Spatchcocked Roasted Chicken (Weeknight Easy!)
This chicken recipe is the epitome of easy while feeling like you have it all together! It’s a meal I’d confidently serve to guests or for a holiday and yet it only takes about 15min total prep time and then you pop it in the oven and wait! Great on its own or with a salad, try this one!
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Since it has such little prep time it works well for a busy weeknight! Marinate and prep everything in your Dutch oven or roasting pan in the morning or the night before (about 15min) and then cover it and leave in the fridge until 1hr before dinnertime. Then you just heat the oven, pop it in and wait. I like to uncover it about halfway through the cook time to ensure it gets a nice golden brown, but otherwise it’s completely hands off and that’s a huge win.
KEY INGREDIENTS
Vegetables
For this recipe you can choose any veggies you like or need to use up (just keep in mind cook time vs sizing for each). My favourite for this recipe are red onions, potatoes and carrots or bell peppers. They roast up with a Greek inspired flavour and texture that is heavenly with all the flavours melding together.
This is our first green pepper ever from our garden, and it was absolutely delicious!!
Chicken
Cooking up a whole chicken is a very budget-friendly way to serve your family a quality (and common favourite) protein! The best part is that by cooking the whole chicken you’ll often have some easy leftovers for lunch the next day as well! Great eaten as is or tossed into an egg dish or made into chicken salad sandwhiches!
Roasted Spatchcock Chicken (Weeknight Easy!)
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 bell peppers or 2 medium carrots
- 2 red onions
- 4 large cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- Salt & Pepper
- 1/4 cup chicken stock or water
Instructions
- Wash all veggies and chop them into large (approx. 1”x3”) wedges/pieces.
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Drizzle a bit of olive oil on your Dutch oven or roasting pan and place all vegetables inside. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes, and pepper. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the veggies and add 2 bay leaves.
- Prep the flavours! Mince all garlic cloves, add about 1/3 to the veggies and the remaining into a small bowl. Add the butter to the bowl and microwave for 20seconds to soften the butter (it doesn’t need to be fully melted). Add about a tablespoon of olive oil each to the bowl and to the veggies. To the small bowl add the paprika, pepper, and any minced fresh herbs (i.e. parsley) that you’d like to use.
- Prepare the chicken. Generously salt the chicken all over and add a generous sprinkle of salt to the veggies while you’re at it too! Then spatchcock it, place the chicken breast side down, take a pair of kitchen shears and cut along each side of the backbone (you will need to cut through small bones, but it shouldn’t be difficult by any means). Once the spine has been removed, flip it over and press your palm with a bit of force between the breasts to flatten the chicken out.
- Season the chicken. Use your fingers to make little pockets between the skin and the meat and use your fingers and a spoon to fill it with our butter seasoning mixture. Spread the remaining butter seasoning all over the outside of the bird and then toss the veggies with with your hands to coat them with the olive oil. Place the chicken on top, breast side up, and legs out the the side so that it sits flat with all of the skin facing upwards.
- Bake at 425°F for 40-60 minutes (time varies based on size of chicken, but I typically do 30min covered, and then uncover it and start checking the internal temp at around the 40min mark. We’re looking for an internal temp of no less than 165°, be careful not to overcook as this will dry it out!
- Once it is done cooking, pull it out, and let it rest for 10min before cutting into it and serving. Pairs well with a salad, try this one!