I hope your Sunday is looking as good as this spatchcock chicken! This is the first time I’ve ever tried to spatchcock a chicken and let me tell you, it’s totally awesome. Flattening it out allows all the skin to get crispy as you roast it and the meat is incredibly tender and juicy. The chimichurri adds a nice spicy kick that you don’t want to miss out on!
I served my chicken up with some simple roasted corn and it was plenty, but you could add other sides if you’re into that sort of thing.
You don’t have to rub the chicken with chimichurri before roasting it, but I really like the little charred bits of herbs on the skin. If you skip the herbs, at least rub it down with some olive oil, salt and pepper. And cooking on a cooling rack or roasting pan is totally necessary so that the drippings don’t pool around the chicken and boil it (or make the skin un-crispy).
Enjoy!
Chimichurri Spatchcock Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 lb whole chicken
- Additional olive oil, salt and pepper for rubbing chicken
Chimichurri
- 1/2 cup curly leaf parsley packed
- 1/2 cup cilantro packed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a cooling rack on top (or use a roasting pan).
Add all chimichurri ingredients to a food processor and pulse until leaves are chopped into about 1/8" pieces (or desired size). Set aside.
Spatchcock chicken, pat it dry and rub it with about 1/2 tbsp olive oil, then generously season with salt and pepper. Top it with 1-2 tbsp chimichurri.
Place spatchcocked chicken on top of cooling rack (or roasting pan) and tuck the wing tips under the bird so they don't burn.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning down temperature to 450 degrees if skin is getting dark around the 20-25 minute mark. The chicken is cooked when the middle of the chicken breast reads 165 degrees (and center of thigh reads 180 degrees) and juices run clear.
Top chicken and serve with remaining chimichurri.
Recipe Notes
Martha Stewart can teach you how to spatchcock a chicken, check it out here!
The nutrition info is going to be different for every chicken...I calculated it based off of weighing the meat after skin and bones were removed. Moral of the story: the nutrition info is just a ballpark for this recipe.
