Ultimate Roasted Chicken Quarters
Prep Time: 20 – 24 hours | Cook Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour | Rest Time: 15 minutes |Total Time: about 24 hours | Serves: 4
The best chicken thighs?? Yes! Is it a lot of work? Yes! If you’re not willing to go the extra mile for the most flavorful and tender chicken, you might-as-well find another recipe. This recipe will take about 24 hours to accomplish. But, there is little hands-on work. Brining + marinating = hours, but not anything too difficult. It just takes planning on your part. Are you up to it?
I see you accepted the challenge since you’re in the second paragraph. I’d like to say there’s no turning back, but that would not be truthful. Of course, you can wimp out. Now have I guilt-tripped you into the recipe?
On the serious side, though, I cannot say enough about you being well-rewarded for your time, patience, and intentionality of following a recipe.
Brining adds moisture and flavor, and marinating contributes tons of flavor, too. To get the best of both worlds, it takes both methods. I brine often, and it certainly makes an impact on the food’s juiciness. But pairing with a delicious marinade (which it must be or what’s the point), it is heavenly.
I have roasted the chicken with some veggies to make a complete meal, but you can go through the brining and marinating process and grill your chicken quarters. They will still be very delicious.
Chicken quarters are the thighs and drumstick, two dark meat/super-juicy, parts of the chicken still attached. They make a dinner portion, can be cooked longer than the typical 165 degrees F. and give a crispy skin that is just enjoyable. Quarters do not get enough of the dinner spotlight.
Carrots and potatoes, if cut the right size, will finish cooking at the same time as the chicken. I would cut the potatoes around 1 ½” thickness, and your carrots no more than ¾” in their thickest end. If you go for larger chunks, you may remove the chicken and finish cooking the veggies while the chicken rests.
You are welcome to use your favorite all-purpose seasoning for the vegetables and chicken before they go into the oven. I have several faves myself that I will use for this recipe.
Obviously, read through the recipe’s instructions to be sure you have a good idea of the process before actually beginning.
And as always, cooking with chicken requires good kitchen hygiene – frequent hand-washing and keeping the cutting boards and counters clean. You don’t want to mess around when it comes to raw chicken. Good practices are always in order.
Enjoy!
Ultimate Roasted Chicken Quarters
Equipment
- 2 2-gallon zip-top bags
Ingredients
Brine:
- 2 1/2 quarts filtered water, cold
- 3/4 cup Morton's Kosher salt, see Notes on brands
- 1 cup brown sugar, light or brown, packed
- 1 cup fresh herbs, lightly packed (I used stems of thyme, oregano, and rosemary)
- 3 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 - 3 lemons, sliced
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 chicken leg quarters, skin on, trimmed of excess skin
Marinade:
- 1 cup olive oil, see Notes
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 cup fresh herbs, lightly packed (I used stems of thyme, oregano, and rosemary)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, or Dijon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- Pinch kosher salt, not table salt
Dry Spice Rub:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning, optional
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne powder, or ancho or arbol chili pepper powder, optional for heat
- 1 - 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Veggies:
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled, cut in half longways if more than 3/4" thick
- 2 1/2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 1/2" thick chunks
- 1 red onion, cut into 6 wedges
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt (or sea salt), my favorite brand
- 2 teaspoons freshly-cracked black pepper, or to taste
- 6 - 8 fresh herb stems (thyme, oregano, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, my favorite brand
Instructions
- Make the Brine. Heat 1 quart of the water to almost boiling. Add the salt and brown sugar and dissolve. Cool for about 20 minutes. Add the remaining water, herbs, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, lemon slices and onion. Stir. Cool to at least room temperature. Brine can be made in advance up to 5 days, and refrigerated until ready to use.
- Place the chicken pieces into a 2-gallon zip-top bag or bowl/container large enough to hold the ingredients AND fit into your refrigerator. Be sure the chicken pieces are submerged. You can use a heavy bowl or plate placed on top of the bag if necessary. (I use a zip-top bag to brine my chicken, and then place the bag into a bowl to protect from leaks, topping with a heavy bowl if needed.)
- Place the chicken into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, but ideally for 12 hours. (12 hours yield better results.)
- After brining, make the Marinade. Combine all the Marinade ingredients in a 1-quart measuring cup or medium bowl. Whisk well to combine the ingredients. Taste. It should not be very salty, only lightly salty. You don’t need to add much salt because of the brine. DO NOT taste the marinade after adding the chicken.
- Move the chicken from the Brine to a new 2-gallon zip-top bag/container, pulling off any hitch-hiker pieces of bay leaf, peppercorns, lemon seeds, and stems and discarding them. Add the marinade ingredients to the chicken, turning the quarters to coat them very well and evenly in the marinade. Refrigerate for another 6 to 8 hours, turning the chicken pieces over every 2 hours if possible.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Make the rub. In a small bowl, combine the paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard, and lemon pepper and cayenne if using. Set aside.
- Scatter the potatoes, carrots, and onion in the bottom of a deep 9x13” pan or lasagna pan. Sprinkle them with seasoned salt and pepper. Add the herb stems. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat.
- Optional: Lay a baking rack over the veggies. Be sure it is big enough to hold the 4 chicken quarters.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, allowing excess to drip back into the bag.
- If time allows, but this step is not necessary, let the chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to knock some chill off.
- Lay the chicken, skin side up, on the rack, or directly onto the veggies in the baking dish, spaced apart for air circulation. Sprinkle the Dry Spice Rub evenly on both sides of all the chicken pieces.
- If you have a digital probe thermometer with a wire, insert the probe into the thickest part of a thigh, and set your temperature on the thermometer to 180 degrees F. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature of the thickest part of the meat if you have not used a thermometer with a wire. You want to cook the chicken to at least 170 degrees F, however, ideally for this cut of chicken, it does well when cooked to somewhere between 175 to 185 degrees F (or even 190 degrees F at the most.)
- You may broil the thighs at the end of cooking for 1 to 3 minutes for extra browning if you would like.
- Allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving with the roasted vegetables.
- Enjoy the rewards of your labor. Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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