Dutch Oven Whole Miso Chicken with Leeks and Winter Squash

Dutch Oven Whole Chicken

Jon and I buy a whole organic chicken to cook almost every week, and it’s a great meal to eat for a few days in a row, which cuts down on cooking time. There are many ways to cook a whole chicken, but my favorite is to make this whole miso chicken in a dutch oven.

When you use a dutch oven to roast a whole chicken, you leave the lid off so the chicken skin can get flavorful and crisp.

Miso Roast Chicken

Miso is a naturally great flavor paired with chicken. Chicken is a blank canvas, and miso is so salty, slightly sweet, earthy, and deeply umami. I did a miso butter chicken rub for this whole chicken, similar to the marinade I used to make my delicious miso chicken wings.

Miso Chicken Seasoning

I make the rub with miso, grass-fed butter, kimchi, and maple syrup. If you have homemade miso, that will be best in this recipe, but store-bought miso is good too. I suggest using red or brown miso because those two types are fermented much longer and thus are more flavorful.

My key to getting flavorful whole chicken is liberally seasoning it. You need to season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper and rub the

Ingredients for Miso Chicken with Leeks and Winter Squash

Here are all the ingredients you need for this recipe. Not if using a 4-5 pound chicken, a 5.5 to 7 quart dutch oven works best:

• 1 whole chicken, about 4-5 lbs.
• lemon
• garlic
• Miso
• kimchi
• maple syrup (or honey)
• butter
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• Large leeks
• delicata squash
• potatoes (optional)

How Long to Cook Dutch Oven Miso Chicken

When people cook a whole chicken, they are often concerned with the timing. It’s pretty easy, though. It would be especially great if you used a meat thermometer.

You’ll cook the chicken for 15 minutes at 475, then reduce heat to 350 and cook still uncovered for approximately 20 minutes PER POUND or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. So you want to cook it for 1.5 to 2 hours for a 4-5 pound chicken.

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Dutch Oven Whole Miso Chicken with Leeks and Winter Squash

This super simple dutch oven whole chicken is seasoned with a miso chicken butter rub for the perfect umami flavor. My miso roast chicken recipe is an easy one-pot meal cooked uncovered in a dutch oven with leeks and winter squash.

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• Prep: 30 minutes
• Cook: 1.5 hours
• Total Time: 0 hours

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Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken about 4–5 lbs.
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 bulb garlic, cut in half
• 1/3 cup Miso
• 1/4 cup kimchi
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 5 Large leeks sliced and rinsed clean
• 1–2 large delicata squash, cleaned and sliced
• 1.5 lbs. potatoes cut into 1″ pieces (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in small bowl add it to a food processor with the miso, kimchi, and maple syrup. Pulse to blend, scoop it into a small bowl, then set it in the fridge.
3. Place the leeks in the bottom of enameled cast iron dutch oven. Reserve the end scraps. If using potatoes, add them on top of the leeks, then add the sliced delicata squash.
4. Prepare chicken by removing giblets from cavity and patting dry with paper towels.
5. Season the cavity with salt and pepper liberally.
6. The butter miso mixture will have hardened slightly by now. Using your hands, slather the mixture over every part of the chicken and under the breast skin while being careful not to tear the skin. Make sure to get all the crevices and all sides of the chicken.
7. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the garlic bulb cut in half and the leek end scraps.
8. Place the chicken in the dutch oven on top of the vegetables.
9. Tie the legs of the chicken together tightly using kitchen twine.
10. Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken.
11. Roast chicken UNCOVERED for 15 minutes at 475, then reduce heat to 350 and cook STILL UNCOVERED for approximately 20 minutes PER POUND, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (about 1.5 hours for a 4.5 lb. chicken).
12. Allow the chicken to rest for about 20 minutes before carving.

Kaitlynn Fenley Author, Educator, Food Microbiologist

Kaitlynn is a food microbiologist and fermentation expert teaching people how to ferment foods and drinks at home.

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