 5.5 lb. whole chicken, so I adjusted the cooking time, doubled the amount of baste and added extra curry powder and about 1 tsp. red pepper flakes to the baste since our family enjoys spicy food. Adding additional chicken stock to the bottom of the pan throughout the cooking process was necessary to prevent burning. During the last 40 minutes or so of cooking, I tossed in fingerling potatoes, carrot and onion slices and whole peeled cloves of garlic. Absolutely delicious!

rachel3 years ago

This was so good, and surprising how the flavors blended and mellowed. I threw a few pats of butter into the bottom of the roasting pan to add to the basting, and it added to the tasty skin

bcb3 years ago

During the last 30 min of cooking ..add fingerling potatoes and whole garlic cloves to the pan and tossed in the leftover glaze to make a tasty side dish. Perhaps add more curry powder,

ZJD2 years ago

Very tasty and surprising combination. The curry powder definitely needs to be increased. Doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling to taste will really punch up the final result. Fresh grapefruit juice is also key to making sure the final result is beautifully caramelized but not too sweet.

joan3 weeks ago

very disappointing. I followed the recipe proportions exactly but since I was using a 5 pound chicken I simply doubled the ingredients. It was sickeningly sweet and I could not,as hard as I tried taste any hint of grapefruit juice or anything acidic at all. I will not be making this again.

this was so tasty!3 months ago

I’m not sure why this was one of the best roast chickens I’ve had, but it was so tasty!

Mark Lynn3 months ago

I sauteed box of mixed baby greens - spinach, kale, arugula - in the some of the cooking juices left in the roasting pan. A generous sprinkle of Aleppo pepper and some flaky salt pumped up the flavor of the greens. Served with garlic mashed potatoes.

Betsy3 months ago

The seasoning and sauce were great (as was the final product), but next time I'll probably just do it with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. The dark meat had great flavor and didn't dry out in the recipe the same way the white meat did. Would switch to just the thighs to shorten the cook time, which ended up being at least 20 minutes longer than the recipe suggested (I know, bird size varies)

Anne3 months ago

Used All-clad non-Stick baking dish. Increased curry powder to 1 Tbsp. Had no fresh thyme so used 1/2 tsp dried and chopped fresh tarragon. Needs to cook longer. Next time roast for 1/2 hr at 375, then apply glaze. Startbasting every 15 minutes. After another 1/2 hour turn down to 325 and roast for an additional 1/2 hr, basting every 15 minutes. Add a bit of water to the pan from time to time to prevent glaze from scorching.

Charly3 months ago

This is incredibly delicious. I cooked it in a ceramic dish, not cast iron, and it worked just fine. My husband said this was the most perfectly cooked chicken I’ve ever made, so a real winner of a recipe! It was not spicy at all, I agree with the other reviews on that, but I really liked the subtle sweet/tangy flavor and the skin was delicious.

VMay6 months ago

My grocer only had 5 lb. Chickens, so that’s what I used. Since it was so big, I used cooking guidelines from another site (20 minutes per pound at 375), but used this recipe for basting sauce. My bird came out perfect - it looked like the picture. It was tender, juicy, and tasted like chicken! The juices did not have a ‘curry’ taste - just a series of warm notes. It was a very good meal. Served it with roasted fingerling potatoes and broccoli.

Dwight from St. Louis10 months ago

There are some fabulous curry pastes from India/Pakistan that would far exceed the flavor potential of the ordinary curry powder available in stores. As a paste it will mix more thoroughly with the grapefruit juice and honey and offer much more intense flavor over all.

AA1 year ago

Big hit! some notes:1.patted the bird dry, salt and pepper, and let it sit at room temp for 5 hours 2. added probably 4x as much curry powder as recipe to bring out the flavor and slightly less than 1/4 cup of honey. 3.some water at the bottom of the cast iron skillet was needed to prevent burning 4.initial temp was 400F for 25 mins then did the rest at 325F basting every 15 mins. Tented foil for the last hr. 5.blitzed parsley, lemon peel+juice, garlic, olive oil for a sauce.

Molly O3 months ago

Room temp for 5 hours is not safe for raw chicken. It might be fine if cooked enough in all parts, but why take a chance? You could do it in the fridge for 3 hours and on the counter for 2. I've had food poisoning twice from chicken cooked in commercial kitchens and it's no picnic.

Noomin1 year ago

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I found this dish deeply disappointing. It was simply too sweet. The curry powder and grapefruit juice did not mitigate that fact.

Alan1 year ago

This was a major fail. I'll have to take some of the blame because I added carrots and potatoes to the bottom of the dutch oven, so that could be part of the problem. The problem? After 2+ hours, the chicken (4 pounds) still wasn't done. Had to cut it apart, put it on a roasting rack and cook it at 400 for 20 minutes. Veggies were good but the chicken, not so much. Will not repeat.

Donna1 year ago

Has anyone adapted this for turkey, duck or goose?

Chris Carpenter1 year ago

Huge hit in our house. Made it several times, followed as is with a touch more curry powder. We will make it with split breast too and just as good.

Alexandra R.2 years ago

This was delicious! A few changes inspired by other comments. Doubled curry powder, used a mix of lime& orange juice because of medication issues with grapefruit. Added a few splashes of hot sauce to the sauce mixture (would have used sriracha or Mike's Hot Honey but didn't have on hand). Also used a disposable aluminum pan and did this on the grill that hovered around 375-400 degrees the whole time. Luckily didn't have any issues with burning, but had foil on hand to tent if needed (didn't).

james2 years ago

Nice recipe. I don’t usually cook recipes that require basting but this was fun and worth it.

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