roast spatchcock chicken with lemon & herbs

Most of us are all about grabbing one of those rotisserie chickens at the local market. Especially on a super busy day. But when you want something extra special and over-the-top flavorful for your family, give this Roast Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon & Herbs a try. It’s truly worth the effort.

About seven years ago, my husband and I spent a long weekend in the San Francisco area with our son & daughter-in-law, Joe & Maria, along with Maria’s mom, Rosaria. It was a wonderful very-last-minute getaway where we had the best time wandering around the city and even venturing as far south as Carmel and Big Sur.

We also carved out one full day to explore some of Wine Country. We visited wineries that we hadn’t tried before and were thrilled to be introduced to the town of Healdsburg, located in Sonoma County, about ninety minutes north of San Francisco. 

Healdsburg is known for its small town charm along with its representation of the ultimate in the Wine Country lifestyle. A wonderful town square is surrounded by all that you could ask for. Excellent wine tastings, small inviting art galleries, numerous boutique shops, and best of all … a multitude of unique restaurants offering the most amazing farm-to-table cuisine.

On that visit, we had dinner at a (sorry to say now-closed) restaurant called Zin. My husband ordered a lemon & herb roast chicken entree and my first thought was that it was kind of a boring choice. Sorry, John. But when our meals arrived, my tune changed in a hurry. All it took was one sampling of that juicy flavorful chicken and I was sorry I hadn’t ordered that very same thing.

It was so delicious that I’ve been trying to duplicate that roasted chicken ever since.

I’m here to say that this Roast Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon & Herbs is pretty darn close. Full credit for this dish must go to one of my favorite chefs, Billy Parisi. He has a wonderful website packed full of awesome recipes including inspiring videos to encourage even the most hesitant home-cook.

The full list of ingredients for your Roast Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon & Herbs –

• Whole chicken – with backbone removed
• Fresh parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary & oregano – all finely minced
• Garlic – finely minced
• Lemon – zested & juiced
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• Additional lemons & heads of garlic for roasting – optional
• Additional fresh herbs for garnish – optional

This recipe is pretty straightforward and comes together in a hurry. The majority of the prep work is in finely mincing the fresh herbs and garlic. Please don’t be tempted to use dried herbs here. It just won’t turn out as well. This one is all about those fresh flavorful greens. 

Once the herbs are prepared, the garlic needs to be finely minced. I must admit that finely mincing garlic is not one of my favorite tasks. If you have a garlic press that you love, use it here. Or you can try my method.

Use your lemon zester to grate the peeled garlic cloves. You won’t have to worry about big chunks of garlic sneaking through and you’ll be using it to grab the zest from your lemon anyway. Double win!

Look at those vibrant colors. You can just tell that this mixture is full of flavor!

So what is a Spatchcock Chicken, anyway?

“Spatchcocking” is really just a fancy way of saying that you are removing the backbone and flattening the breastbone of your chicken. The result is a butterflied chicken that lays perfectly flat, allowing it to cook quickly and evenly. Since more of the skin is exposed to the heat during cooking, it ends up being extra crispy. 

With kitchen shears, you’ll cut through on either side of the backbone from the tail to the neck. Once the bone is removed, open the chicken fully and flip it over. Using the heel of your hand, apply pressure to flatten the bird. Try to tuck the tips of the wings under since they tend to burn. You can also choose to simply remove those wing tips.

If you’re into making your own homemade chicken stock, wrap the bones you’ve cut away tightly and place them in the freezer to be used when making your next batch.

For more detailed spatchcocking instructions, check out this tutorial.

If you are not comfortable following these instructions, you can always ask your butcher to remove the backbone of your chicken for you. I usually purchase organic chicken at my local Whole Foods store and know that they are always willing to provide that service to their customers.

Better to be safe than sorry.

• Both sides of the chicken are coated with olive oil along with a generous seasoning with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• You’ll be saving half of the lemon herb sauce to be used as a garnish and for serving with the roasted chicken, so it’s a good idea to transfer that amount of sauce to a separate bowl to avoid any contact with the raw meat. 
• Then the remaining lemon herb sauce is evenly distributed on both sides of the chicken.

It’s totally optional, but I like to add a few lemon halves and cut heads of garlic to the pan before baking. They not only look beautiful on the platter but they add quite a bit of flavor to the juices that will remain in the pan. Juices that you’ll want to save for serving …the juice is that delicious.

Whatever tray or pan you choose for roasting, lining it with parchment paper makes clean up a cinch. But it’s totally optional. What you do want to be sure of is that it is large enough so that the chicken lies flat without being cramped. And that the sides of the pan are substantial.

While roasting, you’ll find that quite a bit of juices accumulate and you want to be sure to catch them all. My plain old roasting pan always works well here.

In just over an hour, this is what you’ll have…

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that this Roast Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon & Herbs in not your typical roasted chicken.

After a brief rest, transfer to your favorite serving platter. Dress it up with some additional lemon herb sauce and more fresh herbs.

And don’t forget to grab that yummy juice you’ve collected from the pan. If you like, pass it through a strainer before serving it alongside your roasted chicken.

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More roasted goodness…