Hate waiting for your chicken to thaw before you cook them? Me too! Here’s my easy trick for how to cook a frozen chicken or just a few frozen chicken breasts!
How to Cook a Frozen Chicken
Hopefully I’m not alone here, but I very often go to put a chicken in the oven for dinner, only to realize that I never thawed it! It never even occurred to me to try and bake a frozen chicken…
But after about the 47th time this happened (a slight exaggeration) I knew I needed to figure something out! So I did some experimenting to figure out how to cook a frozen chicken.
Turns out, it’s pretty darn simple! And just like my secret for making a tender pot roast, this trick involves just a bit of aluminum foil.
In fact, this method for roasting a frozen chicken is so easy that I don’t even bother trying to remember to thaw a chicken before baking! It’s so tender and flavorful that we make it at least once a week.
Normally I cook the frozen chicken, then we strip the meat off and turn the bones into chicken bone broth soup! Then we use the meat to either fill out the chicken noodle soup, or to make chicken salad, lemon honey chicken, or any number of other chicken recipes!
This recipe also works for frozen chicken breasts too!
PREPPING YOUR OVEN BAKED CHICKEN
Before you throw it in the oven, you need to prep the chicken for baking in the oven. This process is the same whether you have a package of frozen chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or a whole frozen chicken that needs to be ready for dinner!
Take your frozen chicken and run it under hot water. Normally this is a no-no when dealing with chicken, but you will only be doing this long enough for the packaging to give way. If this is not present on your chicken, then skip this step.
Next, pat the chicken dry and place it, whole or pieces, into an dry oven safe pan or dish.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BAKE CHICKEN
Depending on whether you are baking a whole chicken, or just the pieces, your time and temperature will vary. See below for the details depending on what you are baking.
TO BAKE FROZEN CHICKEN PIECES (BREASTS, THIGHS, LEGS, WINGS
Cover it with foil, shiny side down! Place in preheated oven at 375° and bake for 45 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165°F at its thickest part.
TO BAKE A WHOLE FROZEN CHICKEN
Place in a preheated oven at 425° for 15 minutes. Cover it with foil, shiny side down!
Reduce heat to 350° and bake for an additional 3 hours, or until internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reads 165° or higher.
OVEN BAKED FROZEN CHICKEN RECIPE
Just check out how simple it really is to cook a frozen chicken and I can almost guarantee your life will never be the same!
How to Cook Frozen Chicken - Whole or Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 1 Frozen Chicken - Whole or Breasts
- Deep Roasting Pan
- 3 lbs Potatoes Chunked (optional)
- 3 lbs Carrots Chunked (optional)
- 2 large Onions Chunked (optional)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic
- Rosemary optional
Instructions
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Remove packaging from frozen chicken. If the padding on the bottom is stuck, run the chicken under warm water until the padding comes loose.
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Rinse outside of chicken well and pat dry.
For Whole Chicken
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Preheat oven to 425°.
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Place in dry roasting pan and season to taste with Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Rosemary (optional).
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Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove chicken from oven, add vegetables, and cover with aluminum foil shiny side down.
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Reduce heat to 350° and bake for an additional 3 hours, or until internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reads 165° or higher.
For Chicken Breasts (or other pieces)
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Preheat oven to 375°.
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Place in dry roasting pan and season to taste with Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Rosemary (optional).
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Add vegetables if desired and cover with aluminum foil shiny side down
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Bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken reaches 165°F in the thickest part.
Recipe Notes
Thawing meat in warm water is not recommended due to the environment it creates for bacteria to grow. However, running it under the water for a few minutes right before putting it in the oven is not a problem. 🙂
DO YOU HAVE AN INSTANT POT: If you are fortunate enough to have grabbed one of these crazy popular kitchen tools, then you are in for another treat! Check out how to cook a whole frozen chicken in your Instant Pot!
Therese says
Thank you so so very much for these temperatures & times. As a single parent I. always prep the bird with all my spices then freeze. Today, I forgot to defrost!
Victoria says
Hi Therese, that’s a great idea! I need to start doing that! I’m glad the times and temps helped, and you gave me a really great tip too! Thanks for stopping by!
Angel says
Could you just cover it with a lid?
Victoria says
Of course! However, it doesn’t make the skin crispy if you do it without the foil 🙂 Either way, it’s still delicious!
Kayla says
I am always hesitant to cook a whole chicken because I never remember to thaw. I made this yesterday and it was delicious. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. Thank you for the recipe. Will be making again!
Victoria says
Awesome Kayla!! I’m so glad you loved it! Would you mind rating the recipe for me (the stars above the comment), so other people can see it’s worth trying?
I would so appreciate it! Thank you so much and I’m super excited that you liked the recipe! We use it at least 2x a month these days and then save the bones for stock. Yum!
Thanks again!
Dawn says
What is an instant pot and second I won’t use foil on food so I cover with parchment paper then cover with foil. Will this work the same way.
I don’t eat the skin.
Doris Schmucker says
These instructions worked great! Thank you for posting them.
Victoria says
Hi Doris! That’s so wonderful to hear, you’re so welcome and enjoy!
Lisa Watson says
Thanks for the tips on how to cook a chicken from frozen. I’ll be trying it out now as I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer last night. 😀 I also make broth with the bones. My kids adore it with tiny pasta shapes floating in it, or a use it for making risotto or soup. It makes everything taste so much better!