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A simple roast chicken is the easy, comforting gift that keeps on giving. After all, it’s hard to resist a weeknight dinner that you can transform into a whole new meal for lunch the next day—we’re looking at you,Lemon Chicken PastaandCreamy Chicken Salad. But while it’s usually pretty easy to get a simple roast chicken into the oven (orthe air fryer), it does require a little bit of prep work, especially if you want to brine your bird.
That’s where a new Trader Joe’s item comes in. The beloved grocery chain just started selling a Buttermilk-Brined Half Chicken, which is the perfect size for those cooking for one or two (or for folks who don’t like leftovers). The brine, which is a tad acidic, thanks to the buttermilk, helps tenderize and boost flavor in the chicken. If you were brining the chicken at home, you’d have to remember to start marinating well in advance—our Buttermilk-Brined Chicken recipecalls for somewhere between four and 12 hours of marinating time. With a TJ’s pre-brined chicken on hand, you’re good to go as soon as you leave the store.
The new product has just five ingredients: chicken, low-fat buttermilk, salt, vinegar powder and rosemary. Those seasonings would definitely give it some flavor, but you could also bump up the flavor with black pepper, lemon, garlic, thyme or any other favorite seasonings before sliding the bird in the oven. One commenter suggested adding some of the store’s new ranch seasoning for an extra punch of flavor.
Trader Joe’s suggests baking this chicken in the oven at 375°F or grilling over medium-high heat—either option will take around 40 minutes. But you could also cook it in the air fryer at about 350°F for about 30 minutes. No matter how you prepare it, you’ll want to have a meat thermometer on hand so you can be sure that the thickest part of the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F.
Here’s how a 4-ounce serving of this marinated chicken stacks up, nutrition-wise:
That’s plenty of protein, which can help you feel satisfied for longer after a meal and support muscle-building, amongother health perks. The chicken also comes in just underour recommended limit for sodiumin a main dish—that’s good news, especially since prepared convenience foods tend to sneak in a lot of sodium. If you’re concerned about your heart health, you might want to be a little wary of the saturated fat and sodium in this quick main. The American Heart Association recommends getting just 5 to 6% of your calories from saturated fat, so if you ate 2,000 calories each day, that would be about 13 grams of saturated fat. This chicken contains 34% of that daily suggested limit, most of which comes from the skin. You could opt to discard the chicken skin after cooking to help cut down on saturated fat.
Serve this chicken with a quick side dish or two—like ourSimple Cabbage SaladorCheesy Asparagus—for a simple but tasty roast dinner that takes practically no time to prepare. If you’re hitting the grill, another commenter suggests addinggrilled zucchinito the mix, which sounds like a delish way to welcome summer.
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