This easy recipe will show you how to spatchcock chicken so it’s perfectly juicy with golden, crispy skin! Plus, my delicious Mediterranean seasoning blend and fresh veggies to roast alongside.
If you’ve been here a while, you know I’m all about simple, delicious meals that don’t require cheffy techniques. That’s why you can trust me when I say: spatchcocking a chicken is worth the extra step!
While I love the look of a whole roasted chicken, if I’m cooking for myself or my family I’m almost always spatchcocking it first. The meat cooks quicker and more evenly, and you get that perfectly golden skin. I’m even known to spatchcock my grilled chicken!
For this simple spatchcock roast chicken recipe, I season the meat with a fragrant blend of allspice, nutmeg, paprika, and garlic, which brings bold Middle Eastern-style vibe. I know you’ll be making this on repeat!
Table of Contents
What is Spatchocking?
Sometimes called “butterflying,” spatchcocking is simply removing the chicken’s backbone so it lays flat. Starting with the whole bird is great because it’s often cheaper by the pound than the broken-down pieces. Plus, you get to enjoy both the light and dark meat. Here’s why I love spatchcocking before roasting:
- The chicken cooks faster.
- The meat cooks evenly, so you dry chicken breasts is a thing of the past.
- It’s extra crispy! The flat surface means can sear the skin in a pan before roasting.
Ingredients for this Spatchcocked Chicken Recipe
You don’t need any fancy ingredients or equipment to make spatchcock chicken. Here’s what I used:
- Whole chicken: Look for about a 4 pound chicken. You can often ask your butcher to spatchcock it for you, but it’s easy enough to do it yourself.
- Spices: I used a warming, savory blend of allspice, garlic powder, sweet paprika, ground nutmeg, salt and pepper. Chicken is a pretty neutral base, free to experiment with the spices you love–Italian seasoning, Greek oregano, ras el hanout, baharat, the list goes on!
- Olive oil: Use a high quality extra virgin variety for the best flavor.
- Veggies (optional): I love tomatoes, onion, and green olives along with the chicken, but feel free to skip this or swap with other quick-cooking vegetables like mushrooms and carrots.
How to Cook Spatchcocked Chicken
Spatchcocked chicken takes about 50 to 65 minutes to cook in a 425°F oven, but I like to crisp the skin first. Here are the steps:
Spatchcock the Chicken
- Cut out the backbone. Place a 4-ish pound chicken on a cutting board with its backbone facing you. Using a pair of sturdy kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the spine.
- Remove the backbone: Don’t throw it away! Save for chicken stock, in your freezer if you don’t plan to make it right away.
- Flatten the chicken. Flip the chicken over and push down on the breast with your palms to flatten. You may or may not hear a crack. Congratulations, you have now spatchcocked–also known as butterflied–a chicken!
Season and Sear the Chicken
- Salt the chicken (if you have time, do this the night before). Generously season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, then place in a shallow roasting dish with the breast side up. If you have the time, refrigerate uncovered overnight to dry out the skin. One hour before you plan to roast the chicken, pull the chicken out of the fridge and set at room temperature.
- Get ready to roast. Set one oven rack near the middle of your oven and one near the bottom. Preheat to 425°F.
- Season the chicken. Mix 1 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg in a small bowl, then rub all over the chicken. Pull the skin up and apply some of the spice mix underneath as well.
- Sear the chicken. Coat the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron skillet in a thin layer of olive oil and set over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is shimmering, add the chicken with the breast side down. Allow to brown undisturbed for 6-8 minutes, then flip and brown on the other side, another 5 minutes or so.
Roast the Chicken
- Roast the chicken. Transfer the cast iron skillet to the middle rack of the hot oven. Slide it all way to the back of the oven.
- Rotate the chicken. Roast for 20 minutes, carefully turn the skillet 180 degrees (so the handle points the opposite direction). Push to the back of the oven again. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, another 30 to 45 minutes. The chicken should be brown all over, with the thickest part near the leg bone reading 165°F.
- Meanwhile, roast the vegetables (optional). About 20 minutes or so before you pull the chicken out of the oven, add 8 Campari tomatoes tomatoes and 1 quartered onion to a small roasting dish. Toss with olive oil and salt. Place on the lower rack of the oven to roast.
- Rest and serve. Let the chicken rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before carving. Add a handful of green olives to the roasted veggies. Enjoy!
What to Serve with this Spatchcock Chicken Recipe
This spatchcock chicken is a versatile protein to serve with all sorts of sides and salads, but these go particularly well with the warming Middle Eastern-style seasonings:
- Salad: Tabouli or Fattoush.
- Grains and rice: Smoky freekeh or golden Persian rice.
- Sides: Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes) or Roasted Carrots with Dukkah and Mint.
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Ingredients
- 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Extra virgin olive oil
To Roast Alongside (Optional)
- 8 Campari tomatoes
- 1 large sweet onion, peeled and quartered
- Handful of pitted green olives
Instructions
- Spatchcock (butterfly) the chicken. Place the chicken on a cutting board with its backbone facing you. Using a pair of sturdy kitchen shears, cut out the backbone by cutting along both sides of the spine. Remove the backbone (save for stock). Flip the chicken over and push down on the breast with your palms to flatten.
- Salt the chicken (if you have time, do this the night before). Generously season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, then place in a shallow roasting dish with the breast side up. If you have the time, refrigerate uncovered overnight to dry out the skin. One hour before you plan to roast the chicken, pull the chicken out of the fridge and set at room temperature.
- Get ready to roast. Set one oven rack near the middle of your oven and one near the bottom. Preheat to 425°F.
- Season the chicken. Mix the spices in a small bowl, then rub all over the chicken. Pull the skin up and apply some of the spice mix underneath as well.
