Mary Berry’s roast chicken recipe is the ‘ultimate comfort meal’ perfect for a Sunday

Mary Berry has shared a plethora of recipes throughout her career, including both sweet and savoury.

Sharing her delicious recipe with BBC Good Foods, Mary shared her roast chicken with tarragon and melting onions meal.

The recipe said: “A roast chicken seems to me to be the ultimate comfort meal for all the family.

“It’s so versatile too, serve as a classic Sunday dinner with roast potatoes, or with a selection of salads and side dishes.”

This recipe serves six people and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, with around an hour and a half cooking time.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

50g butter, softened

One garlic clove, crushed

One heaped tsp finely grated fresh root ginger

One tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

1/2 lemon, grated zest

One free-range oven-ready chicken

Two large onions, thickly sliced

One tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the gravy:

45g plain flour

100ml dry white wine

500ml chicken stock

One tbsp redcurrant jelly

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Dash of gravy browning

One tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

Salt and freshly ground

Method:

Start by preheating the oven to 200C or 180C Fan before mixing the butter, garlic, ginger, tarragon and lemon zest in a small bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Next, loosen the skin of the chicken breast by gently pushing your fingers between the skin and meat, taking care not to break the skin. Using your hands, Mary recommended spreading the butter under the skin in an even layer.

Put the chicken into a roasting tin and scatter the onions around it, rubbing in a little oil over the skin and legs before seasoning.

Roast for around one and a half hours, or until the chicken is completely cooked through. The recipe said: “The chicken is cooked through when the juices run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part of the leg, between the drumstick and the thigh, is pierced with a skewer.”

Transfer the cooked chicken to a board to rest, removing the onions to serve in a hot serving bowl.

To make the gravy, sprinkle the flour over the fat in the roasting tin and whisk until completely combined.

Pour in the wine and stock, whisking over medium heat until thickened and smooth. Next, whisk in the redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce and gravy browning, if using.

Pour the mix through a sieve into a jug, stirring in the tarragon and seasoning with salt and pepper before serving with the chicken.