Roasted Herb Butter Spatchcock Chicken (Step-by-Step)

Learn how easy it to spatchcock a chicken – step by step! My roasted herb butter spatchcock chicken is fancy enough to serve dinner guests and perfect for meal prepping on Sunday for weeknight dinners!

Spatchcock Chicken!

It sounds super fancy, but honestly, it’s as simple as removing the backbone of the chicken, smearing on a garlic and herb butter and roasting the chicken until the skin is beautifully golden and crisp.

And this happens to be one of those meals that you can and should put together for your significant other on V-DAY. 

In the past, I’ve shared a one-hour roasted chicken recipe with you, but ever since I’ve discovered spatchcock chicken, I’ve sorta hopped on this train and haven’t gotten off yet. It’s so much easier than making a traditional trussed roast chicken, and the roast is so much more even!

A whole roasted chicken can be tricky to make. Sometimes the chicken breasts dry out if we aren’t making sure to check the temperature carefully. This is why most people prefer to pick up rotisserie chickens from Costco or their local grocery store instead of roasting a whole chicken at home. When you butterfly – or spatchcock a chicken, the chances of the chicken breast overcooking are significantly reduced because everything is on a leveled field, leaving you with a more delicious, evenly roasted chicken. And trust me, a homemade roasted chicken tastes far superior to anything you’ll get at a grocery store!

WHAT IS SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN?

Simply put, it’s removing the spine (or the backbone) of the bird (or butterflying it) and pressing down the sternum (breast bone) until it cracks and the chicken is laid out entirely flat. Have you heard of brick chicken? You know, where you place a brick wrapped in foil on the bones (pressing the flesh down on the grill) and cook the chicken that way? Well, once you learn to spatchcock a chicken, the possibilities are truly endless!

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED TO ROAST A PERFECT SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN?

• large cutting board (affiliate link)
• sharp kitchen shears (affiliate link)
• instant read thermometer (affiliate link)
• wire baking rack (affiliate link)
• baking sheet (affiliate link)
• patience

INGREDIENTS FOR MY SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN RECIPE:

• 4 – 4 ½ pounds whole chicken
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

For best results, I suggest removing the chicken from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before roasting. Starting with a chicken that isn’t refrigerator cold allows for a more even bake and produces a crispier chicken skin. If you place the chicken directly from the fridge into the oven, you’re more likely to steam the skin without rendering all the fat (leaving it rubbery.)

HOW TO SPATCHCOCK A CHICKEN:

1. Lay the chicken breast side down, with the neck side towards you
2. Cut just to the right of the backbone
3. Cut just to the left of the backbone
4. Remove the backbone and save it to make stock later!
5. Turn the chicken over
6. Press down on the chicken sternum (breast bone) to flatten it out

WHY I LOVE TO SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN:

• You don’t need kitchen twine or anything fancy! I have the most distinct memories of trussing the Thanksgiving turkey with my dad every year. My mom would let us do it, way too big of a beast for her to deal with alone. So dad and I would put on the Good Eats Alton brown turkey trussing video (seriously a lifesaver) and my younger sister would pause and play for what seemed like an eternity until we’d both managed to wrestle the bird into something that would pass as decent.
• You get a backbone out of the deal that you can pop into a zip-top bag and freeze until you’ve got enough bones to make stock
• It’s easier to season more evenly. One of the things I hate most about a trussed chicken is the fact that you have to reach into the cavity of the bird to make sure the inside is adequately seasoned. It’s cold, and it feels weird! With the cavity exposed, it’s easy to season; I don’t think twice about it.
• You get crispy, more evenly baked chicken. With the backbone attached, it takes much longer to roast a bird. Once you remove the spine, you chicken cooks faster and more evenly! Just take a look at my one hour roasted chicken recipe. I use a 3 ½ pound bird the requires 45 minutes to roast and yet, here we’re using 4 ½ pounds, and it requires the same amount of time!

WHAT DO I NEED FOR THE HERB BUTTER RUB?

• softened butter
• lemon juice/ lemon zest
• minced garlic
• chopped parsley/ thyme
• salt + pepper

HOW TO ROAST SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN

1. Once you have a spatchcock chicken, salt it all over the skin and the underside and allow the chicken to rest for 45 minutes at room temperature. This allows the salt to penetrate through the skin and season the chicken more evenly. Also, it prevents the chicken from steaming in the oven.
2. Loosen the skin of the chicken, and gently dot it with half of the prepared herb butter. Rub the remaining half of the herb butter on the skin itself.
3. Roast the chicken for 40-45 minutes or until the chicken reaches 156-158ºF on an instant read thermometer. The chicken will continue to cook for another 7-10º when you allow it to rest.

TIP FOR EVEN BETTER SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN:

• If possible spatchcock the chicken and season with salt, cover and refrigerate the chicken overnight. This will allow the salt to penetrate the skin and get all the way down to the meat. If you do this, you can cut the salt in the herb butter back to 1/4 teaspoon.
• If crispy roasted skin is important to you (is there anyone that doesn’t prioritize this?) make sure you don’t cover the chicken when you pull it out of the oven and allow it to rest. Tenting the chicken will cause the skin to steam and make it less crispy.

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