- Sear the chicken. Coat the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron skillet in a thin layer of olive oil and set over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is shimmering, add the chicken with the breast side down. Allow to brown undisturbed for 6-8 minutes, then flip and brown on the other side, another 5 minutes or so.
- Roast the chicken. Transfer the cast iron skillet to the middle rack of the hot oven. Slide it all way to the back of the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, then use oven mitts to carefully turn the skillet 180 degrees (the handle is now pointing the opposite direction). Push to the back of the oven again. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, another 30 to 45 minutes. The chicken should be brown all over, with the thickest part near the leg bone reading 165°F.
- Meanwhile, roast the vegetables (optional). About 20 minutes or so before you pull the chicken out of the oven, add the tomato and onion to a small roasting dish. Toss with olive oil and salt. Place on the lower rack of the oven to roast. When done, add a handful of green olives to the roasted veggies and return to the oven for a few minutes to warm.
- Rest and serve. Let the chicken rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before carving. Enjoy!
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Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- When to salt the chicken. If you don’t have time to salt the chicken and refrigerate overnight, do this as early as possible the day of (even 2 hours or so before cooking will help).
Nutrition
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Lauren
I have made this dish several times. My family loves it!
Wonderful, Sandy! Thanks so much for sharing!
This was our Easter meat. Can I say fantastic? Hubs and I are the perfect pair to devour a chicken–I do dark meat and he does the light. This time, with this recipe, he had to fight me just a little bit for the chicken breast. It was the juiciest ever! And the spice mix was so savory! This will be our go-to for a roasted chicken recipe from here on. Thank you!
Judith, this is wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for sharing. Sounds like a successful Easter meal!
Love spatchcock chicken
So tried this really nice
But I did put all the spices under the skin also
Hi from the UK
I got up early to prepare the chicken for tonight’s dinner. I know that’s not the proper amount of time to air dry. Did I ruin it by starting so late? It will have 13 hours rather than 24.
Marcie, so sorry I am not always able to get to questions as quickly as I like. Any amount of time you are able to season the chicken and let it air dry in fridge will do the chicken some good. Hope you enjoyed it!
This recipe was easy to follow and easy to enjoy (also fun to get the family to say spatchcock and learn a new word). The resulting chicken was just perfect. I had seen a comment on another recipe that someone was going to add a bit of aleppo pepper to the spice blend so did that as well and it was a nice addition.
Definitely keeping this one in the recipe binder!
Awesome, Sharon!!! I’m so so glad you enjoyed.
I suggest that you add oven temperatures, in Celsius degrees too, as you have readers all around the world.
This looks lovely and clever tip with the salt……… how can you ensure that the chicken is not too salty once cooked? I assume you don’t rinse the salt off beforehand……. thanks. Love your blog! M
From my experience, the chicken is not too salty 🙂 I’ve followed this tip a number of times, and without fail, succulent chicken with perfectly crisp skin. We love it.
Can confirm, chicken doesn’t come out too salty. My husband typically salts everything and specifically commented the chicken didn’t need it but wasn’t salty either. He was the one who salted the bird the night before too!
The spices that cook into the chicken during roasting blend nicely and the resulting meat is just very moist and tasty.
And thank you for sharing this feed back too! Helpful for others to hear this!!!
How much salt is everyone using for one chicken? This sounds delicious!
This recipe is lovely. I love the idea of spatchcock so I can brown the meat quickly on both sides and finish chicken in oven. I must point out, I used my chef alarm and it was done in total of 40 minutes, so I would watch your oven because you may just need to roast for 20 minutes on one side and another 20 to 30 minutes on the other side.
Wonderful, thank you so much for sharing your feedback Carol
Great chicken recipe. We loved it! I did what you wrote regarding the salt and it was perfection. Also, for some reason this chicken comes ready packaged with the backbone removed so i hardly have to do anything. I will become part of my repertoire. Thank you. .
I have a chicken waiting and want to try this delicious looking recipe. However,you don’t specify how much salt and since the chickens here are sold already koshered, they are rather salty. I learned very early not to add salt to chicken dishesbwhile cooking. It’s a pain in the neck to look for unkoshered chickens at a store which is too far to walk to. How much salt would you suggest? Or maybe none at all?
Hello, Florence! My apologies, I am not always able to get to questions and comments immediately. This spatchcocked chicken uses a good bit of salt, it’s really not measured, just a generous amount so that you actually see the salt crystals on top. However, if your chicken is already salty, then you can just try a pinch of salt and chill in the fridge, uncovered overnight. Hope this helps.
The last couple of times I have roasted a chicken (and I roast a whole chicken often, even in the slow cooker), I have done it this way. Cooks faster! I love it. I happen to have a whole chicken in my freezer (I stock up when they’re on sale) and will definitely try this recipe next. Looks delicious!!
Didn’t see the question for the giveaway. Would make it for my husband and my mom. Would also make it when having company over for dinner.
Enjoy!
I would cook this dish for my family, we always eat chicken it seems.
I know I would just love this BUT my problem is the cast iron pan.
I’m 78 years old and just can’t lift it and then put it in the oven.
Will it be worth it to cook in a regular pan?
Hi MaryAnne! Yes, you can absolutely use a different pan or skillet. Do you an oven-safe pan with a handle? You can use a pan without a handle, but the idea of having one with a handle is that after 20 minutes of roasting (step 8), you can easily turn the pan 180 degrees with the handle facing the other way for even cooking.
this sounds fabulous! can’t wait to try it, as soon as the temperature drops a few degrees..
YES! Enjoy, Julie!
I would cook this for my friend’s grandmother. She’s in her 90s and is sharp and independent. I visit her each afternoon and sometimes cook her dinner. I think she’d love this.