If you’ve never made my Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter, you’re missing out! If you’ve ever wondered how to spatchcock a chicken, you’ll find that removing the backbone from a chicken is super simple and it ensures an evenly cooked bird with crispy skin!

A Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter on a wired rack in a rimmed baking sheet

All too often, I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get dinner on the table. I know that some of you can’t relate—especially those of you who subscribe to a meal planning service (like my favorite one, Real Plans—a fantastic, customizable, all-in-one meal planning tool). You’re proactive. You have your crap together. You’re cool as a cucumber.

Me? Not so much. My inherent contrariness and (ironically) my recipe testing duties get in the way of my ability to effectively plan my meals in advance. I’m also a procrastinator, which doesn’t help. When the sun goes down, I’m usually still catching up on the latest celebrity gossip on TMZ or lost in a pile of cookbooks. Sometimes, I don’t snap out of it until my kids prod me (“MOM! WHAT ARE WE EATING TONIGHT?!?”)—at which point I do what comes naturally: roast a chicken.

Why you should always spatchcock and dry brine your chicken

One of my favorite weeknight dinner hacks (literally) is to have a spatchcocked and dry brined chicken ready to go. I know what you’re thinking: SPATCHCOCK? DRY BRINE? WHAT THE %&$*! ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Don’t be intimidated—it’s not as scary as it sounds. Plus, you can keep the prepped bird in the fridge for up to 3 days and roast it on demand. It’s comforting to know that even when I’m pressed for time, I can still get crispy skin and evenly cooked, juicy meat using the foolproof techniques I’m about to share.

A Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter resting on a wire rack.

Don’t forget: you can successfully spatchcock big birds (e.g., turkeys) as well. If you’re at all nervous about using this method to cook your turkey on Thanksgiving, do a test run this week on a chicken. I have a sneaking suspicion you’ll be hooked, and that it’ll be your favorite way to prepare whole birds from now on. (For those of you advanced spackcockers who are ready to level up, make my Peruvian Roast Chicken + Aji Verde Chili Sauce from our first cookbook!)

Ready for the step-by-step instructions? I’ll even point you to my accompanying Periscope videos to show you how to spatchcock away!

Ingredients

  • 1 (4-pound) whole chicken
  • 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (not all salts are the same!)
  • ¼ cup softened butter, ghee, or fat of choice
  • 1 tablespoon salt-free herb-blend of choice

How to make Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter

Remove the innards

Grab you chicken and remove the extra bits hidden in the cavity. I normally reserve the heart, gizzards, and neck for bone broth, and you should, too.

Removing the gizzards out of the cavity of a raw chicken.

Spatchcock the chicken

Next, spatchcock the bird. With a sharp pair of kitchen shears (and yes, the Kershaw Taskmasters are my fave), cut out the backbone of the chicken by making parallel cuts along each side of the spine.

Cutting the back bone out of a raw chicken.

If you hit a bone that’s hard to crunch through, swing the bird around and cut from the neck hole side instead. Once you remove the backbone, save it for that bone broth you’re going to make.

Cutting both sides of the backbone out of a raw whole chicken.

Flatten the chicken

Use your shears to snip a shallow incision in the cartilage on the back of the breast bone. Then, use both hands to firmly press down to flatten the chicken.

Pressing down firmly on a spatchcocked chicken to flatten it.

The splayed-open chicken should now look the facehugger from Aliens.

Holding a flattened chicken in front of a person's face

Separate the skin

Flip the bird (tee hee!) skin-side up, and use your fingers to gently separate the skin of the chicken from the breast and thigh meat to create pockets. Make sure you don’t tear any holes or detach the skin from the bird entirely.

Sticking two fingers below the skin of the chicken to loosen it from the meat

Season the chicken

Measure out the salt in a ramekin, and sprinkle it on the outside of the chicken…

Sprinkling salt on top of the raw chicken skin.

…and massage it under the skin wherever you can reach.

Massaging salt in between the chicken skin.

