Mediterranean Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
Mediterranean Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is butterflied chicken seasoned with lemon, garlic, and herbs, roasted to perfection. It’s simple to make, and something the whole family will love!
It’s time for Mystery Dish! Mystery Dish is a group of bloggers that create a dish based on a list of ingredients. This month was hosted by Katie from Made To Be A Momma, and we were to use 3 of the following ingredients:
1. Poppyseed
2. Lemon
3. Cream cheese
4. Hot sauce
5. Chicken
6. Orzo Pasta
7. Baby spinach
8. Coconut
9. Mushrooms
10. Ritz crackers
11. Fresh herbs ( any kind)
I chose the (3) ingredients in bold print, obviously, which means for once, I went savory for my Mystery Dish challenge! That’s probably because I’d overdosed on sweets in December, and when the list of ingredients list came out in early January, I was in full on savory mode.
I’d been wanting to make spatchcock roast chicken for a long while, and I took this opportunity to try something completely new. I really enjoyed making this, and spatchcock chicken is completely in the rotation now. 😉 If you have no idea what spatchcock chicken is, it’s basically butterflied whole chicken. For more information on this, see my post on How to Spatchcock a Chicken and Why You Should Do It. 🙂
Lemon and fresh herbs were the perfect thing for my roasted chicken to put a mediterranean spin on it. I chose oregano and thyme, and added garlic to the mix, because you gotta have that.
If you don’t have fresh herbs, simply use dried. And bear in mind that minced garlic will burn easily here, especially since the chicken is cooked at such a high heat. Simply loosen the skin over the breasts and thighs, and rub it over the meat. The skin will protect it from burning. I also like to rub the herb-olive oil mixture under the skin as well as over the top to give it even more flavor.
I also placed lemon slices underneath the skin, to make the chicken nice and lemony. And this chicken is just that! It’s citrusy and herbaceous, with plenty of garlic zip.
This Mediterranean Roasted Spatchcock Chicken is guaranteed to please the whole family, and it’s really easy too. You can even ask the butcher to remove the backbone of the chicken for you and make it even easier! You’ll have delicious roast chicken in one hour or a bit less. And if you close your eyes while eating this, you might just transport yourself to the Greek isles, which is some very tasty traveling. 🙂
Be sure and check out the links below to see what the other Mystery Dish bloggers made!
Crunchy Baked Coconut Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Dipping Sauce by The Well Floured Kitchen
Grilled Chicken & Spinach Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing by Inspiration Kitchen
Lemon Poppyseed Coconut Cookie Cups by The Smart Cookie Cook
Lemon Poppyseed Coconut Waffles by Made to be a Momma
Skillet Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce by Simply Gloria
Soft Lemon Poppyseed Cookies by I Dig Pinterest
Spinach Chicken Crepes with White Wine Cream Sauce by Living Better Together
(2-Ingredient) Strawberry Soda Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting by Yummy Healthy Easy
- 3 - 4 lb. whole chicken, patted dry and spatchcocked*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano (2 teaspoons dried)
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme (2 teaspoons dried)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices fresh lemon
- Preheat the oven to 425. Place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board. Place the olive oil, herbs, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Loosen the skin over the chicken breasts and thighs without tearing it. Rub the breast and thigh meat with the minced garlic, followed by some of the oil-herb mixture, then place the (4) lemon slices under the skin of each thigh and breast. Rub the entire chicken, top and bottom with the remaining herb-oil mixture and place on a rimmed baking sheet or cast iron skillet.
- Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve the chicken, serve, and enjoy!
Cooking time will vary depending how large your chicken is, so check for doneness as early as 45 minutes.
If your chicken begins to brown too quickly, place foil over the top until it's finished cooking.
Save your giblets and backbones in a zip top bag and freeze until you're ready to make stock!
Recipe by Flavor the Moments.
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This chicken looks spectacular!
You’ve done a great job with this month’s mystery dish Marcie! Love homemade baked chicken and this one looks awesome! So flesh, wonderful flavors! Pinned!
Thank you, Mira, and I appreciate the pin! 🙂
Dear God! That chicken looks heavenly. As a Greek, I approve of this chicken! Yum!
Thank you, and it’s nice to get approval from a fellow Greek! 🙂
This chicken looks magnificent, Marcie! You did a great job on the mystery dish ingredients! Love all the flavors you infused the chicken with! ! It’s roasted to perfection!
Thank you, Kelly! Simple and delicious is where it’s at with this dish! 🙂
Wow, I like the look and the sound of this chicken Marcie. I’ve never heard of it before but will definitely be trying.
