At 350°F, roast a whole unstuffed chicken about 20 minutes per pound: a 4 lb bird needs roughly 80 minutes, within the USDA range of 1¼ to 1½ hours. Bone-in breast halves take 30 to 40 minutes, thighs 40 to 50. The chicken is done when the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C).
Home cooks planning dinner around a roast chicken, and anyone baking a tray of thighs or wings, need a starting time before the oven goes on. Pick a cut; for a whole bird, enter its weight in pounds or kilograms and say whether it is stuffed. The result gives a single estimate in minutes, the USDA time band for that cut at 350°F, the safe internal temperature and how long to rest the meat. Times for pieces come straight from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service timetable; whole birds scale at 20 minutes per pound, which sits inside the USDA bands for broiler-fryers and roasters. The limit: ovens run hot or cold and birds start at different temperatures, so the clock only tells you when to start checking with a thermometer.
Select a whole chicken or one of the five piece types from the Cut list.
For a whole bird, type its weight and pick lb or kg in the box beside it.
Turn on Stuffed bird if the cavity is filled; it adds about 20 minutes.
Use the estimate to plan, and start checking with a thermometer at the low end of the range.
Result Roasting time at 350°F (minutes): 80
USDA time range: 1 h 15 min to 1 h 30 min
Estimate in hours: 1 h 20 min
Safe internal temperature: 165°F (74°C)
Rest before carving: 10–15 min
A typical supermarket broiler-fryer lands at 80 minutes, inside the USDA band of 75 to 90 minutes.
Result Roasting time at 350°F (minutes): 35
USDA time range: 30 min to 40 min
Estimate in hours: 35 min
Safe internal temperature: 165°F (74°C)
Rest before carving: 3 min
Pieces cook to a fixed range that does not depend on how many share the pan.
Result Roasting time at 350°F (minutes): 108
USDA time range: 1 h 38 min to 2 h 9 min
Estimate in hours: 1 h 48 min
Safe internal temperature: 165°F (74°C)
Rest before carving: 10–15 min
2 kg is 4.41 lb, so 88 minutes plus about 20 for the stuffing.
Whole bird: t = W × 20 min/lb (+ about 20 min if stuffed). Pieces: t = midpoint of the USDA range.
tWThe USDA FSIS timetable lists a 4 lb broiler-fryer at 1¼ to 1½ hours and a 5 to 7 lb roaster at 2 to 2¼ hours, both at 350°F. Twenty minutes per pound lands inside both bands, so it is used as the point estimate, with 18.75 to 22.5 min/lb as the range. Stuffing adds 15 to 30 minutes per USDA guidance. Pieces use the listed ranges directly, since a breast or thigh cooks at the same pace whether one or six share the pan.
About 100 minutes, or 1 hour 40 minutes, at 20 minutes per pound. Start checking the thigh with a thermometer around 1 hour 35 minutes and take it out once it reads 165°F.
Into the thickest part of the thigh and the innermost part of the wing and breast, without touching bone. Bone conducts heat and gives a falsely high reading.
Yes. At 400 to 425°F a whole chicken often finishes 15 to 25 percent sooner, but this chart is set for 350°F, so treat the estimate as an upper bound and rely on the thermometer.
The stuffing sits in the middle of the bird and insulates the cavity. The USDA adds 15 to 30 minutes, and the stuffing itself must reach 165°F because it absorbs raw juices.
Not much, as long as they are in a single layer with space between them. Crowding traps steam and can add 5 to 10 minutes; the per-piece range assumes a roomy tray.
Not necessarily. Young birds can stay pink near the bone even at 165°F because of pigment in the bone marrow. The thermometer reading, not colour, decides safety.
Using this tool in an assignment, article or report? Copy a citation, or a link for your website.
Tools Directory Editorial Team. (2026, October 27). Chicken Cook Time. Tools Directory. Retrieved October 27, 2026, from https://tools.milunir.com/cooking/cooking-times-and-temperatures/chicken-cook-time/
Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Chicken Cook Time.” Tools Directory, 27 Oct. 2026, https://tools.milunir.com/cooking/cooking-times-and-temperatures/chicken-cook-time/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.
Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Chicken Cook Time.” Tools Directory. Last modified October 27, 2026. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://tools.milunir.com/cooking/cooking-times-and-temperatures/chicken-cook-time/.
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