We're spatchcocking today!! Get excited. This Lemon Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is coming your way and it's a great way to meal prep for the week. Pick Caprese Orzo Salad, a Chopped Greek Salad or a Butter Lettuce Salad to complement this perfect roast chicken!!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
In case you haven't heard of spatchcocking - it's basically splitting the chicken by removing the backbone and flattening it out so it roasts much faster. And while that might sound complicated - we've got a step by step photo tutorial on how to do it!
Growing up, my parents would always make whole roasted chickens on the regular. They were amazing to say the least. And let's not even start on the crispy chicken skin - I'd demolish that by myself no problem. The whole house would smell fantastic and if there were leftovers, my mom would throw them into one of my favorite casseroles for the next night.
These days, I make my own roasted chicken a few times a month. And when there are leftovers, I'll throw them into the same casserole that my husband is now obsessed with or put them into a salad of some sorts. Last weekend we were in a bit of a rush to head over to a friends party, but I was determined to roast one off for the week to use as leftovers. So instead of roasting it whole, I spatchcocked it! GENIUS! Way less time and just as delicious.
Spatchcock is just a fancy way of calling a chicken or a turkey that's been butterflied. The backbone is removed so you can open it up and roast the entire thing so it's extra crispy. I roast mine with tons of lemons, salt, pepper, garlic and whatever herbs I have on hand, plus some potatoes to catch any of the drippings and soak up all that flavor.
Once it's done, not only will your house smell absurdly delicious, but you'll have one good looking dinner and hopefully leftovers! Carve it up, shred it up, toss it into some enchiladas and never fear about having time to roast and entire chicken ever again! And while this is a tutorial for a Spatchcock Chicken, you can do the same thing with a turkey! And you can spice either differently depending on what you plan on using the meat for.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Whole Chicken
- Olive Oil plus more for potatoes
- Dried Oregano
- Dried Thyme
- Lemon juiced and zested
- Chopped Rosemary
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper freshly ground
- Garlic sliced in half
- Lemons halved
- Baby Potatoes
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
Step 1: Start by cutting along one side of the backbone.
Step 2: Cut all the way to the top and then cut the other side of the backbone. Remove the bone entirely.
Step 3: Flip the chicken over and push it down with your hand breaking the breast bone.
Step 4: Season with salt, pepper and herbs.
Step 5: Tuck lemons around the bird for extra flavor.
Step 6: Add some baby potatoes to soak up all the drippings.
Step 7: Drizzle some olive oil.
Step 8: Cook until the bird is 165 degrees F.
Step 9: Remove and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
How to Store Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
You can store the roasted chicken in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. With chicken especially, make sure you warm it to the safe temperature when re-heating.
How to Freeze Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
You sure can freeze roasted chicken. I recommend shredding and taking the meat off the bone before doing so. However, if you wish to consume it in non-shredded forms, you can also leave the pieces as is. Portion the chicken into the amounts you would like to defrost at a time, date them, and freeze them for up to 2 months.
To thaw, you can leave it in the fridge overnight. Make sure to heat to the safe temperature when its time to heat. You can also use frozen if adding to a stew.
Tips & Tricks
While this is a tutorial for a Spatchcock Chicken, you can do the same thing with a turkey! And you can spice either differently depending on what you plan on using the meat for.
FAQs
What is spatchcocking and why do it?
It's basically splitting the chicken by removing the backbone and flattening it out so it roasts much faster and more uniformly.
Where should I probe the chicken to check temperate?
Place the probe in the thickest part of the breast and the thicket part of the inner thigh. Take care the probe does not touch any bones, since that would affect the temperature reading.
Similar Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Lemon Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 4-pound whole chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for potatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 heads garlic, sliced in half
- 2 lemons, halved
- 2 cups baby potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Using poultry shears, cut along each side of the chicken backbone and remove it. Turn the chicken breast side up and press on the breastbone to flatten the chicken. Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, oregano, thyme, lemon zest, juice and rosemary. Generously season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the chicken to a large cast iron skillet, skin side up with the garlic and lemon halves tucked in under the chicken. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper..
- Roast for 45-50 minutes, until the skin is golden browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in an inner thigh registers 165°. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before serving
4 pound chickens are not available at the supermarket- just 5 pound plus.
I wish the master chefs would be realistic.
flattered you think I'm a master chef!! 4 lb birds are available at my market - but a 5 lb bird works too!! Just will need a little bit longer in the oven. I'd suggest having a meat thermometer to tell when it's perfectly done!
I'm doing this dish now - it smells heavenly & in 45 minutes, hubby & I are digging in
Best roasted chicken I've ever made! Love the herbs and lemon combination, and the chicken came out perfectly. Thanks!
Omg! The BEST! My first try at this turned out AMAZING!. Added carrots since I was low on potatoes. The lemon and garlic turned my broth into something GREATNESS! I also used my infused hot olive oil...I like a little kick. So many uses after I have my yummy meal!I wish I could post my out come! Thank you !
***** LOVE LOVE LOVE
THIS RECIPE
Hey!! I have a chicken but it’s only about 2 pounds, do you think I could still make this an just adjust the cooking time? Or would you recommend not spatchcocking it because it smaller?
you could do it! just make sure to use an internal thermometer and take it out once it reaches the proper temp so you don't overcook
Super moist and tasty.
I used a 4 lb chicken. It was already spatchcocked so I got to skip that step! Unfortunately due to the stay-at-home order I was out of potatoes. I was also out of lemons. I had plenty of garlic! So this is what I did, I opened up about eight cloves of garlic and smash them I put them at the bottom of the pan and put the chicken on top. I was fortunate enough to have herbs from my own garden that were dried. I had some frozen lemon cubes so I defrosted some and put them over the chicken and in the pan. the whole thing was totally awesome I was so excited I can't wait to make it again and again.
Sometime when I get out I will buy some potatoes to put in. This is extremely close to my favorite Greek restaurant except that they closed leaving me in the dust!
Highly recommend this recipe.
I've made this dish several times and it's so easy and tastes great. Definitely fancy enough for company.
We made this last night, really really good! But it took the chicken almost 1.5 hours to be fully cooked, any idea why so much longer than expected?
was it a much larger chicken?
Can’t wait to try........random question, do you ever freeze your basil vinaigrette?
all the time!
I am so excited to try this, and the tutorial was VERY helpful. I love having the chicken done and using it in different things throughout the week.
This was soooo delicious! The chicken was juicy and tender and the sauce complemented it perfectly! I cheated a bit and bought a pre-spatcocked chicken from Whole Foods -- definitely worth it as it made it far less labor intensive
What would you serve with this?
a salad! and the potatoes that are a part of the recipe
Just wondering on the size of your cast iron skillet Your Spatchcock Chicken sound amazing. Thank you.
this was a 12 inch!!