How to Roast A Frozen 10 lb. Bag of Chicken – Sometimes I think I have early onset Alzheimer’s. I plan to cook  a roast or fry some chicken then totally forget it’s still in my freezer. One day I said the heck with it and threw a frozen chuck roast straight into the oven. I sprayed it all around with cooking spray so the seasonings would stick, put it in my big roasting pan with a crap-load of carrots and added water, covered it with foil and let it cook for about 6 hrs. OMGosh…it was the best roast I’d ever made. So tender and juicy, and the carrots were so good I wanted to marry them. I could’ve spent my entire life with those carrots as my only companion. Now I always cook roasts from frozen. 😃

Works with Frozen Split Chicken Breasts, too!

The same thing happened with the chicken I planned to fry for supper one night a few months ago. I  usually get so caught up with whatever I’m doing that what’s for supper is the furthest thing from my mind. That day, I pulled the bag of frozen split chicken breasts from the freezer and dropped them on the kitchen counter. I thought, what the heck am I going to do with these? I considered thawing them in the microwave, but that would’ve partially cooked them around the outside and turned the meat rubbery while the centers would still be as hard as cinder blocks.

I had a brilliant idea! Treat the breasts like the roasts. It took some muscle to break them all apart from the single frozen block they’d turned into in the freezer, but I didn’t care. I was desperate to have something to serve my fam for supper and I didn’t have anything else in the house. I couldn’t believe how awesome they tasted and the meat literally fell off the bone. And it’s fabulously keto! For those on a ketogenic diet, this perfect for making ahead on the weekend for the week ahead!

Now that’s the only way I roast my chicken these days and it’s so much healthier than pan frying. Plus, I don’t even mess with trying to pull all the pieces apart anymore. I put the whole solid block in a rectangle speckleware roasting pan. It can’t get much easier than this. 🙂

How to Roast A Frozen 10 lb. Bag of Chicken

• 1 (10 lb.) bag of frozen chicken pieces
• Cooking Spray
• Salt and pepper
• Onion Power and garlic powder, optional
• Large roasting pan with lid or foil
• 1-2 qt jars to contain drained pan juices

Put the bag an empty sink to contain any ice crystals and the dirty bag. Cut the bag open and peal away from the frozen chunk.

Place the frozen chunk in the roasting pan and liberally spray one side with oil. Liberally salt and pepper.

Flip over and liberally coat that side with oil, salt, and pepper.

Cover with lid or seal tight with foil and bake at 350°F for 3 hours. 

Remove the foil and spoon out all excess liquid.

Separate the chicken pieces and season the newly exposed bare spots. Turn all the pieces right side up to crisp up the skin.

Continue cooking, uncovered, for another 30-40 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned and crispy.

It takes minimal work to make and the guys love it!

To make a savory chicken broth:

Return all the discarded bones to the roasting pan, add water and more seasonings, carefully return to the oven for 2 hours at 350°F.

Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a large container.

Discard waste and save the broth in lidded quart jars or larger container.

Store in the refrigerator and use within a week for homemade chicken noodle soup or any recipe that calls for chicken broth.

Skim the fat off the top and discard before using.

Or store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Leave at least 2″ headspace in container for freezing expansion.

Let partially thaw to skim fat from top before reheating to boiling for use in recipes.

Pictured with the roasted chicken is Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese!

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

Sav

Happy eating! 😊

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