Thanks, Kathy! I think you’ll love trying chicken spatchcocked! 🙂
This looks gorgeous! Love the Mediterranean flavors 🙂
Thank you, Medha! 🙂
I have to try a spatchcocked chicken, we rarely cook whole chickens here since it seems like such an ‘event’. This looks so delicious and I love all of those classical fresh flavors here!
Whole roast chickens can be an event — you’re so right! This way is so much easier to carve when it’s done, too. Thanks, Denise! 🙂
My husband loves to make chicken in this way, and it is a family favorite! Your lemon and herb version looks and sounds absolutely wonderful!
Your husband is one smart man then — I wish I’d have tried this much sooner! Thanks, Allie, and have a lovely weekend! 🙂
Spatchcock with med. spices!!! Sign me uppp 😀 My dad always makes chicken like this – and now I wanna go home! ha ha
Consider yourself signed up! And your dad sounds like a great guy to make you great chicken! 🙂
So wonderful to post how to roast a spatchcocked chicken following your tutorial, Marcie. Such a great group of bloggers and recipes for Mystery Dish, too! Thank you for sharing and have a great weekend! xo
Thank you, Stacy, and Mystery Dish is quite fun! It’s not like Chopped on the Food Network or I’d be completely stressed out! haha
One of my favourite! Omomomomom! Absolutely looooooooooooooooooooooooooove it!!
Thank you, Agness! Glad you approve! 🙂
Oh my goodness, this looks absolutely ridiculous! I love those citrusy flavours.. yum!
Thank you, Alessandra! 🙂
I love spatchcock chicken!!! Such a brilliant and smart cooking method!!! love this, Marcie!!
Thank you, Alice, and I’m sorry it took me so long to try it! Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂
Well, being in Greece right now, this is absolutely up my alley, Marcie! I’ve never spatchcocked a chicken before, but you’ve convinced me to go off and read your post to find out how and why!
You’re so lucky you’re in Greece!!! I hope you try spatchcocking — I think you’ll love it. And please have a bowl of Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and honey for me while your there. It was one of my most favorite things!
I just love roasted chicken. I think it’s my favorite dinner ever. And flattening you chicken is great to speed up the cooking time. These pictures are beautiful!
I too love roasting chicken for dinner, and spatchcocking has made me love it even more! Thank you, Natalie, and have a great weekend! 🙂
This chicken looks delicious, and I bet the lemon and herbs give it amazing flavor! It’s hard to beat a good roasted chicken!
Thank you, Kristine! Roast chicken sure is hard to beat! 🙂
Lemon, chicken and fresh herbs DEFINITELY go great together!! This chicken looks amazing… and I love the spatchcocking idea!
Thank you, Jess! I will probably be spatchcocking my chicken all the time now! 🙂
There’s nothing better than a good roasted chicken recipe! This looks amazing!
Thank you, Ashley! 🙂
I love the flavors of this chicken, Marcie! So light and refreshing! You definitely chose the three perfect mystery dish ingredients for your spatchcock chicken! Sounds delicious!
Thank you, Gayle, and hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙂
How did you manage to make a chicken look so PRETTY?!?! Love these photos, love this recipe, love chicken! Pinned!
You’re so sweet to say that….I really tried to make my bird pretty all dressed in lemon and herbs. I kind of thought it looked a little like a crab with those crispy wings out front! haha Prob should’ve kept that to myself. 🙂 Thank you so much, Lindsey, and I appreciate the pin!
I’ve been on a fresh herb binge like no other lately! This chicken looks right up my alley – my husband would love it as well.
Hope you had a fantastic weekend!
Fresh herbs make almost everything better — and prettier! You must’ve loved that Super Bowl ending, huh? What a shocker! 🙂
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I have to admit, I started cracking up when I first saw this chicken on facebook!! What the heck happened to that chicken? lol What an awesome way to prepare chicken, and all of those delicious flavors!! I can’t wait to try it for myself. 🙂
That’s funny, Lisa! Spatchcocked chicken definitely looks a little different. haha Thanks, and hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙂
This is right up my alley! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Thank you, Karly! 🙂
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This recipe was a winner, winner, chicken dinner in my house on the first try. Cooking it up again tonight. I’ve got to stock up on some more whole chickens!
I’m so glad the recipe was a success for you Holly, and I appreciate your taking the time to give me feedback! I haven’t made this in so long and need to grab a few whole chickens myself! 🙂
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