Buttermilk Roast Chicken with Cabbage

This Buttermilk Roasted Chicken over cabbage will very quickly become a staple. It’s quick, easy, healthy and cheap. There is a reason that people marinate chicken in buttermilk before frying it, it’s the most tender moist chicken you’ll ever eat. Last year, Steve and I watched a Netflix special called Salt Fat Acid Heat, and Samin Nosrat made buttermilk chicken. That started our inspiration for this week’s meal. You can read more about her great cookbook (which is more textbook) here ->

Cabbage is a totally underrated vegetable. It’s great in this recipe because it holds up well under the chicken but just loves cooking in all juice that comes out of the chicken as it roasts. Add bacon underneath and you have the perfect side for your chicken dinner.

Marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours, but overnight is best. The buttermilk will make the chicken moist and tender, but it’s also going to give your roasted chicken this amazing color. When it starts to brown, don’t freak out. It should look like that. It’s may just not be exactly what you expect. The salt and pepper on the skin makes the perfect treat, if you’re like me and pick the skin off as you carve it!

Do this in a cast iron pan. This week I used my 10.25″ Lodge pan, but I’ve also done this in my Staub All Day Pan. Both are perfect for this. If you’re looking for a great stovetop to oven to tabletop pan, then I highly recommend the Staub. It is a beautiful pan, so you can serve right from it, saving you some dishes. I’ve written about the Lodge Pan here and the Staub pan here if you want more details.

Why Bacon

Some bacon on the bottom of the pan adds both flavor and keeps the cabbage from sticking. It’s never going to get crispy though, so you may not want to eat the bacon at the end, depending on how you like your bacon. I have pulled it out after roasting the chicken, chopped it up and mixed it back in. Be careful how much you salt the cabbage, depending on the bacon you may end up over-salting it. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the cabbage brightens it up at the end, keeping it from feeling too greasy.

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Buttermilk Roasted Chicken with Cabbage

Buttermilk marinated and roasted chicken, cooked over cabbage, onions and bacon to make a simple, tasty but fancy looking meal.

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Servings :6

Calories: 391kcal

Prep Time1 day d

Cook Time1 hour hr

Equipment

• Cast Iron Pan

Ingredients

Chicken

• 3.5 lb Chicken
• 2 cups Buttermilk or one pint
• 2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• Pepper

Cabbage

• ½ head Green Cabbage cored and cut into 1" steaks/slabs
• 1 lg White Onion Sliced
• 3 strips Bacon
• ½ tsp Fennel Seeds (optional)
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper
• ½ Lemon juiced (optional)

Instructions

The Day Before

• Place the chicken in a large ziploc bag
• Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, add the salt and seal the bag
• Squish the chicken around in the bag to distribute the buttermilk and salt evenly
• Place in a bowl or on a plate in the fridge overnight, turning occasionally to ensure good marinade coverage

The Day Of

• Take the chicken out of the fridge about an hour before you are ready to cook it
• Preheat oven to 425°F
• In a cast iron pan lay three strips of bacon at the bottom, this will prevent the cabbage from sticking and provide some flavor
• Arrange the cabbage steaks to create a flat layer in the pan and arrange your sliced onions around the cabbage
• Season the cabbage with salt, pepper and fennel seeds
• Pull the chicken out of the bag, and wipe off some of the excess buttermilk
• Place the chicken on top of the cabbage and tie the legs together with butchers twine
• Crack fresh black pepper over the top of the chicken
• Place the chicken in the pre-heated oven with the legs towards the back left
• After 20 minutes rotate the chicken so the legs are towards the back right of the oven and drop the temperature to 400°F
• Continue cooking for another 40 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and reaches 165° internal temperature
• Take the chicken out of the oven and place it on a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before carving
• Meanwhile stir the cabbage and onions, you may want to remove the bacon as it won't be crispy or you can chop it up and throw it back in the pan
• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the cabbage to brighten it up before serving (optional)

Notes

The buttermilk will make the chicken moist and tender, it will also give it a great color when it roasts.   Don’t worry if it looks darker then you expect, it should.  You can can add additional seasoning to the chicken prior to cooking if you like, but I would start with just the salt and pepper because I don’t think you’ll need anything else.

The chicken juices and the bacon make the cabbage and onions a rich and delicious side.  A hit of acid right at the end lifts the dish up and keeps it from feeling too oily.

I accidentally used caraway seeds instead of fennel seeds once and it turned out great.   You could use anything in that family to add a little punch to the cabbage.

Nutrition

Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 2779mg | Potassium: 511mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 384IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 2mg

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