After ‘discovering’ the value of roasted chicken in May, Manatee and I have been waiting to do it again. We love the idea of buying a chicken, roasting it and then having protein in the house for a week. It’s cost efficient, allows us to maintain our goals of clean eating and makes for some quick dinners.

Because of my recent obsession with salsa, I decided this roasted chicken would be used for tacos, enchiladas and salads. Therefore I decided to roast it a la Mexicana (my version of Mexican, clearly not authentic!). I looked at some recipes but nothing had all the ingredients that I like about Mexican food.

  • Limes
  • Cilantro
  • Peppers
  • Beer
  • Tomatillos

So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make up my own recipe.

Badger Girl Roasted Chicken a la Mexicana


1 whole chicken

1 1/2 Tbsp Fajita or Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp salt

1/2 Tbsp ground pepper

4-5 limes, quartered

1 jalapeno pepper, stem removed

1 poblano pepper cut into 1 inch wide rings

4 tomatillos

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 bottle of beer

Splash of vegetable broth

  1. Preheat oven to 450.
  2. Spray olive oil in roasting pan and on roasting pan rack.
  3. Pour beer in pan.
  4. On rack, place 1/2 of limes, poblano pepper rings and tomatillos.
  5. Mix salt, fajita seasoning and ground pepper in small bowl.
  6. Rub all over chicken. Make sure to get under the skin and inside the cavity!
  7. Slip two lime quarters between skin and breast.
  8. Stuff limes, cilantro and jalapeno pepper into cavity.
  9. Place in roasting pan.
  10. Cover and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until juices from thickest part of the chicken run clear.

RECIPE REVIEW: As the chicken was roasting, I began to think about the jalapeno pepper and all of that seasoning. Would this chicken even be edible? What if it was over the top that we had to choke it down?

When I tried it, I was surprised at the difference between the two sides. If you will notice on the picture, the lime ripped the skin on one side. One that side, very little of the flavors actually came through into the chicken. It was good but just good. Not great, not stupendous and not as full of flavor as I would have liked. I wanted the flavor to punch my in the mouth and instead, it just patted me on the head. Insulting. However, on the other side, where the lime stayed between the chicken and the skin, the flavor was really strong.

NEXT STEPS: This will not be the last of Roasted Chicken a la Mexicana, oh no. Next time I am going to try rubbing the lime juice over the chicken and then really go to town with spices. I also want to do a little more research of what I can put in the cavity and around the chicken that will enhance the flavor. I think that I am going to ditch the tomatillos and experiment with different kind of peppers.

I will keep you posted on Part 2 of the experiment. If you have any tips or advice, I would love to hear it!


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