How to Spatchcock Chicken | Easy Roasted Chicken in 1 Hour!

Learn how to spatchcock chicken, the fastest way to cook a whole chicken! Crispy skin, with moist, tender meat and plenty of flavor, spatchcocking chicken will be your new favorite method!

I am notorious for waiting until the very last second to start dinner. That’s one reason why I started making Slow Cooker Chicken in the first place – I knew the chicken would be ready in time for dinner!

When we want to eat a Whole Roasted Chicken – and not just eat shredded chicken – I usually have to plan to start cooking it about 3 hours before we would sit down for dinner.

But when I make spatchcock chicken, I can get dinner done in under an hour!

SPATCHCOCKING CHICKEN VS. ROASTED CHICKEN

Surprise, surprise, I fell in love with spatchcock chicken because I was running late starting dinner. I had really good intentions that day and even made sure to pull the chicken out to thaw. But I got sidetracked as the day went on and didn’t see the time until there were only 90 minutes until dinner.

One chicken and 90 minutes on the clock. I was determined to make it work.

I knew that a Whole Roasted Chicken in the Oven takes at least 2 hours by the time it’s all said and done.

Chicken legs, on the other hand, can be done in about 45 minutes. What’s the difference? Cooking surface. There is more cooking surface on the chicken legs than the whole chicken.

When I cook chicken legs, I line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and a wire rack, and I put the chicken legs on top. The tops of the chicken legs are exposed to heat, and there’s a small bit of airflow underneath the chicken.

When I cook a whole chicken, only three-quarters of the bird is exposed to heat at any given time. The other quarter of the chicken – the part that is touching the cookie sheet or pan – is exposed to airflow, but it doesn’t cook nearly as fast. Plus, the inside of the bird is essentially hidden and insulated from the heat. Altogether it makes for a significantly longer cooking time.

The solution? Create more cooking surfaces. And that means spatchcocking a chicken.

WHY SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN

Although I still like to make my delicious Oven-Roasted Chicken recipe, I end up spatchcocking chicken more and more.

• Faster. Spatchcocked chicken saves time over whole chicken. This is my number one reason for cooking it this way!
• Cooks evenly. Because the chicken is spread out, you won’t end up with any undercooked legs or dried-out breasts.
• Crispy. The chicken skin gets crispy on more surfaces because more surface area is exposed to the heat and airflow.
• Flavorful. The spices permeate throughout the bird, making for moist, juicy, flavorful chicken.

SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN RECIPE INGREDIENTS

These simple ingredients make this spatchcock chicken recipe taste amazing!

• Whole Chicken: Make sure to remove the innards if your chicken comes packaged with those. Discard them or save them for your next batch of Chicken Stock.
• Salt and Black Pepper: These really make the flavor of chicken pop. Use coarse ground for larger granules and be generous with both.
• Coriander: AKA cilantro seed, but I don’t think they taste anything alike. Coriander makes the chicken taste like you stuffed it with orange and lemon slices – it’s so good!
• Cumin: This is one of the main ingredients in Homemade Taco Seasoning, but trust me, your chicken won’t taste anything like a taco. When it’s combined with coriander, cumin takes on a smoky and spicy combo. So. Very. Good.

You can also massage one Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or butter into the chicken before seasoning and baking for extra crispiness. Any combination of your favorite fresh herbs and spices works too. Go-tos for roast chicken include paprika, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, garlic cloves, and lemon zest. Mix spices in a small bowl so they distribute evenly on the chicken.

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HOW TO SPATCHCOCK A CHICKEN

Step 1. Start off by rinsing the bird and patting it dry. Preheat oven to 425F.

Step 2. Place the bird spine up (breast down) on a cutting board and using a very sharp and strong pair of kitchen scissors (I have these poultry shears), cut along the sides of the spine and remove it.

Step 3. Set the spine and any innards aside for homemade chicken stock. Using the kitchen shears, make a small cut at the tip of the breast bone where the two breasts meet. Anywhere from ¼” to ½” should work.

Step 4. Flip the bird over so the chicken is breast side up. Press down on the bird so that it lays flat. This shouldn’t be too hard, but you can make a longer cut into the breastbone if the bird isn’t cooperating.

Step 5. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and a cooling rack. Place the chicken on top of the rack and season with salt, pepper, coriander, and cumin.

Note: One whole chicken lasts for at least 3 meals in my home, so I like to use basic spices that can be used in a variety of dishes. This gives me a bit more flexibility with how I can use the chicken. If I seasoned the whole chicken using strong Mexican spices, my Greek meal later in the week would have some of those flavors too. My go-to seasonings are large grain kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, coriander, and cumin.

Step 6. Bake chicken at 425F for 45-55 minutes, or when the inner thigh close to the bone reads 165F on a meat thermometer. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Add it all up and in less than an hour, you get a perfectly cooked, juicy bird with crispy skin. Thanks to spatchcock chicken, dinner will never be late again! Okay, so maybe not never. But it will happen a lot less often!

SERVE WHEN SPATCHCOCKING CHICKEN

Spatchcock chicken makes a delicious hearty Sunday dinner meal (but it’s fast enough for any day of the week!). Try it with these side dishes:

WHAT TO MAKE WITH LEFTOVER SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN

A whole chicken lasts us several meals, and chances are you’ll have leftovers too! Add one or two of these meals to your meal plan to use it up. Store the chicken in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use in one of these dishes:

Or check out this list of 40+ Rotisserie Chicken Meals for even more ideas!

SPATCHCOCKING A CHICKEN FAQS

MORE TASTY CHICKEN RECIPES