This Spatchcock Roast Chicken is a recipe that I have made approximately 12345624651 times. Never the same way twice, never really paying much attention to the actual recipe itself but rather, the ingredient list – which has me riveted. DATES! LEMON! HARISSA! And of course, my all-time favorite thing – a roasted chicken. So, without further ado, let’s dig into the nuts and bolts of this easy Spatchcock Roast Chicken, shall we?

Table of Contents

What is spatchcocking?

Spatchcocking is a fairly intense sounding term for the simple removal of a chicken’s backbone. Oh, geez really?! I know, it sounds medieval and terrible. But we’re talking meat butchery here, so you know … it all kind of sounds terrible when you literally spell it out. If you want a great video tutorial on how to do it, check this out.

How to spatchcock a chicken (hint … ask your butcher counter!)

Okay. Call me crazy, but if I can get the kind souls behind the butcher counter in my nearest Publix to beautifully spatchcock the chicken of my choosing while I shop for my food, I’m gonna do that. It’s not hard to do at home – no not at all. But there is freedom in asking for help sometimes, and there are at least a dozen things that your butcher counter will take care of for you, saving you time and effort in your own kitchen. Which, as you may or may not know, is really what we’re all about here on MKL. We keep things easy when we can and sometimes that ease comes in the form of knowing a few good grocery shopping tricks.

This trick – the trick of getting the fine folks at your store do do the spatchcocking for you – is SUCH a great one if your store doesn’t already carry them that way. Whole Foods does, and so does Trader Joe’s. But Whole Foods, as much as I love it, is prohibitively expensive for many and Trader Joe’s tends to only have stores in very specific (i.e. suburban) locations. Not everyone lives near or cares to shop at these stores is my point. So, anyway.

If your store doesn’t sell any whole chickens that have been spatchcocked, then just grab a whole chicken, hand it over, and they’ll happily do it for you. It’s awesome.

Roasted Spatchcock Chicken: FAQ’s

What does spatchcocking do? Okay. Here, it will help the meat cook more evenly, and it also actually reduces the required cook time a bit, which is cool. It’s especially great for grilling, bit we’re talking roasted spatchcock chicken today, not grilled. So anyway and anyhow …

What is the easiest way to spatchcock a chicken? Well, I’d say get one already spatchcocked but if that is not feasible, then just grab a whole chicken and ask the butcher in your store to do it. I’m being serious here. Just as I’m probably not going to fillet whole fish in my kitchen on the reg, I’d prefer to just have the experts do my spatchcocking. But of course if you want to do it yourself, there are scads of online videos to help.

This is just a girl, standing in front of a chicken, and asking someone else to cut it for me.
Me.

What You’ll Need to Make this Spatchcock Roast Chicken

Simple, straightforward and utterly delicious by all accounts, I’ll pretty much take a roasted chicken however you want to serve it to me. But this is the way I tend to fix it most often (which is why I’m sharing it with you here). The sweet dates, bright/tart lemon, and salty, fatty chicken are only made better by the spicy addition of some harissa paste. This is a North African red chili paste that is very easy to find, and widely available in stores nationwide.

I use it in a few recipes here on MKL, like my Tunisian Harissa Chicken (a different take on these same flavors) and then I also share how to make a green harissa as well. That would be DELICIOUS here.

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil, as needed

One 3.5 to 4-pound spatchcocked chicken (ask your store’s butcher to do this for you)

Salt and pepper, as needed

1 small onion, cut into petals/wedges

24-ounces baby potatoes, halved (such as baby golds)

6 pitted dates, halved (any kind you like)

2 tablespoons harissa paste (optional)

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Fresh green herbs, for serving (such as parsley, cilantro, and chives)

How to Make this Spatchcock Roast Chicken

This is VERY easy to make (we’re talking a difficulty level of, I dunno … maybe 2 out of 10?). Anyway, because we’re going to go right on ahead and ask our friendly butcher to spatchcock the chicken for us, we don’t even have to worry about screwing that part up. Although that said, you can absolutely make this roasted spatchcock chicken recipe the whole way through, spatchcock part and all.

That’s nothing more than cutting the backbone out of the chicken, which allows it to lay flat and cook very evenly. Sounds a wee bit barbaric, I’ll admit. But doesn’t all butchery? I think so, yes.

Roast Spatchcock Chicken DIRECTIONS

Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to a large, deep lidded pot set over medium-high heat. Season the chicken liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, brown the chicken, breast side facing up, for 6 minutes without moving (I put the lid on or a splatter screen to help with the mess)

After 6 minutes, add the onions, potatoes, and dates to the pot, just pushing and scooching them all around and even under the bird. Cook 5 minutes more. Add 1 cup of water to the pot and spread the harissa (if using) all over the top of the chicken. Place the lid on the pot and place in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid, drizzle a little olive oil on the chicken skin and place back in to roast, uncovered, for about 20 minutes more, or until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting into separate pieces.

Meanwhile, put the pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the lemon zest and juice and season with more salt and pepper to taste (it takes a lot of salt). Let it simmer and reduce for 10 minutes while the chicken is resting. Serve the chicken with the potatoes, dates, onions, and sauce spooned all over. Shower with a mix of your favorite chopped green herbs.