Cheap Easy Roast Chicken for College Students
No, I don’t currently plan on becoming a recipe blog! It’s for a school project but a good excuse for some tasty chicken nonetheless! So if you’re new to cooking this is a good recipe to give a try. I cook a lot but I promise anyone can make this. It’s a few simple ingredients all listed on the back of a Campbell’s sauce packet.
If you’re new to cooking (or not) this is extremely easy. I have a lot of friends in college who always say the food I make looks good. (Yes, this recipe is for you guys! Also, hello friends of mine!) Well, good news. All you do is cut everything up and put it in a pan with a premixed packet of sauce. Yes, it’s that easy!
Ingredients:
Campbell’s Classic Roasted chicken sauce packet
3 large potatoes
3 large carrots
4 chicken breast cut in half long wise
Directions:
First, preheat your oven to 400 F.
Cut your carrots into rounds or longwise whichever you prefer. Then cube your potatoes, about an inch big around each. Slice your chicken in half long wise so you have eight pieces.
Place the chicken in a single layer in a glass pan (if you don’t have one, a regular pan is fine so long as its tall because the juice of the chicken will leak out while it cooks). Then add the carrots and potatoes.
Cut open the Campbell’s sauce packet and pour it over as much of the chicken and vegetables as possible.
Put in the oven. Cook according to instructions on the packet. My packet said to cook for around forty minutes, it might take a bit longer. Serve.
To store the leftovers (if there is any!) put the chicken and vegetables in an airtight container with a lid and throw it (not literally) into the freezer. Or plastic wrap a bowl and stick it in the fridge for two or three days. Probably not longer than that though.
Read below for step by step instructions with pictures!
Make sure your oven is preheated to 400 F. Pictured up above is all of the carrots chopped up, this is how I chose to cut them. It’s fine if you want to chop them into “coins” or any shape. Make sure you don’t cut them too small or they might be mushy. I just cubed the potatoes and this is the sauce I’m using: Campbell’s Classic Roasted Chicken sauce.
Cut each chicken in half longwise. Sometimes chicken can be weirdly shaped so it’s fine if you have bigger or smaller pieces or more than eight when you get done cutting it in half. Just try to get them relatively the same size so they cook evenly. When I said to cut the chicken in half ”longwise” this is what I mean. It helps the chicken cook faster since it will be more thin and then you feel like you have more food this way without eating too much at once (but eat to your hearts content I certainly won’t stop you). Try not to layer the chicken, it’s perfectly fine if you need to you can get a second pan like I did. Then sprinkle the carrots and potatoes around the chicken if there’s room. If not just toss them on top it doesn’t really matter it just adds to the cooking time.
Next I cut open the sauce and dump it all over the chicken. And yes you did read correctly. I said CUT not tear. I have ripped a sauce packet open right down the side one too many a time! (Or all too many really.) It’s just safer to cut it even when it has a little notch to tear from. Try to cover as much of the vegetables and chicken as possible so it really soaks up the sauce. If you’re splitting it between two pans like I did try going back and forth between pans until all the sauce is gone so both pans get an even amount of the sauce. (See how some of the potatoes and carrots don’t have sauce? Hint That will come back to haunt me later!)
The packet said to cook for around forty minutes but mine took about an hour just for reference. It’s okay if toward the end you have to take the chicken out and move the vegetables into the sauce with a fork or spatula. I did this so the potatoes would soak up more sauce. (And also because they didn’t all have sauce! See? Told you it would come back. In the next picture you’ll even see some potatoes still don’t have sauce. That’s fine it still tastes good.)
Once the chicken is cooked cut a slit into the biggest piece to see if its cooked all the way. If it is, take it out of the oven and serve. If it’s not put it back in for another five to ten minutes and check again. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CHICKEN! If you’re unsure what cooked chicken looks like all the way through, google it! It’s always best to be sure. No one wants to eat raw chicken and as a disclaimer I will NOT be advising you on what cooked chicken looks like. If it is still uncooked, pop it back in the oven for five to ten minute intervals until it is done. No harm done!
That’s it. Literally. Go eat your chicken!
Like I said, this recipe is pretty straightforward. The ingredients are listed right on the Campbell’s packet and it’s definitely delicious! I recommend giving it a try. If you decide you like it, let me know in the comments below!
