Delicious and simple. What more can you ask for in a main dish?
Spatchcocked Roasted Chicken
- 1 whole chicken
- 1/4 – 1/3 c. olive oil
- 1 spring rosemary, torn
- 2 sprigs thyme, torn
- salt and pepper
- Optional: 1 stick butter, divided into tablespoons
- Spatchcock the chicken by using sharp kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the spine. Place the bird breast-side-up on a sheet pan and gently apply pressure with the heal of your hand on the breast bone until the chicken lies flat.
- If using butter, carefully insert pieces between the meat and skin.
- Drizzle oil over the chicken, then evenly sprinkle the spices over it.
- Bake at 325° until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 165° (approximately 20-30 minutes per pound).
- For extra crispy skin, place cooked bird under the broiler until it’s deep brown.
Tip: For a one-pan meal, roast the chicken on top of diced potatoes and veggies.
A whole chicken can seem intimidating in our day and age, but it’s actually pretty simple. The most difficult thing about cooking so many cuts at once is making sure that the white meat doesn’t dry out by the time the dark meat finishes.
To solve this problem, we love to spatchcock our birds! A few quick cuts and the bird lies flat, allowing for a more even cooking time. Ready to learn the technique?
Lay your bird on a cutting board or pan breast-side-down. Using sharp kitchen shears, you’ll cut along each side of the backbone* in order to remove it completely**.
*I’m right-handed, so I prefer to start on the right side of the spine. That way, I have more to chicken to hold with my left hand while I cut along the second side.
**DON’T TRASH THE BACK! Collect it in a kitchen storage container and freeze it until you have enough bones collected to make bone broth.
Once the back is removed, you can flip the bird over and gently press down to flatten it. (The thighs and legs will come forward and tuck against the breasts.) Then oil and season as desired! We love rosemary and thyme, but you can change it up based on your tastes.
Ryan and the kids made one of these for our anniversary meal last year- they added butter under the skin and cooked it over potatoes. Both the chicken and the potatoes were some of the best I’ve ever had! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
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