How to Spatchcock a Chicken
This is an easy step by step photo tutorial on how to spatchcock a chicken, or butterfly a chicken. The benefits of spatchcocking chicken include even seasoning, even cooking, crispy skin and reduced cooking time, especially when roasting chicken.
Spatchcocking chicken means to remove the spine of a chicken, so that the chicken lays completely flat during the cooking process. I originally created this tutorial for this amazing Instant Pot Spatchcock Chicken.
Required Tools to Spatchcock a Chicken
- A pair of good-quality affordable kitchen shears with sharp stainless steel blades that easily come apart for cleaning.
- Boning knife, sharp, made out of high-carbon, stain-free Japanese steel
STEP BY STEP PHOTO TUTORIAL
- Place a whole chicken on the cutting board, breast side down and legs facing away from you.
2. Using kitchen shears, cut along one side of backbone with kitchen shears.
3. Cut up along the other side, cutting the rib bones as you go until you can completely remove the backbone.
4. Remove the backbone.
5. Open the chicken out and expose the keel bone.
6. Take the sharp end of your boning knife and slide it gently up one side of keel bone being careful not to cut the meat. This is done to disconnect the keel bone from the breast. Once the bone is loosened up, run your finger around each side to pull it away and then pull the keel bone out.
Keel bone is removed:
7. Turn the chicken around. It’s ready to be roasted, grilled or cooked in the Instant Pot!
To spatchcock a chicken is not a science, it’s very easy once you do it once and the chicken cooking possibilities after that are limitless! We’ve been eating spatchcock chicken for years now because it’s such a timesaver when roasting it.
You will never go back to roasting a whole chicken once you get a taste of a spatchcock chicken.
Hungry for some chicken now?
Craving some chicken recipes now?
Instant Pot Spatchcock Chicken
Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Garlic Mustard Crust
Peri Peri Portuguese Chicken
Oven Baked Rosemary Chicken Thighs
Herb Roasted Creamy Chicken and Potatoes
How to spatchcock a chicken
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 lb. whole chicken
Instructions
- Place a whole chicken on the cutting board, breast side down and legs facing away from you.
- Using kitchen shears, cut along one side of backbone with kitchen shears.
- Cut up along the other side, cutting the rib bones as you go until you can completely remove the backbone.Remove the backbone.
- Open the chicken out and expose the keel bone.Take the sharp end of your boning knife and slide it gently up one side of keel bone being careful not to cut the meat. This is done to disconnect the keel bone from the breast.
- Once the bone is loosened up, run your finger around each side to pull it away and then pull the keel bone out.
- Turn the chicken around. It's done.
