Whole roast chicken is one of those comforting meals every home cook should be able to make. But I’ll be first to admit, when it comes to roasting the entire bird whole, achieving perfection can be tricky. One of the common problems people run into with whole roasted chicken is that, often times, the chicken breasts dry out before the legs come up to appropriate temperature. While you can just cut up a whole chicken before roasting like I do in my chicken marbella recipe, there’s another answer to this pesky problem: Spatchcock!
What is Spatchcock Chicken?
To spatchcock or butterfly chicken means to split a whole chicken by removing its backbone so that it is flattened. You can ask your butcher to do this for you, but it really is easy enough to butterfly a chicken yourself.
Why do you spatchcock a chicken?
Whether you’re going for a grilled whole chicken or roast chicken, being able to lay the bird flat directly on the grill or in your baking dish allows it to cook more effeciently and evenly. Plus, you get beautifully crispy skins while the meat remains nice and juicy.
How do you spatchcock a whole chicken?
I find that a pair of good kitchen shears is the right and easiest tool to use for this job. Here is what you do: I promised you succulent and crispy roast chicken, so here are few tips that make all the difference…
Tips for crispiest roasted chicken
Butterfly the chicken. With a flattened chicken, as I mentioned earlier, we have more surface area foro browning. Salt your bird in advance. In Salt Fat Acid Heat, Samin Nosrat shares one of the simplest tricks to attain a delightfully succulent, crispy-skinned bird. Her trick, in one word: SALT. And when it comes to whole chicken, salt early. Seasoning in advance (I do mine overnight) gives salt plenty of time to diffuse evenly throughout the bird, doing it’s quiet work of flavoring and tenderizing. Air chill the chicken. Once salted, another element that is equally important here is air. Chill your generously seasoned bird in the fridge uncovered and with the skin side up.The constantly circulating air dries out the skin. The bird will look, as Samin puts it, “scarily fossilized.” But, the dried-out skin cooks up golden and glassy…the crispiest you’ll ever have!
How to cook spatchcock chicken in the oven?
Season the chicken. To flavor my chicken, salt is the first step, as I mentioned above. And whenever possible, I salt it the night before and leave it to chill in the fridge uncovered. One hour before roasting, apply a simple spice rub. This time, I went for warm Eastern Mediterranean spices and incorporated allspice, paprika, and nutmeg along with a little bit of garlic powder and black pepper. (If you’d like a sweet and citrusy situation, check out our Roast Spatchcock Chicken with Citrus & Honey.)The biggest trick when flavoring the chicken is to make sure to rub the spice mixture all over, and especially underneath the skin. Lift the skin up and get under it with some of the spice mixture. Roast spatchock chicken in the oven at 425 degrees F. While a whole roast chicken can take 1 1/2 hours or more to cook through, this butterflied chicken will roast in 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven. With my oven, it takes about 1 hour, and I also like my chicken skins on the darker side of gold (rotate the pan or skillet for even color).
How do you know when a spatchcock chicken is done?
Using a meat thermometer, inserted in the thickest part, you should be able to determine the chicken is ready when its internal temperature registers 165 degrees F.
What to Serve Along?
I had a few Campari tomatoes and onions to use up this time, so I cooked those in the oven to serve along. But here are many sides that would be great next to this oven roasted chicken like: Quick roasted tomatoes, Greek potatoes, Italian roasted vegetables, Greek lemon rice. For salads, the options are plenty! Radicchio Salad, Mediterranean Orzo Salad, Mediterranean 3-bean salad or Fattoush are a few ideas. I’ll just say this too, a drizzle of my homemade tahini sauce on top of this roast chicken is just magic!
More Cozy Recipes to Try:
Greek Chicken and Potatoes Cornish Hen Recipe with Mediterranean Garlic Spice Rub Crock Pot Italian Beef Stew Hungry for more? Browse hundreds of Mediterranean recipes + My top Mediterranean Diet recipes. Join my FREE e-mail list to receive new recipes and my weekly dinner plan! VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP FOR QUALITY OLIVE OILS, ALL-NATURAL SPICES AND MORE *This post originally appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2017 and has been recently updated with new information and media for readers’ benefit. Enjoy!
