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This Spatchcock Chicken recipe is our favorite way to roast a whole chicken. Every part of the roasted chicken turns out juicy and so flavorful with that garlic herb butter (the same one we use on our roasted turkey!). This one pan chicken dinner is easy and so delicious!
There is no marinating or lengthy prep required. This is simple enough for a busy weeknight but it’s also a crowd-pleaser and perfect for company!
The potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts roast along with the chicken. This blend of vegetables bakes to perfection and every bite is supremely flavorful. The potatoes have a crisp salty skin with a creamy inside and these were some of the best tasting Brussels sprouts I’ve tried.
Watch the video on how to Spatchcock a Chicken and prepare this easy one-pan chicken dinner – one of our favorite whole chicken recipes!
Watch how to Spatchcock Chicken Video:
A whole roasted chicken can be tricky because the chicken breast can quickly dry out by the time the dark meat is cooked through, but when you butterfly a chicken (spatchcock), the chicken breast sits lower in the pan on the same level as the legs so it bakes more evenly and results in a juicy, moist and flavorful chicken.
Ingredients for Spatchcock Chicken Recipe:
For this recipe, you will need a 4 to 4 1/2 lb whole chicken. Allow the raw chicken to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before using for more even baking. The flavored butter is incredible and makes every bite memorable. We it in several of our recipes because it just works. See the full print-friendly list of ingredients in the recipe card below.
Ingredients for 1-Pan Chicken Dinner:
To make this a one-pan meal, we add potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts. Everything roasts together and you don’t have to toss or flip anything while it is roasting in that amazing flavored butter.
How to Spatchcock Chicken:
1. (Preheat Oven to 425˚F after step 4) Place chicken breast-side down with the wings/ neck facing towards you. Use kitchen shears to cut through the ribs right next to the spine on both sides to remove spine.** Open the rib cage and use a heavy chefs knife to score down the sternum. This will help to pop out the breast bone and flatten the chicken. Season under the chicken with about 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.
**Keep the spine and bones from the roasted chicken after it is carved and use them for the best homemade chicken bone broth!
2. Flip the chicken over with the breast side up and place on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking half sheet. Using the palm of your hand, push firmly over the breast bone so the chicken lays completely flat. You want it to lay flat so all parts of the chicken bake evenly. Separate the skin from the meat over breast, thigh and drumstick areas.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flavored butter ingredients and mash together with a fork for a couple of minutes until most of the lemon juice is incorporated into the butter.
4. Spread 2/3 of it under the chicken skin and spread and dot remaining butter all over the chicken.
5. Place prepared vegetables all around the chicken then drizzle all over with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and some black pepper to taste.
6. Bake uncovered at 425˚F for 45 minutes or until instant read thermometer registers 160˚F when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken breast. Don’t over-bake or the breast will be dry. Keep in mind the temperature will rise another 5-10 degrees after it comes out of the oven. Remove form oven and rest uncovered 10 minutes on a cutting board before serving.
More One-Pan, Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas:
Here are some of the reader favorite chicken recipes on our blog.
- One Pan Chicken Breast and Veggies Dinner
- Avocado Chicken Salad (Wildly Popular!)
- 15 One-Pan Dinners for Lazy Nights
⬇Print-friendly Spatchcock Chicken Recipe:
Spatchcock Chicken Recipe Video
Ingredients
Ingredients for Spatchcock Chicken Recipe:
- 4 1/4 lb whole chicken, *
- 1/2 tsp salt, (we used sea salt)
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for Flavored Butter:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more to drizzle
- 1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt, plus more for vegetables
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for 1-Pan Chicken Dinner:
- 2 lbs medium red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and quartered
- 8 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
Instructions
- (Preheat oven to 425˚F after step 4). Place chicken breast-side down with the wings/ neck facing towards you. To remove the spine, use kitchen shears to cut through the ribs right next to the spine along both sides. Open rib cage and use a heavy knife to score down the sternum. This will help pop out the breast bone and flatten chicken. Season inside the chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.
- Flip the chicken over breast side up and set on parchment-lined, rimmed baking half sheet. Using the palm of your hand, push firmly over the breast bone forcing the chicken to lay completely flat. Use your thumbs to separate the skin from the meat over breast, thigh and drumstick areas.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the flavored butter ingredients. Mash with fork for a couple of minutes until lemon juice is mostly incorporated into butter.
- Spread 2/3 of mixture under the chicken skin and and dot/spread remaining butter all over chicken.
- Place prepared vegetables all around the chicken and drizzle everything with olive oil. Sprinkle chicken and vegetables generously with salt and some black pepper to taste.
- Bake uncovered at 425˚F for 45 min or until instant read thermometer reads 160˚F when inserted into thickest part of chicken breast**. Remove form oven and rest uncovered 10 minutes on a cutting board before serving.
Notes
**Don't over-bake or the breast will be dry. Keep in mind internal temp will rise another 5-10 degrees after it comes out of oven.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Have you tried this method for roasting a whole chicken? I hope you’re excited about making it after watching this video!! If you try it, let me know how you liked loved it! 🙂
I used a little Cornish hen,for this dish and it was delicious!
Outstanding!!! My chicken weighed just over 6lbs, so it had to bake for about 1 hr 20 min. The veggies were tender and roasted to perfection, and the flavor of the chicken was just out of this world.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Lena!
100% recommend. Followed exactly and turned out excellent. I used 1 small acorn squash, 1 large sweet potato, 4 medium Yukon potatoes, and 2 large carrots as the veggies. They all cooked perfectly!!!
