Cast Iron Spatchcock Chicken

There is nothing more classic than a roast chicken, just ask Ina Garten! While roast chicken is usually considered a Sunday meal, cast iron spatchcock chicken can save time, and have a roast chicken on your table in just 1 hour. That sounds pretty weeknight friendly to me! Serve this chicken up with some garlic mashed potatoes, and you have comfort food on demand.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Recipe Overview
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Expert Tip
• Recipe FAQs
• Cast Iron Spatchcock Chicken
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• It is well seasoned! Packed with a delicious flavoured butter and our signature all purpose rub, this chicken is anything but bland.
• Everything goes in one pan! Cast iron skillets have a great surface area, which means you do not need to use a roasting rack or any fancy cookware for a good roast chicken.
• The skin gets perfectly crispy! Crispy skin is life. The flavoured butter both under and on top of the skin make it super crispy and delicious.

Recipe Overview

• Flavour: This chicken is seasoned with our all purpose chicken rub, which has a garlic-y, smokey and sweet flavour. The flavoured butter is seasoned with a little more garlic, Calabrian chilli paste for some heat, and thyme. This chicken is the perfect balance of heat, and richness from the butter. Roasting it with fresh lemons, garlic, and thyme perfume the chicken even more!
• Ease: Now, if you have not spatchcocked a chicken before, it may seem daunting. A really good representation of doing so can be found here. If you purchase your chicken from a butcher, you can likely also get them to do this for you. Once you get past this step, the chicken is fuss free. It's a great technique to learn, though, as it makes a whole chicken faster to cook, and also works great on the grill.
• Time: This chicken is ready in under 45 minutes. Cast iron skillets retain heat very well, which definitely helps with the cooking time.

Ingredients

• Whole chicken: You will need a whole chicken for this recipe. The size that you will want to use depends on how many you are looking to feed. If you wish, you can use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and chicken thighs as well, if you are not a fan of cooking a whole roast chicken.
• Salted butter: The better the butter, the better. Ha! That was a tongue twister. Use your favourite butter here. I recommend salted butter, because then you do not need to add additional salt to the butter mix. If you only have unsalted butter, of course, just add salt to your taste. You will want your butter to be room temperature and soft for this recipe.
• All purpose chicken seasoning: This is my go-to homemade chicken seasoning. It is a mix of garlic and onion powder, smoked paprika, mustard powder, salt and brown sugar. If you have a seasoning blend on hand that you prefer, you can substitute that. I recommend avoiding seasoning blends that are very distinct in flavour, such as blends with strong spices such as cumin, etc.
• Calabrian chilli paste: Calabrian chilli paste is essentially an Italian chilli paste that is packed in oil, generally. It adds a good heat to the butter, but it is not overpowering or overwhelmingly hot. It is usually readily available in your grocery store, but if you can't find it you can substitute some red chilli flakes, more smoked paprika, or simply omit it if you don't like spice.
• Garlic, thyme and lemons: These are the roasting aromatics that you will add to the pan. You do not need to peel the garlic, as you it is just going into the pan.
• Seasonings and spices: The butter needs garlic and onion powder, and dried thyme. You can use fresh as well.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2. Spatchcock the chicken: Using kitchen shears, spatchcock the chicken using the technique in this video.
3. Mix the butter: In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter with the Calabrian chilli paste, garlic and onion powder, and thyme.
4. Stuff the skin: Run your fingers under the skin, separating it from the meat. Using a spoon, spatula or your hands, stuff the butter under the chicken skin, including under the leg meat skin. You will have leftover butter, which can be used for basting while the chicken roasts.
5. Season the outside of the chicken: Liberally sprinkle the outside of the chicken skin with the all purpose seasoning, and massage it in. Tuck in the lemons, garlic and thyme.
6. Roast and rest: Roast the chicken for 45 minutes uncovered, or until the juices run clear. Occasionally baste the chicken with the leftover butter, while it cooks. Once done, let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes under foil. Carve and enjoy!

Recipe FAQs

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