If you can bake chicken, you can make dinner over and over again. Use chicken roasted chicken and apples, thighs, wings, or legs for this juicy baked chicken recipe. Classic Baked Chicken If you can bake chicken, you can make dinner over and over again. Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019.

She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University. We usually buy whole chickens and either cut them up ourselves or have the butcher do it for us. It’s cheaper that way, and we get giblets for gravy. You can do that or just use a package of whatever chicken parts you like—make baked chicken breasts for white meat, and baked chicken thighs and legs for dark.

This way of cooking chicken couldn’t be more straightforward. It’s especially welcome on days when you’re busy and just want to put good food on the table. Use the chicken back and these giblets to make stock for gravy. Chop up the back a little, and put the back, gizzard, and neck into a small saucepan and cover with water by a half inch or so.

Bring to a simmer and let simmer while your chicken is baking. Then strain and use the stock for making a richly flavored gravy. Heat the drippings from the roasted chicken with some stock or white wine for a simple gravy. This recipe works best using chicken with the skin on. Even if you intend to eat the baked chicken without its skin, leave the skin on for baking.