Hi Barbara! That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you for the feedback.
I have a chicken that is 6 pounds, 5.5 ounces. Any tips for how long I should cook it and at what temp?
Hi Mary! You can still follow the instructions above, you’ll just need to bake a little longer. The best way to know is to use a meat thermometer (Amazon affiliate link). It should register 160˚F when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken breast.
I made it and it was the best chicken I ever made! The last time we cooked a whole chicken the traditional way, we thought it was done, then when we started cutting into it, it was still pink. The time before that, we deep fried it. Skin got burned, while the inside was still pink. This will be my whole chicken recipe from now on!
I’m so glad you found this recipe, Mary!
Also, first time spatchcocking a chicken. And I think it was done at 1 hour 5 minutes, which was a shorter length of time someone else had recommended (80 minutes), so I’m glad I checked it with my thermometer.
The first time I made a whole chicken. Sooo good! I didn’t have lemon juice so I used an equal amount of pinot grigio wine.
Great to hear that it worked well too! Thank you for sharing, John.
This turned out beautifully, I think my husband told me about 5 times how good it was….will make again
I’m so glad it was a hit, Sophie!
I have never made Spatchcock chicken before. Searching for chickens I found that some are already spatchcocked! Followed recipe but put on convection roast and set timer on 50 minutes. Took out of oven, covered to rest for 30 minutes. Super tender, flavorful, and moist and came away from bone easily! Lots of juices.
Will definitely make again!!
That’s wonderful, Elaine! Thank you for trying my recipe.
there is a typo in instruction 6. remove “form” oven.
Nice recipe though
Hi Christopher, thank you for the heads up. We’ll make sure to update this typo error, we appreciate it!
Would this work smoking the chicken instead of oven? Maybe cook the veggies in the oven and the chicken on smoker? Thank you
I haven’t tested that to advise, I’m sorry.
I followed this recipe and smoked my chicken instead of in the oven… it was OUTSTANDING!!!
so good! I placed my chicken on top of onions, carrots and celery while it cooked. The herb butter adds the most amazing flavor! Both my husband and I were swooning!
That’s great to hear, Danielle!
I make this recipe about once a week and save the bones for bone broth. I use ghee to make it dairy free, and when it melts down into the veggies to flavor them… wow! Perfection! I can’t find any fault with this recipe and share it with all my friends. Delicious and healthy *chefs kiss* !
Thats great! Thanks so much for sharing on how you make this recipe dairy free too. That’s helpful and glad that you enjoy this recipe!
Hi Natasha! Using this recipe I roasted 7.5 lb chicken (teenage boys). I doubled the butter recipe which was more than enough. I baked the bird on a halfsheet using the rack for 30 minutes until temp was 100F. I removed the rack, put potatoes, carrots, and portobello mushrooms and the bird in the halfsheet, reduced the the temp the 375 (my oven runs hot), and baked for 25 minutes. Pulled pan out when chicken was 150F. Allowed the chicken to rest for 10 minutes, as you said it came up another 10F. Everything was perfect!
The veggies (except for the shrooms) were cut bite-sized.
PS: your recipes are my go to. Always easy to follow and always come out as delicious!
Hi Leslyn! That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the recipe.
Made this (2 chickens) for our wk-end Thanksgiving dinner and it was delish! I did swap the parsley for rosemary and flavor of the was great. My brussels did not come out great but that was ok, I have a hit/miss track record with them so could be me! So glad I found this recipe, will definitely make it again.
Hi Kyle! Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi Kyle! Did you keep the oven temperature and cook time the same as the recipe for 2 chickens? Thanks! Jo
This recipe saved me on Thanksgiving Day! I had planned to get food from the hot bar at Whole Foods but it had all been taken! Even the rotisserie chickens were gone! I looked quickly on google and found this one. I found a chicken in the meat section, asked the butcher to split it for me, and brought it home. Made it just like the recipe said except for an additional 5 minutes I slathered the leftover butter on it and broiled it for 5 more minutes to crisp and brown the skin a bit more and it was cooked perfectly! Thank you!
Yay, great to hear that it was a huge success!
This was super easy and delicious! So much so that we are making it today for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. The only part I didn’t love was the cleanup afterwards but it is well worth it. Needed more time to cook . I own the special scissors which makes cutting a breeze. Highly recommend!
I’m so happy you love this recipe, Traci! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello I’m ARCHA.
Your Soatchcock Turkey sounds delicious. I’ve a tip. When roasting a full Turkey turn the breast side down for the 1st 1.5-2 hr. it keeps the breast meat moist not dry.
It was just the best chicken for whole family. I am sooo glad I found your site
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Irina.
I made this for visiting guests last week, and it was fabulous! The chicken was SO tender and juicy…I don’t think I’ll buy rotisserie chickens anymore, I’ll make Natasha’s recipe!
Hi Susan! That’s wonderful feedback. Thank you for sharing.
Maybe the best chicken I’ve ever had (and, coming up on my 63rd birthday, I’ve had a lot). That said, I did cook it in a wood-fired brick oven, which makes a big difference. The seasoned butter under the skin was great.
Thank you for your great feedback, Don!
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this recipe. The skin did not crisp at all on the underside and very little on the top. It was already cooked through so I could only put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes so as not to overcook it. I will go back to my tried and true method of stovetop with a grill pan.
Hi Michal, if you prefer it more crisp, I highly recommend using a rack, especially if you want the bottom and edges of the chicken to crisp up.