Pomegranate Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 cups pomegranate juice
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 lime
  • 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
  • ½ small onion
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, divided
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried rosemary

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  • Stir pomegranate juice, brown sugar, vinegar, and garlic together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and discard garlic, then stir in lime juice and let cool 5 minutes. Set aside 6 tablespoons pomegranate syrup.
  • Poke several holes in lime with a fork and insert into chicken cavity along with onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, bay leaf, pepper, and rosemary. Tie legs together with kitchen string, sprinkle skin with remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, then transfer chicken, breast side up, to a roasting pan.
  • Roast chicken, basting with pomegranate syrup every 20 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest parts of all pieces registers 165 degrees F, about 1 hour total. Let chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve drizzled with reserved pomegranate syrup.