Take your weeknight roast chicken to new heights with this fabulous saffron chicken recipe. Infused with the golden hues and aromatic flavors of saffron, and baked to perfection, this meal is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
This post was originally published December 18, 2012. It has been updated with more content and new photographs.
I am lucky to have a cupboard filled with saffron. My main source of saffron comes from family who visit us from Iran, bringing small gifts of this glorious spice. I learned early on how to cook with saffron.
I have baked with saffron (hello saffron cake with raisins). I have made ice cream with saffron (Persian bastani). My family loves my tahchin (baked saffron rice), which really shows off this wonderful spice.
Today I am glamming up a humble roast chicken with a bit of golden saffron!
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Recipe highlights
- Entertaining on a budget: When my kids were little and money was tight, I was picking up whole chickens whenever they went on sale. This saffron chicken takes an ordinary roast chicken and makes it worthy enough for a dinner party.
- Simple: Roasting a chicken in your oven is crazy easy to prepare. Simply grind a little saffron, add it to melted butter, brush it over your chicken and you end up with a very special golden bird.
- Flavor: Saffron not only turns everything a gorgeous golden yellow color, it is also very aromatic. Crispy skin and juicy chicken, it really makes a delicious meal.
Ingredients needed
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- Butter: You can use unsalted or salted butter.
- Saffron: You want high quality saffron. The amount you need depends on the quality. If you find that your rice is not a vibrant yellow, you are probably using a lesser quality saffron. Choose long crimson colored strands of saffron, not orange or yellow. You will also need a mortar and pestle. If you purchase already ground saffron, you could be getting colorants that are added and not pure saffron. This is why I recommend buying strands of saffron.
- Whole roasting chicken: You can use any size of chicken for this recipe. You can even do this with Cornish hens.
- Onion: Use white, yellow or sweet Vidalia onions.
- Fresh herbs: I stuff the cavity of the chicken with fresh herbs. You can use rosemary, thyme, mint, basil or oregano.
- Lemon: I also stuff the chicken cavity with some fresh lemon wedges. You can also use an orange.
- Salt and pepper
Step-by-step directions
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- Bloom. Combine melted butter and ground saffron. Let it steep and reserve.
- Stuff. Remove giblets and neck inside chicken cavity and place on a roasting pan with rack. Season cavity of chicken salt and pepper then stuff inside onion, rosemary and lemon. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs of the chicken together (optional).
- Coat. Brush the entire chicken with the saffron butter, brushing under the skin of the chicken breast, as well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Roast. Roast chicken at 425ºF for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350ºF. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 170ºF.
Expert tips and Recipe FAQs
Serve your beautiful chicken with some Persian rice, roasted vegetables or even some saffron mashed potatoes – because saffron is delicious in everything!
Here are a few cooking tips for saffron:
- If you can, use only saffron threads and grind it yourself using a mortar and pestle. Already ground saffron typically has additives mixed in and uses cheaper quality saffron.
- Keep your saffron in a sealed container and store in a cool dark place.
- A little bit of good quality saffron goes a long way!
- Add your ground saffron to a hot liquid and steep to develop it’s rich orange color. You can add it to hot water, hot oil, melted butter or any other warm liquid.
Saffron isn’t just for paella. Add it to your ice cream, your cookies, your cake, your potatoes, your fish, and even your rice. You can learn more about saffron and get even more saffron recipes here.
And if you are looking for more classic comfort food with a twist, try my Braised Chuck Roast with Herb Dumplings and Pulled Pork Ragu with Polenta. So delish!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Saffron comes from the red stigmas inside the crocus flower. This flower has specific weather conditions for it to flourish. The best quality saffron is found the mountains of Kashmir and Iran. The crimson stigmas are hand-picked, collected and dried for distribution. Remember, each flower will produce only 3 threads of saffron. That’s it. It takes approximately 75,000 crocus flowers to make one pound of saffron.
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Saffron Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted melted butter
- ½ teaspoon ground saffron
- 4 lb whole roasting chicken
- ½ onion quartered
- 1 sprig of rosemary fresh
- ½ lemon quartered
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅜ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine butter and ground saffron. Let it steep and reserve.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Remove giblets and neck inside chicken cavity and place on a roasting pan with rack. Season cavity of chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
- Stuff onion, rosemary, and lemon inside the cavity of the chicken. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs of the chicken together (optional).
- Brush the entire chicken with the golden saffron butter, brushing under the skin of the chicken breast, as well.
- Season the entire chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Roast chicken for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350ºF.
- Roast chicken until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 170ºF, approximately 1 hour 20 minutes.
- If chicken starts to brown too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil.
- Tilt chicken to allow juices from cavity to run into roasting pan.
- Transfer chicken to platter, cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes, allowing internal temperature to rise.
- Spoon and discard fat from surface of pan juices. You can also use a fat separator.
- Serve chicken with pan juices on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
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