Season the underside of the bird with the remaining salt.

Sprinkling salt on the back of the Spatchcocked Chicken.

Arrange the wings

Tuck the wings behind the breast so the tips won’t burn.

Tucking the wing tips behind the back of the chicken.

Dry brine the chicken in the fridge

Set a wire rack on top of a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, and place the chicken skin-side up on the wire rack. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Pre-salting really does make a difference, but if you’re pressed for time, you can skip to the next part.

A raw spatchcocked chicken on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet is covered with plastic wrap

Heat the oven

When you’re ready to roast the bird, heat the oven to 400°F on convection roast or 425°F in a regular oven, and place the rack in the upper middle position.

Make seasoned butter or ghee

Grab your softened fat of choice—I leave my butter out in the morning so it’s ready to go at dinnertime—and mix in your preferred herb or spice blend. There’s really no wrong way to flavor-boost your chicken. (Caveat: I normally choose a salt-free blend because the chicken is already brined.) Some great blends include: Penzey’s Sunny Paris, Garlic Gold Italian Herb Nuggets, Dukkah, and Madras Curry Powder. Be bold and try something new! If it smells great, chances are it’ll make your chicken taste great.

Mixing softened butter or ghee with dried herbs to make herb butter.

Add seasoned butter under the skin

Spoon one-fourth of the herb butter under the skin onto a chicken boob. Repeat on the other side.

Tucking the softened herb butter underneath the skin of the spatchcocked chicken.

Press your fingers on top of the skin to spread the herb butter evenly over the breast.

Massaging the herb butter under the skin to distribute it evenly all over the chicken.

Divide the remaining herb butter and tuck it under the skin onto the thigh meat. Do your best to massage the butter down to the drumstick. You’ll be able to spot the herbs under the skin, so you’ll know if you were successful or not.

A closeup of a chicken leg with herb butter beneath the skin

Re-position the chicken on top of the wire rack, making sure the wingtips are still tucked behind the breast, and rearrange the skin to fully cover the meat. Then, pop it in the oven.

Roast the chicken

Placing the Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter into the oven

Roast the chicken for 45 minutes or until the breast meat reaches 150°F and the thigh meat hits 170°F as measured by an instant read thermometer. Remember: an accurate instant-read meat thermometer is the key to perfectly cooked chicken.

Checking the temperature of the Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter with a meat thermometer stabbed into the breast meat

Take the bird out of the oven and rest it for at least 10 minutes before carving.

An overhead shot of Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter fresh out of the oven

Wanna see the interactive Periscope videos I shot of all the steps? Here’s Part 1 (spatchcocking & salting), Part 2 (making the herb butter), and Part 3 (carving and serving). Live viewers asked questions while I prepped my chicken, so if you’re still scratching your head about how to spatchcock a bird, go watch the replays.

A side view of Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter fresh out of the oven and ready to eat

Looking for other ways to cook a whole chicken?

Check out these recipes:

Now go spatchcock, and report back with your results!


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter

5 from 11 votes
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings
One of my favorite weeknight dinner hacks (literally) is to have a spatchcocked and dry brined chicken ready to go. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Ingredients  

  • 1 4-pound whole chicken
  • 1 tablespoon  Diamond Crystal kosher salt  not all salts are the same!
  • ¼ cup softened butter ghee, or fat of choice
  • 1 tablespoon salt-free herb-blend of choice
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Instructions 

