Roast spatchcock chicken with herb butter recipe

This roasted spatchcock chicken with herb butter is packed with flavour. The chicken cooks evenly and more quickly when it’s butterflied, delivering very juicy meat and crispy skin. Have a loaf of bread on hand to mop up the buttery pan juices.

I made gravy to go with this because who doesn’t love gravy with roast chicken? I used the cut-out chicken spine as the base. Omit this if you have bought your chicken already spatchcocked. You could also skip the gravy part. There is enough delicious herb butter to keep the chicken moist.

If you are unsure about how to spatchcock a chicken, you can see how easy it is to do on Serious Eats by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. I loosely based my gravy recipe on his too. He pre-brines the spatchcock chicken and then roasts it on a rack to get it ultra-crispy.

I wanted to make a butter packed with herbs and flavour to stuff under the skin. As the chicken cooks, it melts keeping the bird super succulent. I used Kerrygold salted butter which is such an incredibly creamy butter.

Ingredients in the herb butter:

Kerrygold butter
garlic
Dijon mustard
Chopped mixed herbs (parsley, sage, thyme, oregano)
Lemon juice
Salt & pepper

I have been blogging for 13 years but this is the first spatchcock (butterflied) chicken recipe I’ve done here. It’s about time I’d say. Flattening out a bird to cook in the oven or on a fire is such a practical way of doing things.

I’m such a fan of this roast chicken with white wine and herbs I tend to always default to that. Over the years I’ve made a few recipes that are modelled around that recipe. Such as this tray of roast chicken with white wine, herbs & garlic and new potatoes. Roast chicken with stout, rosemary & honey swaps out the wine for beer and is also delicious. I added Italian sausages to the mix, played around with orange & ginger, and stuffed them with pork & sage.

A few tips on how to cook a spatchcock (butterflied)chicken

Use sharp kitchen scissors to remove the backbone. Reserve this along with any innards that might be included to make the gravy.

Gently pull the skin away from the flesh with your fingers to stuff the herb butter.

Tuck the chicken wing tips under to avoid them over-browning.

Because this chicken cooks at high heat, the top might overcook. To prevent this loosely cover it with foil from about 30 minutes into the cooking time.

Sprinkling a little baking powder over the skin will help to crisp it up.

Roast the chicken for 45 minutes or until the breast meat reaches 68C/165°F as measured by an instant-read thermometer.

If you are looking for more chicken recipes, go to my index where you will find the full list.

What to serve roast spatchcock chicken with:

You can keep this meal low-carb by eating this chicken with cauliflower rice, the best whole roasted cauliflower or any other green vegetable of your choice. However, roast chicken is always best with potatoes:

Try my best roast potatoes, or my roasted smashed new potatoes with Parmesan.

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:45

Ingredients

Roast spatchcock:

1 free-range spatchcock chicken
100 gms Kerrygold butter
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves crushed
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
½ cup herbs finely chopped 1/4 cup once finely chopped such as parsley, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 – 2 bay leaves optional
½ tsp baking powder

Gravy/jus:

The backbone of the spatchcock cut into small pieces if you are cutting your own
1 onion celery stalk & carrot, cut into small pieces
½ cup dry sherry or dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Any stalks left over from the herbs or a few sprigs of parsley
¼ tsp miso paste optional
½ tsp soy sauce

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Cut the spine out of the chicken as per the instructions above and set that aside to use in the gravy. Cut that into smaller pieces. Press down on the chicken to open it out flat.
Mix the butter, mustard, garlic, pepper, salt, chopped herbs, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl until well combined.
Gently pull the skin away from the meat of the chicken with your fingers. Stuff pieces of herb butter under the chicken skin wherever possible. Most will go under the breast. Smear any leftover butter over the chicken and between the legs.
Season the chicken with salt and a light sprinkle of baking powder (this helps to crisp up the skin).
Roast uncovered for 45 minutes. If necessary and to prevent over-browning, loosely cover the chicken with a piece of foil from 30 minutes into the roasting time.
Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before carving.
While the chicken is roasting, make the gravy/jus.
Add the chopped chicken spine pieces to a medium pot with a splash of olive oil. Brown these pieces on all sides.
Add the chopped onion, carrot, and celery and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.
Deglaze with ½ cup of sherry or white wine and allow this to reduce slightly. Add the stock, herb stalks and bay leaves let this bubble away for 20 minutes.
Strain the gravy removing any solids and put it back into a clean pot (or the same pot that has been wiped down). Cook until this has reduced by half.
Scrape any sticky bits off the bottom of the chicken roasting dish and add these to the gravy. Spoon in some of the melted butter too.
Cut up the chicken and serve with some of the gravy poured over or on the side or both. Serve this with vegetables of your choice or a salad and bread to mop up the sauce.

Notes

Make it Dairy-Free: Use dairy-free butter or margarine instead of regular butter in this recipe.
Fresh Herbs of Choice: I used fresh parsley, thyme, oregano and sage but any fresh herbs will work. Rosemary would be lovely here too.

Servings: 4

Author: Sam Linsell

*This post is proudly sponsored by Kerrygold