Simple Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
by Simple Herb Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is the best Paleo, Whole30, and Keto butterflied chicken recipe. This spatchcock chicken is fragrant with rosemary, thyme, and garlic, and paired with lemon herb gravy. It is juicy, savory, and gorgeous looking for your holiday table!
Simple herb roasted spatchcock chicken perfect make-ahead holiday meal
There’s nothing beats a good roasted spatchcock chicken. I love that golden crispy skin and juicy flavorful meat. In my opinion, roasted chicken tastes so much more flavorful and juicy than turkey.
Long time ago I learned from Giada at food network on how to season and roast a whole chicken. Since then, I experimented a few recipes from my citrus roasted orange chicken to today’s rosemary thyme flavored spatchcock chicken. I have to say spending a little time to season the chicken well before sending it in the oven is totally worth it!
How To Spatchcock A Chicken
To spatchcock a whole chicken is really easy:
- Remove the giblets and pat dry the chicken.
- Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut down each side of the back bone from cavity up to the neck.
- Make a shallow incision cut in the cartilage on the back of the breast bone and use your hands to gently press both sides down to flatten the bird.
In the video I show you how to easily make spatchcock chicken by using a pair of sharp kitchen shears to cut the back bone. I also mixed savory herbs like rosemary, thyme, and grated garlic with real good extra virgin olive oil to create a flavor foundation.
Carefully use your finger to create pockets between the chicken and the meat so that you can stuff these beautiful herbs inside of the chicken. Be careful not to break the skin!
I highly recommend that you marinate the chicken breast side down overnight with lemon juice. The acidity from the lemon will make the bird even more tender. This also makes the dish so perfect for holiday season as well as meal prep. How neat!
Lemon herb gravy
This Simple Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is very flavorful. Most of the time we serve it without the gravy but for festive occasions such as holidays or thanksgiving, the lemon herb gravy will work perfectly with mashed potatoes, too!
So my friends this Simple Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is –
Perfect for make ahead holiday meals and meal prep
Juicy, flavorful, tender
Paleo, Whole30, Keto
Golden delicious and gorgeous looking !
If you give this Simple Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken a try, be sure to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’d be help my blog tremendously and I love to hear from you, too.
Also check out some of my holiday friendly side dishes from Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles, Whole30 Oven Roasted Crispy Potatoes, Make-Ahead (freezer friendly) Sweet Potato Mash, to Herb Stuffed Cheesy Mushroom Bites !
Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 4-5 lbs whole organic chicken for roasting, giblets removed
- 1.5 tbsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp grated garlic cloves, about 3 large cloves
- ⅔ cup fresh herbs, chopped (rosemary and thyme or any poultry seasoning fresh herbs)
- 4-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole lemon
Lemon Herb Chicken Gravy:
- 1 tbsp chicken dripping, from the roasted chicken above
- 2 tbsp cassava flour
- 1.5 cups chicken stock, low sodium
- ½ tsp coarse salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper, or to taste
- About 1 whole lemon juice, or to taste
Instructions
- Butterfly the chicken: Remove the chicken giblets. Gently pat it dry with clean paper towel. Place the whole chicken breast side down over a secured large cutting board. Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut down each side of the back bone (i.e.spine) from cavity up to the neck. Save the backbone for later use (p.s. great for chicken stock). Make a shallow incision cut in the cartilage on the back of the breast bone and use your hands to gently press both sides down to flatten the bird.
- Season the chicken: Mix well salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, and olive oil in one bowl. Flip the bird (skin side up) and use your fingers to gently separate the skins from the meat to create small pockets. Be careful not to tear the skin. Tuck the wings behind the breast. Stuff the herb mixture under the skin and use your hands to gently spread the herbs as even as you can. Make sure to season the outer interior and the back of the bird. Drizzle with half of one whole lemon juice. Marinate overnight in a large flat container, breast side down to soak up more juice flavor.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 425 F (regular oven) or 400 F (convection oven). Place the bird (skin side up) on top of a wire rack over a large sheet pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the sheet pan and loosely cover the wings and any other spots that get brown too quickly with foil paper so they won’t get burnt. Bake additional 20 minutes or until the breast meat reaches 150 F and the thigh meat reaches 175F when using a read thermometer.
- Remove from the oven. Let the bird cool for 10 minutes before carving.
- To make chicken gravy: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add 1 tbsp chicken dripping from the sheet pan. Whisk in flour until fragrant (1 to 2 minutes). Slowly whisk in chicken stock. Reduce heat to low. Bring gravy to a simmer, stir often and cook until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a gravy boat.
Notes
Nutrition
Want more whole chicken recipes?
Also check out my Maple Orange Glazed Spatchcock Chicken Recipe, Air Fryer Roasted Whole Chicken, and Dutch Oven Roasted Whole Chicken!
This was my first splachcock chicken. I used herbs from my garden ( tarragon, rosemary, basil and thyme) and less salt and oil than the recipe called for. Results were terrific. My chicken was raised by my stepdaughter and was probably larger than 5 pounds. While done it may have benefited from a few more minutes.
Cutting out the backbone was more difficult than it sounds.
That’s awesome!
Can breasts and/or thighs only be used instead of the whole chicken? Would any step be different if yes?
Hi Denise, the steps will be the same. The only thing I recommend is to use thighs and legs with skin on and bone-in so the chicken will remain moist and tender after roasted. 🙂
This recipe seems delicious, but I was wondering if instead of a whole chicken I could use breasts or thighs instead? If yes, would any of the steps change?
The steps will be the same. The only thing I recommend is to use thighs and legs with skin on and bone-in so the chicken will remain moist and tender after roasted. 🙂
Delicious with Herbes de Provence, too.
We doo not like rosemary, what other combination of herbs would you recommend? I want to make this for Thanksgiving
Hi Leslie, sure. I also like thyme it goes superbly well with chicken. Sage, oregano, Tarragon, and Marjoram also works, too!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! hubby approved! Will make this again! with the gravy it was watery and I followed the recipe so I added more cassava flour and more stock. Thank You!
So happy to hear. Yay!
Absolutely delicious, tender and juicy. I roasted it in a preheated 500 degree oven for 30 minutes then turned the oven off and left the chicken inside without opening for an additional 30 minutes. Perfectly cooked.
Thank you so much, Janice. So happy to hear!
That is gorgeous! I’ve never spatchcocked a chicken before. I might have to give it a try!
This is SO beautiful! I love to do spatchcock on busy weekdays – it is so fast and comforting!
I made it, it was amazing! I just discovered your website and also made chicken and broccoli which is easily takeaway quality if not BETTER! This was the best roast chicken I have ever eaten, the sauce was good too and I also made the bacon wrapped green beans, delicious!! About to plan another week of food for my family using your recipes ❤️
Thank you so much, Claire! I’m so happy to hear that!
I love cooking chicken this way. Love your version. YUM!!!
Oh my, this is so simple & delicious! Yum 🙂
Fantastic recipe! Will be a go to in my kitchen for sure!!
That’s fantastic. Thank you so much, Cami!
This looks absolutely delicious and your photos are stunning!