Published September 2021

Known as the original grab-and-go dinner, rotisserie chicken is a supermarket staple. Whether you’re simply enjoying it on its own with roasted vegetables or a salad, shredding it for taco night, or adding it to homemade soup, there’s nothing quite as comforting (or as convenient!) as a slow-cooked chicken with its crackling crisp skin and succulent meat.

A number of years ago, the Sunterra Market management team travelled to Europe looking for new food experiences, and after tasting first-hand the quality of European rotisserie chicken, they knew that this is what they wanted to bring back to Sunterra customers. 

In North America, rotisserie chicken is typically known as a versatile, budget-friendly meal. Perfect for busy families and hectic schedules, knowing that you can walk into most grocery stores at any time of day and be able to have a hot meal ready to go (plus leftovers) is a convenient meal option. But at home, you’re probably not injecting your bird with food additives. Neither is Sunterra.

Big box grocery stores often have up to ten extra ingredients on their food labels - things like added colourings, sodium phosphate, carrageenan and dextrose, meant to keep the bird moist and enhance that “golden” colour. At Sunterra, there’s no room for that sort of fowl play.

We create a simple brine of water, salt and garlic, and we let the air-chilled (never frozen!) birds brine for 12 hours to let the flavours develop before they are placed on the spit. The brine helps infuse flavour and tenderize the chicken, without all the extra additives. By being committed to delivering the best and most authentic experience and focusing on simple ingredients, there is no need for us to cut corners anywhere else. 

Not all rotisseries are built the same either. Knowing that this equipment is such an important part of delivering the best quality final product, our culinary team investigated and tested many different options, in the end purchasing authentic European rotisserie units imported from France for each of our markets. 

These units feature precise engineering designed with the exact rotation speed required for this European style of cooking. The constant rotation bastes the chicken internally and externally, sealing in the natural juices and producing exceptional moistness. The fat drips off and collects in a drip pan below. 

It’s not all about the chicken in these rotisserie units. Unique accessories allow us to cook slab bacon used in our breakfast menus, prime rib, ham and porchetta. And that fat that drips off the chicken? We use it for our drip pan potatoes. 

To ensure that we’re getting the most out of these specialized units, Sunterra has developed a rotisserie training program. Each of our chefs participate in the program and collaborate on ideas and vision sharing in order to deliver the best products to customers within their individual markets. 

Cooked in small batches throughout the day, Sunterra rotisserie chicken is available whole, can be purchased as part of a rotisserie chicken meal, and is incorporated into our Three-Course Feast program. You can also find it in our hot chicken sandwiches and rotisserie chicken piadinas, which are available in our markets or online through our hot Meals to Go program. 

No matter how you choose to enjoy our rotisserie chickens, we take pride in offering the freshest chickens, prepared with simple ingredients. Sunterra customers can rely on us for a tender, juicy, slow-cooked chicken at each of our markets, 7 days a week.