Hey, y’all. Ever heard of spatchcock chicken?? Well, listen…

Maybe you like to cook for your family, but when it comes to having people over for dinner, you panic because you don’t know if your typical throw-together meals are good enough for an esteemed guest! Yeah, I’ve been there. You want to cook to impress! But you also want to serve a healthy meal because that doesn’t go out the window just because you have guests over, right!?

I got you.

I have a beautiful spatchcock chicken recipe that is easy, delicious, balanced, healthy and believe me when I say the skin is crispy, y’all. That’s what you need when you eat a roasted chicken.

Also, this is a SHEET PAN meal which means the ingredients for the whole dinner go on one pan in the oven. *yay!*

Also, this recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, and corn-free. So if you’re having guests over with food sensitivities, this might just be perfect.

I’m not lying to you when I say that my family and I eat this AT LEAST every couple of weeks, sometimes more like once a week. It’s a delight of a recipe that we will likely continue to make for generations. (Okay, I’m being dramatic- but this recipe is very good.)

what is spatchcock chicken?

Spatchcock is a term that indicates how the raw chicken is prepared prior to cooking. Spatchcock means the spine is cut out of the whole chicken and then the chicken is layed flat on a pan prior to roasting. This technique is easy to do and it ensures more even cooking. By spatchcocking (is it a verb?) a chicken, the cooking time is less than if you left the chicken whole. It also helps to ensure that the meat doesn’t get dried out and that the skin gets nice and crispy throughout.

As you can tell, I’m a huge fan. I will never roast a chicken any other way.

If you need help understanding more about how to spatchcock your chicken, here’s a helpful video.

I will say, a good pair of poultry shears will make this job much easier. However, I have managed to cut through a chicken with sharp kitchen shears. If you feel that your kitchen shears are pretty sharp, you can probably make do without buying anything extra.

Now, on to the recipe 🙂

Easy Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

Print Recipe

Get ready to wow your guests with this delicious one-pan recipe!

Course Main Course

Keyword brussels sprouts, carrots, chicken, one pan, potatoes, roasted, spatchcock

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings 4 people

Author Corie McInnis

Ingredients

Spatchcock Chicken

• 4 ¼ lb whole chicken
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Lemon Garlic Butter

• 4 tbsp salted grass-fed butter softened
• 1 tbsp avocado oil plus more to drizzle
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 tbsp lemon juice fresh
• 1 tsp sea salt plus more for veggies
• ⅛ tsp black pepper

One-Pan Chicken Dinner Vegetables

• 4 medium carrots peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 small red potatoes scrubbed and quartered
• 12 oz Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 °F.
• Remove chicken from it's packaging and dry any moisture from the bird with paper towels. Check inside chicken for any giblets. Remove giblets if observed inside. Place chicken breast-side down on cutting board. The spine should be up. Use kitchen shears to cut along each side of the spine in order to remove the spine entirely. Open the rib cage and score the sternum with a knife. This will help to flatten the chicken. Season this side of the chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
  
• Flip the chicken over and place on a large sheet pan. Push the chicken down to flatten it. Using your fingers, delicately separate the chicken skin from the breasts and thighs. You're creating pockets for your lemon garlic butter. This is easiest with the wings of the chicken toward you.
• In a small bowl, combine ingredients for the lemon garlic butter. Mash together with a fork until all combined.
• Using a small spoon, spread 2/3 of the mixture underneath the chicken skin. This is easiest if you take about a tablespoon amount and place the spoon with mixture under the skin. Using your other hand, stabilize the chicken skin on top and use that hand to massage the chicken skin where the butter mixture is. This helps to get it spread under the skin. Spread the other 1/3 mixture on top of the chicken.
  
• Drizzle chicken with a little avocado oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the oven. Place prepared vegetables around the chicken on the pan. Drizzle with a little avocado oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Place pan back in the oven for about 45 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and test with a meat thermometer to see if the chicken is done. Chicken should be at least 165 °F internal temperature. Rest uncovered for 10 minutes prior to serving.

Awww, he’s waving!

I hope y’all enjoy this easy, delicious and healthy dinner recipe!

Corie McInnis

Revel + Thrive Holistic Wellness

Corie is a functional nutritionist in Asheville, N.C. She specializes in helping her 1:1 clients with digestive discomfort, fertility struggles, skin inflammation, mood imbalances and more. She believes that a nourishing diet can support the body's innate ability to heal. She's a big fan of grass-fed butter and will not shut up about the gut microbiome.