This easy spatchcock roast chicken is sure to become a staple in your house. Dry brined overnight, then roasted to perfection the next day. This chicken has crispy skin and tender, flavorful meat that falls off the bone. Spatchcocking the chicken helps it cook up quickly and evenly so you won’t have to wait all day for a delicious meal.
I am embarrassed to admit that I only recently started spatchcocking chicken. While I have always made some sort of chicken dinner, like this stuffing bake or white chicken chili I always shied away from roasting a whole chicken. The problem? Whole chickens took so long to cook. It wasn’t an easy meal to serve on a weeknight. Enter spatchcocking.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- The dry brine helps achieve crispy skin and tender meat
- Spatchcocking the chicken means it takes less time to cook. Dinner can be on your table quicker.
- Butterflying the chicken means more even cooking, and tastier meat
- No dealing with messy wet brine
- A 4-5 lb chicken should take 45 minutes to an hour to cook
What is Spatchocking?
Simply put spatchcocking is removing the backbone of a chicken (or turkey) then spreading the chicken flat by breaking the breast bone. Sometimes called butterflying (because once opened the chicken looks like a butterfly) this way of cooking the chicken allows it to cook quicker and more evenly.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- whole chicken (4-5 lbs)
- kosher salt
- lemon zest from one lemon
- fresh rosemarry
- fresh sage
- fresh thyme
- onion
- celery
- carrots
- lemon
How to Spatchcock a Chicken
Remove the backbone
Start by removing the backbone of the chicken. The easiest way to do this is with kitchen shears. I have the Wusthof shears and they work wonderfully. As a bonus, they come apart for easy cleaning. I know Wusthof is on the pricy side, so according to others, these KitchenAid shears should be able to handle cutting the back bone too.
Save the bone for the next time you make chicken stock. I have a bag of bones in the freezer that I save for when I am ready to make bone broth.
Press open the chicken
Push on either side of the chicken to crack the breastbone, then flip the chicken over. While you could cook the chicken at this point, read on to find out how to make a truly delicious chicken.
How to cook a Spatchcock Roast Chicken
Dry Brine the chicken overnight
After you have spatchcocked the chicken, place it on a cooling rack that is on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle salt and the zest from one lemon over the chicken, then put the chicken in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 6 hours, but even better is overnight. The salt draws out the chicken’s juices via osmosis. The salty brine is then reabsorbed into the meat, working into the actual fibers. The brine helps to break down the tough proteins resulting in tender meat when cooked.
Line a tray with veggies and lemon
The next day preheat your oven the 450°F. When ready to cook the chicken, line a tray with cut vegetables. I use celery, onion, carrots, and a lemon. This is what the chicken will cook on.
Spread the herb butter
When you are ready to cook the chicken take it out of the fridge. Do not rinse the chicken. Take the chicken off the cooling rack, and place on top of the cut up vegetables. Coat the chicken with the herb butter.
Roast the chicken and let rest
Cook the chicken at 450°F for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F to finish cooking. A meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast should read 155-160°F. Let the chicken rest, it should reach the 165°F temperature (in the thickest part of the breast) while it rests.
Ingredients
Method
- Cut the back bone out of the chicken and crack the breast bone.
- Put the chicken on a cooling rack that has been placed on a cookie sheet, and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Rub the salt and zest from one lemon on the chicken, and place chicken uncovered in fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 450℉.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge.
- On a new baking sheet place roughly cut up carrots, celery, onion and lemon. Then place chicken on top.
- Dice the sage, rosemary, and thyme, and mix it in the softened butter.
- Rub herbed butter over the chicken. Do not rinse the chicken before doing this.
- Bake the chicken at 450℉ for 15 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 350℉ for the reminder of the cooking time (about 45 minutes).
- Take the chicken out of the oven when it has reached 160℉ in the thickest part of the breast. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes, which should allow it to come to the final temperature of 165℉.
Tips for Amazing Oven Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
- Pat the bird dry before adding the salt and lemon dry brine
- Let the chicken sit in the fridge overnight to really get the benefits from the dry brine
- Cook at a high temperature first to help crisp the skin
- Use a thermometer to check when the chicken is done, not the clock
- Let the chicken rest before carving
- Save the backbone to make homemade bone broth
FAQs about Spatchcock Roast Chicken
How do I store leftovers?
You can store leftover spatchcock chicken in an air tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze left overs in an airtight container for 3-4 months. We like to vacuum seal our leftovers using a food safer vacuum sealer. If you freeze leftovers often, this really a good investement. We use it all the time.
Can I prep this the night before?
Yes! It’s actually better to spatchcock and dry brine yoru chicken (or turkey) the night before. It gives the salt time to work it’s magic tenderizing the meat.
Is it possible to make Spatchcock chicken on the grill?
Yes you totally can! If you do it is suggested to cook the bird skin side down for 15-20 minutes, before flipping it and cooking until it comes to temperature.
Do I have to dry brine?
You don’t have to dry brine, but the chicken won’t come out nearly as tender. Dry brined roast chicken has crispy skin, and tender meat.
Can I change the herbs?
For sure you can! Use whatever your family loves to make this crispy roast chicken.