Juicy and flavorful roasted spatchcock chicken, cooked together with a bold root vegetable rice.
While it may sound salacious, spatchcocking is just a method for cooking a whole chicken, laid out flat. If you’ve done it before, you know it’s fairly simple, and results in a supremely succulent, evenly-cooked bird. If you’ve never tried it, maybe now is the time.
Simply seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, the spatchcock chicken for this recipe beams with natural flavor. And it pairs nicely with a side of earthy, root-vegetable-studded rice.
Through what has honestly been a ton of trial and error (just ask my husband), I’ve come up with a system for cooking the chicken and rice together. To achieve this—and avoid over cooking either element—the chicken is first par-cooked on a sheet pan, while the rice simultaneously starts cooking in a skillet. They finish cooking together in the skillet, allowing the flavors to mingle and meld.
When it comes time to serve, a spatchcock chicken is also quite easy to carve. I like to quarter it, and everyone gets either a breast or a leg. But you could, break it down even further, and serve however you like.
More recipes:
My recipe for Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Beet and Barley Pilaf is similar to this one but the longer cooking time for barley means par-cooking the chicken is unnecessary.
If you have any leftover chicken, use it to make cheesy chicken taquitos, hot honey mustard chicken sandwiches, or lemony pasta with asparagus.
Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 whole Chicken about 3-4 lbs
- 3 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and Pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 small (or 1 medium) beets peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium parsnip peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 6-8 leaves sage chopped
- 2 tsp rosemary
- ⅔ cup long grain white rice
- ¼ cup sherry or dry white wine
- 1¼ cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 lemon cut into quarters
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 450°.
- Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and place on a large cutting board. Remove anything from the inner cavity, if needed. Place chicken breast side-down and use kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the back bone to remove it. Flip the chicken over and press down firmly in the center of the breasts to flatten the bird. Cut off wing tips.
- Place chicken breast side-up on a large rimmed sheet pan. Rub chicken all over with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, begin the preparing the rice: In a 12-inch cast iron skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, or until fragrant and starting to soften.
- Add carrots, beets, parsnip, sage, rosemary, rice, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in sherry or white wine and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and adjust heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Remove chicken from oven and carefully transfer with a large, sturdy spatula to the skillet, on top of rice. Pour drippings from the sheet pan over chicken. Place lemon wedges around the chicken.
- Place skillet in the oven. Reduce heat to 375°. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until liquid has mostly absorbed, rice is tender, and chicken is 160-165° in the thickest part of the breast and thigh.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Mix Parmesan cheese into rice pilaf.
- With a chef’s knife cut chicken in half between the breasts. Cut between breasts and thighs to remove the legs. Serve chicken with rice pilaf.
