How to Cook Whole Frozen Chicken in Oven

How to cook a whole frozen chicken in oven perfectly is here! Tender moist started as frozen whole chicken in oven baked with crispy skin and tons of flavor. Cooking frozen chicken breast in oven is great for you two but the whole bird will feed your family.

How to Cook Frozen Chicken in the Oven

You just set it and forget it for a few hours! Let’s start off with the bird itself. If you do happen to find a great sale I would stock up because they freeze quite well. One thing you’ll want to look for on the package though is without neck and giblets. It seems as though this isn’t as common as it once was but it should be marked on the outside.

The same goes for cooking an Instant Pot frozen whole chicken or slow cooker frozen whole chicken. Not only do you not want to cook those “goodies” inside the bird together, many times it’s wrapped in a plastic baggie. Baking plastic inside anything would be a no go so keep that in mind.

How Long to Cook a Whole Frozen Chicken in Oven

You need 3.5-4 hours for this to cook all the way thru to a safe 165F temperature. You can season the outside at the beginning or halfway thru when it starts defrosting so it sticks well. Increase the temperature for the last 10 minutes if you want really crispy chicken skin!

The bag on the outside should slide off easily, even though it is rock solid. Best method to do this is to use a roasting pan with a rack inside so the juices can drain away, but be collected later. Those will be important especially if you want to make chicken gravy later on.

Let’s talk about this a step further. If you want something a bit quicker, but still cook from frozen you can choose smaller pieces. They all turn out just as moist and juicy, and perfect to shred or slice. If you have a few you could feed the same amount of people than if it were whole.

Baked Frozen Whole Chicken

I do like having dark and light meat though personally, and not cut up ahead of time is a whole lot cheaper for sure!! Have you noticed that? Growing up my mom always cut it up herself. I had no idea why until I started paying for my own groceries and noticed the huge difference between the two.

Is it okay to cook frozen chicken before it’s fully defrosted?

Absolutely, we have done this time and time again in the oven, pressure cooker, slow cooker and even the air fryer! All you need is an unwrapped bird and seasonings to get started. Herbs, salt and pepper are up to you but it definitely does need quite a bit otherwise it will be rather bland. Ingredients you need are;

1. Whole frozen chicken
2. Salt and pepper
3. Rosemary, thyme, garlic powder etc…
4. Olive oil
5. instant read thermometer to check internal temperature

You can grab a roasting pan with the rack inside here so it is all in one and fits nicely together. Or use a baking sheet with high sides. You’ll want a cutting board to chop up the pieces when it is done too unless you just kinda’ dismantle the bird as is and make shredded chicken out of it from there like I do.

Cooking Frozen Chicken in Oven

When your meat is rock hard you typically want to cook at a lower temperature so the insides can thaw and then cook at the same rate as the outside. 350 degrees F is what was used in this case and worked quite well. If you want super crispy skin at the end you could switch to broil or air fry whole chicken.

Either of those methods would just need a few minutes to reach a deep golden brown with a light spray of olive oil.

How to cook a whole chicken from frozen?

• Preheat the oven temperature to 350 F. Place chicken in roasting pan with rack, breast side up. This allows air to circulate under the chicken during baking.
• Mix together herbs and olive oil and spread onto top of chicken. Place pan uncovered in center of oven. Cook the chicken for 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours cooking time.
  • Check the temperature of the chicken in the breast and the thigh.
• The temperature should read 165° before removing and allowing to rest
  • (remember meat will rise another 5-10 degrees as it rests).
• Remove chicken from roasting pan and allow to rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. This helps prevent the juices from running out when slicing.
  • Slice meat and watch for juices to run clear.
• If there is any red or pink juice or you see under cooked meat, return the chicken to the oven for 15 minute to 20 minute increments.

When juices run clear and insides are no longer pink, slice or shred and serve as you like! Save any meat that is left over properly so you can save and reheat for later. If you still aren’t convinced I do have tips on how to defrost chicken in microwave for you too. 😉

To properly store previously cooked chicken you will want to have it to cool to room temperature first. Then transfer it into a sealed container or freezer bag. Eliminate as much air from around the meat as possible to prevent it from drying out. If you made gravy, store that separately, you’ll want that too.

How to Reheat Leftover Cooked Chicken

Remember that if you have some left you should refer to our leftover chicken recipes to use those up later. Reheating cooked chicken is quite easy but you want to keep it moist. Best way is to reheat chicken in air fryer if you ask me. If you need to use a microwave that works too.

In the latter you should pour some gravy on top, if using an air fryer pour 1-2 tbsp chicken broth on top instead to keep the protein nice and moist. One will crisp the outside which is a nice touch as far as we are concerned but if you don’t have that machine the other works great as well.