Learn how to roast a whole chicken in only 45 minutes with this Spatchcock Oven Roasted Chicken recipe. Dressed in a garlicky marinade and fresh herbs, this is a flavor-packed and foolproof chicken dinner your family will be requesting for months!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Resting Time10 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr5 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken, dinner, main course, roasted, weeknight dinner
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Add a cooling rack to a baking sheet. Set aside.
Make the marinade by adding the garlic, light olive oil, salt, lemon zest, and juice into a wide-mouth mason jar and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. You can also do this in a blender. Set aside.
Pat the chicken fully dry with a paper towel. Spatchcock the chicken by removing the backbone with kitchen shears, then do a shallow cut along the breast bone, flip over and break the breast bone using the palm of your hands, and push firmly over the breast bone forcing the chicken to lay completely flat.
Add the chicken to the baking sheet. Use your fingers to gently separate the skin from the meat over the breast, thigh, and drumstick areas, this will help loosen the skin so you can season the chicken inside.
Now add the marinade on top of the chicken and rub it in well, add the marinade under the skin of the breast and thighs and using your fingers, spread it around inside. Flip over and repeat.
Add the thyme under the cut side of the chicken. Flip the chicken back and stuff the tarragon under the breast and thigh skin.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Using an instant read thermometer, check the temperature by inserting it into the thickest part of the breast. It should read 160˚F. (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 the oven.) If your chicken is smaller, check the temperature at 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and rest uncovered for 10 minutes on the cooling rack before serving. This will help to keep the juices in. Drain the juices from the baking sheet to use as sauce.
Tip: If you want to cook any side dishes like potatoes or other veggies, add them 15-20 minutes into cooking time in the same sheet pan or in a separate one. This way your whole meal will cook at the same time.
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Notes
Let the raw chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking for even baking. This is a great time to prep the sauce and preheat your oven.
Don’t overcook the chicken. I would recommend taking it out when the internal temperature is at about 160 F because when you cover the chicken to rest, the internal temperature will rise another 5-10 degrees F.
You will need a very sharp pair of kitchen shears to cut through the chicken to remove the spine. It will make the process feel effortless. Don’t use a knife.
Make sure to season the inside of the chicken. Once it has been spatchcocked, there’s so much more surface area to add seasonings!
Patting the chicken dry helps to give you crispy skin in the oven.
Don’t skip resting the chicken before you cut into it after it cooks. When it is resting, the juices inside the chicken are redistributed back throughout the meat.