Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: To cook a whole chicken faster than traditional methods, with the bonus of exceptionally crispy skin, you’ll love this spatchcock chicken recipe! It’s the perfect Sunday night dinner when you want something a little special without a lot of effort.

How long it takes: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: kitchen shears, sheet or roasting pan
Servings: 6

Roasted spatchcock chicken with herbs on parchment paper, surrounded by rosemary, lemon slices, and small bowls of salt and pepper.

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What Is Spatchcocking?

Spatchcock chicken is a cooking technique that essentially butterflies the entire chicken by removing the backbone and then flattening the whole bird on a sheet pan. While it may seem a bit involved, it’s really not, and it’s absolutely worth it! When you spatchcock chicken, it cooks faster and more evenly, and there’s more surface area for the skin to crisp up.

You can spatchcock chicken before grilling or smoking it but the most classic cooking method is roasting. The result is juicy and flavorful with irresistibly golden, crispy skin—perfect for serving with cheesy Brussels sprouts au gratin or a platter of roasted fingerling potatoes. A spatchcocked chicken dinner feels a little fancy, but not so fancy that your kids won’t eat it!

Crispy Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

The key to perfectly cooked chicken. The problem with roasting a whole bird, whether it’s a roasted chicken or Thanksgiving turkey, is that it can be hard to get everything to cook evenly. It’s tricky to get the breast and thighs done inside without the outside ending up dry. By spatchcocking the chicken, it’s easier to get chicken that is juicy and tender throughout because the chicken is spread out flatter so it cooks more evenly.

Crispy skin. If crispy skin is your favorite part of the chicken, you will love this recipe because flattening the chicken means there’s a lot more skin that gets crispy in the oven.

Impressive presentation. Spatchcock chicken is great for a dinner party or a sit-down Sunday dinner with the family because it looks impressive on the pan or on a platter surrounded with balsamic roasted vegetables. However, it’s also easy enough that you can pull it off on a weeknight, especially once you get the hang of how to spatchcock the bird (it’s not difficult at all!).

Ingredient Notes

Whole chicken: I’ve found that 4 to 5 pounds is the perfect size for making spatchcock chicken. Larger or smaller birds will work too, but you’ll have to adjust the cooking time.
Olive oil: The key to that golden, crispy skin!
Lemon zest: Finely zested lemon adds a lovely brightness; after zesting, you can cut the lemon into wedges for serving with the chicken.
Garlic: Four cloves of minced or pressed fresh garlic add irresistible savory flavor.
Herbs and spices: I use a mixture of dried thyme and crushed rosemary (or swap in fresh if you have them on hand), paprika, kosher salt, and ground black pepper.
Fresh herbs: If you like to garnish with fresh herbs, thyme and rosemary are excellent, as is parsley. Herbs are optional but they do look lovely on a platter with the spatchcock chicken.

Whole raw chicken in a bowl surrounded by spices, oil, garlic, lemon zest, and salt on a white surface.

How to Make Spatchcock Chicken

Prepare. Preheat your oven to 425°F, with the oven rack in the center of the oven. You’ll need a large rimmed sheet pan sprayed lightly with nonstick spray.

Mix seasoning. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, and seasonings in a small bowl.

A glass bowl containing dried herbs, black pepper, paprika, salt, and olive oil on a light background.

A glass bowl filled with a mixture of minced garlic, herbs, and spices in a red-orange sauce.

Prep the chicken. Remove the giblets, if there are any, and place the chicken on a cutting board with the breast-side down. Use sharp kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the backbone, staying as close to the bone as possible. Remove the backbone and either discard it or save it for making chicken stock if you’d like.

Cut through the cartilage that connects the breastbone as well (refer to the photos if you’re unsure) and then wipe out the cavity with paper towels, removing any fragments of bone in the process.

Raw spatchcocked chicken with the removed backbone placed separately, next to kitchen shears, on a white surface.

Close-up of a raw, uncooked chicken cavity showing the interior details and texture, with visible bones and tissue.

Transfer to the pan. Flip the chicken over and spread it out; if needed, you can press down on the breastbone to flatten it further. Transfer the chicken to a sheet pan with the breast side facing up, then tuck the wing tips under the breasts.

Season. Use paper towels to pat the outside of the chicken dry—this helps the seasoning adhere and it also gives you crispier skin. Rub the oil mixture over the chicken. Carefully lift up the skin of the breasts and rub the seasoning under the skin.

A persons hand rubbing seasoning under the skin of a raw whole chicken, placed on a metal baking tray.

Raw spatchcocked chicken seasoned with spices on a metal baking tray.

Cook. Place the pan in the oven and roast the spatchcocked chicken for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the temperature reaches 165ºF in the thickest part of the breast and the skin is crispy and browned.

Recipe Tip

It’s okay if the temperature of the chicken is slightly under 165ºF when you remove it from the oven, as it will continue to rise during the 10 minutes of cooling time. When testing this recipe, I removed it at 160ºF and it rose to 165ºF by the time I carved it.

A roasted, spatchcocked chicken on a baking sheet, seasoned with herbs and spices.

Roasted herb-seasoned chicken on parchment with rosemary sprigs and lemon wedges.

Serve. Let the spatchcock chicken rest for 10 minutes to allow the juices to reincorporate, then cut and serve.

Roasted chicken pieces on a plate with rosemary, lemon slices, a bowl of salt, and a bowl of pepper on a light surface.

Recipe Variations

Use a marinade. After you spatchcock the chicken, you can marinate it in your go-to chicken marinade. (Try my Greek chicken marinade, lemon pepper chicken marinade, or balsamic chicken marinade.) If you do this, you can omit the seasoning mixture.
Make it with butter. Replace the olive oil with softened unsalted butter mixed with the herbs and spices.
Try other seasoning blends. Cajun seasoning or this all-purpose seasoning would work well, or use a store-bought blend.
Don’t have a whole chicken? Try roasted bone-in chicken breasts, marinated chicken thighs, or soy and honey glazed chicken drumsticks.

Serving Suggestions

Vegetables: Roasted turnips or air fryer carrots are two excellent options but really, almost any veggie side will go with this recipe! Check out all of my sides and vegetables.

Potatoes: Mashed red potatoes are another can’t-go-wrong pairing. If you have room in the oven for another sheet pan, crispy roasted potatoes can be baked at the same temperature as the chicken.

Salad: This classic wedge salad is perfect for a dinner party or try my easy house salad recipe.

Leftover Love

Use leftovers to make homemade chicken noodle soup; just skip cooking the chicken in the broth. Instead, cut the leftovers into cubes or shred it, then stir it into the soup to warm it up. Leftover chicken can be used to make BBQ chicken pizza, too!

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate: Store leftover spatchcock chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. I usually cut the chicken apart into large pieces or remove the chicken from the bones so it cools down more rapidly. Leftover chicken is excellent for meal prep.

Freeze: Remove the chicken from the bones and store it in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for 2 to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating or using for meal prep.

Reheat: Place the chicken on a sheet pan or in a roasting pan, cover it with foil (add a splash of broth too if you’d like), and warm it in a preheated oven at 350°F it’s until heated through. Covering the chicken and adding a little broth helps keep it moist which is important if you’re reheating white meat, but if you’re warming up dark meat, you can leave it uncovered if you’d like to restore some of the crispiness of the skin.

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Spatchcock Chicken