Introduction
Spatchcock Herb roasted chicken is so simple to cook and is absolutely delicious if seasoned well. I prefer to spatchcock my chicken when roasting instead of roasting it whole. Chicken usually cooks easier and for a shorter time after it's been spatchcocked/butterflied. It's also easy to pile potatoes, onions and carrots under the chicken for an easy cook and additional roasted goodness.
How to cook
This recipe showcases garlic, thyme, parsley and chives chopped as finely as I could get them and rubbed even under the skin of the bird. I placed it in the oven and went about my day until it was cooked. In an hour and a half, I had a delicious roasted chicken and all the fixings to go with it. You can't beat that.
For this Spatchcock Herb Roasted Chicken recipe you will need:
Tools:
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- 1 large bowl
- 1 small bowl
- Deep Roasting pan
- Aluminium Foil
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 4lb Roaster Chicken
- ½ cup of chives (chopped finely)
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme (stripped from the stems)
- ¼ cup fresh parsley (chopped finely)
- 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
- ½ cup of good olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Chicken seasoning or all purpose seasoning
- 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1 teaspoon of @walkerswood jerk seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Vegetables:
- 5 medium potatoes (cut into 4 wedges)
- 3-4 carrots (cut into large pieces)
- 1 medium onion (cut into 4wedges)
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Spatchcock the chicken. Do this by removing the backbone of the chicken. Use shears or a very sharp knife to split the chicken down the backbone or cut on each side of the backbone and remove it all together. Turn the chicken over and crack the breastbone with a sharp knife. Pull the breastbone out. Discard the bone or save it with the chicken neck and innards to make chicken stock. Pull out the large cartilage/gristle that sits below the breastbone as well. Once this is done, the breast of the chicken should sit flat. (see video)
- Wash and clean the cavities of the chicken. Remove the feathers and short hairs from the skin. You may wash your chicken with lemon or lime juice. Thoroughly clean the sink after washing chicken. Not doing so can cause dangerous cross contamination of food.
- Pat dry chicken well with paper towels to remove excess water.
- Chop parsley, garlic, and chives. Add in stripped thyme leaves and set herbs aside in a small bowl. Reserve ¼ cup chives and 1 clove of garlic for potatoes and veggies.
- To chopped herbs, add all purpose, pepper, jerk seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt.
- To seasoning and herb mixture, add olive oil and use a spoon to incorporate all of the ingredients well.
- Use the olive oil herb and seasoning mixture to season the chicken liberally. Season the cavity of the chicken first. Turn chicken skin-side up and season under the skin especially under the breast, legs and thighs. Marinate chicken at least 30 minutes to overnight in the refrigerator. Be careful not to break the skin of the chicken while seasoning.
- After marinating, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a deep baking pan, assemble potatoes, carrots and chopped onions. Lightly season potatoes and veggies with salt and pepper. Add in the reserved chives and garlic. Give them a good toss and spread veggies evenly in the baking pan. Add rosemary sprigs on top of potatoes and veggies. Remember the vegetables will absorb all of the seasonings from the chicken so they do not need to be seasoned heavily.
- Place chicken on top of potatoes skin side up. Fold the tips of the wings behind the breast as they will easily burn during cooking. Tent the pan with foil paper leaving space between the paper and the chicken. The foil paper should not touch the chicken.
- Bake chicken tented for 1.5-2 hours. Remove the tent when there is about ½ an hour left in the cook time. The chicken is properly cooked when a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. To check temperature stick the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone or gristle.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove it to a platter and return the potatoes to cook under the broiler for 5 minutes.
- Cut and serve chicken along with veggies and potatoes.
- You can make a gravy with the pan drippings by passing the through a sift, adding a bit of water and a cornstarch slurry. Taste for salt and pepper.
