The Chicken Recipe David Chang Will Never Get Tired Of Cooking

Before climbing the culinary ladder and building Momofuku into an empire, Chef David Chang was working as a cook at Café Boulud, Craft, and The Mercer Kitchen — and world-renowned chops weren't the only thing he picked up along the way. He also learned and developed the recipe for Family Meal Chicken, a dish Chang calls "not only the simplest chicken recipe of all time but probably the meal that I've eaten the most times in my life," per House & Home.

To make Family Meal Chicken, position a wire rack over a sheet pan, quarter an entire chicken, and then set the chicken pieces on the wire rack. With a little salt, pepper, and roughly 30 to 40 minutes in the oven, it's ready to serve. You can shave off even more prep time and buy two or three pounds of pre-cut chicken pieces, says the chef. It's also a great way to hop on the convenient sheet-pan cooking trend, which minimizes dishes to wash and cuts down on cook time.

The secret to this dish's success is the fact that the chicken is cut up before baking. "By the time it gets brown and crispy on the outside, the insides are juicy and cooked, too," explains Chang. "The wire rack is key, as it allows for even heat circulation. But trust me when I say that you can't mess up this recipe."

The dish's namesake comes from its utility, as Chang has served and been served this roasted chicken for family meals at many restaurants over the span of his career. If you've never worked an industry job before, a "family meal" is a shared staff meal enjoyed before opening the doors to the public for the dinner shift. As the name implies, family meals foster community — an imperative function considering restaurants are a machine, the sum of moving interrelated parts from porter to dishwasher. "When I was a young cook, I lived on this dish," Chang tells House & Home.

Incidentally, Family Meal Chicken is a simple, budget-friendly way to get dinner on the table for your own family during a busy weeknight. You can cook the side dishes on the same pan by cutting up yellow onions and potatoes, and positioning them under the wire rack. They'll absorb the flavorful chicken drippings as the dish cooks in the oven. If you have a little extra time, Chang recommends seasoning the chicken with your go-to rub or a simple dressing of lemon, fresh rosemary, and butter tucked beneath the skin.