  • Grab you chicken and remove the extra bits hidden in the cavity. I normally reserve the heart, gizzards, and neck for bone broth, and you should, too.
  • Next, spatchcock the bird. With a sharp pair of kitchen shears (and yes, the Kershaw Taskmasters are my fave), cut out the backbone of the chicken by making parallel cuts along each side of the spine.
  • If you hit a bone that’s hard to crunch through, swing the bird around and cut from the neck hole side instead. Once you remove the backbone, save it for that bone broth you’re going to make.
  • Use your shears to snip a shallow incision in the cartilage on the back of the breast bone. Then, use both hands to firmly press down to flatten the chicken. (The splayed-open chicken should now look the facehugger from Aliens.)
  • Flip the bird (tee hee!) skin-side up, and use your fingers to gently separate the skin of the chicken from the breast and thigh meat to create pockets. Make sure you don’t tear any holes or detach the skin from the bird entirely.
  • Measure out the salt in a ramekin, and sprinkle it on the outside of the chicken and massage it under the skin wherever you can reach.
  • Season the underside of the bird with the remaining salt.
  • Tuck the wings behind the breast so the tips won’t burn.
  • Set a wire rack on top of a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, and place the chicken skin-side up on the wire rack. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Pre-salting really does make a difference, but if you’re pressed for time, you can skip to the next part.
  • When you’re ready to roast the bird, heat the oven to 400°F on convection roast or 425°F in a regular oven, and place the rack in the upper middle position.
  • Grab your softened fat of choice—I leave my butter out in the morning so it’s ready to go at dinnertime—and mix in your preferred herb or spice blend. There’s really no wrong way to flavor-boost your chicken. (Caveat: I normally choose a salt-free blend because the chicken is already brined.) Some great blends include: Penzey’s Sunny ParisGarlic Gold Italian Herb NuggetsDukkah, and Madras Curry Powder. Be bold and try something new! If it smells great, chances are it’ll make your chicken taste great.
  • Spoon one-fourth of the herb butter under the skin onto a chicken boob. Repeat on the other side.
  • Press your fingers on top of the skin to spread the herb butter evenly over the breast.
  • Divide the remaining herb butter and tuck it under the skin onto the thigh meat. Do your best to massage the butter down to the drumstick. You’ll be able to spot the herbs under the skin, so you’ll know if you were successful or not.
  • Re-position the chicken on top of the wire rack, making sure the wingtips are still tucked behind the breast, and rearrange the skin to fully cover the meat. Then, pop it in the oven.
  • Roast the chicken for 45 minutes or until the breast meat reaches 150°F and the thigh meat hits 170°F as measured by an instant read thermometer. Remember: an accurate instant-read meat thermometer is the key to perfectly cooked chicken.
  • Take the bird out of the oven and rest it for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Video

Notes

Don’t forget: you can successfully spatchcock big birds (e.g., turkeys) as well. If you’re at all nervous about using this method to cook your turkey on Thanksgiving, do a test run this week on a chicken. I have a sneaking suspicion you’ll be hooked, and that it’ll be your favorite way to prepare whole birds from now on. (For those of you advanced spackcockers who are ready to level up, make my Peruvian Roast Chicken + Aji Verde Chili Sauce from our cookbook!)

Nutrition

Calories: 569kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 44g | Fiber: 1g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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Recipe Rating




7 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I never attempted to spatchcock a chicken before trying this recipe. It’s so much easier than I expected and definitely worth the effort. Delicious!

  2. 5 stars
    Winner winner whole chicken dinner! The extra step of the salt brine is a game changer. My family LOVED this take on chicken. I ordered the Sunny Paris spice online to use for this AND the crab cakes (another awesome recipe!) and it was delicious. Tonight I am doing a Nom Nom Paleo mashup by making ginger scallion spatchcock chicken. As long a you keep creating awesome recipes, I will continue to feed them to my family. THANKS!

  3. I just gave this spatchcocking a try & got turned around & did it with the chicken wrong-side up, so ended up cutting out the breast bone instead so now everything is backwards & the wings are in the middle. LOL I guess I cockspatched it.

  4. Michelle, your website is the greatest, you do such a good service with your detailed images and descriptions. Thank you for all the work you put in on this for us. Blessings on your day.

  5. The cracklings chicken is a favorite in our house, but unfortunately my attempt at the spatchcocked chicken didn’t turn out well. I neglected to use the meat thermometer and ended up serving raw chicken.

    Ugh.

    It needed another 15 minutes or so and I needed to test the temp to ensure it was cooked through. Will try again.