Microwaves: More from your microwave Video guide: Sunday lunch in a microwave

Combination microwaves

If you own a combination microwave, you can use it for so much more than heating up soup or the odd bit of defrosting – as our video guide shows, you can even cook a Sunday roast in less than half the time it takes in a conventional oven.

Combination microwaves cook food using microwave energy but can also use convection heating (fanned hot air) and have grills like a conventional built-in oven or a freestanding cooker.

Video of a speedy Sunday roast

In this video guide, we use a microwave to cook a roast chicken with lemon, onion and rosemary with roast potatoes, carrots, green beans and broccoli for sunday lunch.

Preparation the chicken for cooking in a microwave

First, make sure that your chicken is defrosted and clean, so give it a wash under the tap and dry it with some kitchen roll. 

Cover the chicken with oil or butter and season with some salt, pepper and any other spices you'd like to use – in this video, we used some chopped rosemary. 

To add to the flavour, you can also squeezed the juice of a lemon over the chicken and place four lemon quarters inside the cavity of the chicken with a chopped onion. 

Place the chicken breast-down into an open glass dish.

Using automatic cooking to make a roast in your microwave

Some combination microwaves have pre-set programs for roast chicken – if yours has one, you can use this. 

Pre-set programs automatically cook the chicken for the right time and with the correct combination of microwave, convection and grill.

Using manual cooking to make a roast in your microwave

Microwaves have different power settings, so check the user manual for guidance on how long to cook your chicken for. 

For an 800 watt microwave and 3lb chicken, try cooking the chicken on full power with a combination of the microwave and convection heat for 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn the chicken breast-side up – this allows the chicken to cook all the way through, and the breast to be browned nicely by the grill. 

After a further 15 minutes, take the chicken out of the microwave and pierce the breast and thigh – if the juices run clear, your chicken is ready, so leave it to stand for five to 10 minutes.

Cooking roast potatoes in your microwave

Cut your potatoes into quarters and place them in a microwave-safe dish. The dish for the chicken will be good for this, and will allow the potatoes to roast in the chicken juices. 

If you use a separate dish, drizzle some olive oil or butter over the potatoes and sprinkle with seasonings of your choice.

Toss the potatoes to evenly spread the fat and seasonings, then cook for 10 minutes on full power with a combination of the microwaves and convection. 

After 10 minutes, turn the potatoes and put them back in the microwave for another 10 minutes. When they’re done, leave to stand for a couple of minutes.

Cooking vegetables in your microwave

Use a microwave steaming dish with a few tablespoons of water and cook for three or four minutes on full power. 

You’ll only need microwave energy for the veggies, and steaming is a great way of keeping nutrients in your vegetables.