How to Spatchcock a Chicken

A raw, uncooked spatchcock chicken on a large cutting board flattened with breast-side-up.

5 from 3 votes

Spatchcocking is a cooking technique that guarantees evenly cooked, juicy chicken with perfectly crisp skin. In this post, I’m sharing How to Spatchcock a Chicken with step-by-step instructions and images.

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Chicken, Dinner, How-to

Cuisine: American

Keyword: How to Butterfly a Chicken, How to Spatchcock a Chicken, Spatchcock chicken

Servings: chicken

Author: Jessica Randhawa

Ingredients

1 whole chicken gizzards removed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pat the entire chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken, breast-side-down, on a large, sturdy workspace like a large cutting board.
Look for the backbone. You’ll find it down the middle of the chicken, from the neck to the tail. Use a good pair of kitchen shears (scissors) or a sharp knife to cut along one side of the backbone (cut as close to the backbone as possible). Repeat on the other side of the backbone. Remove the backbone and set it aside. Note: You’ll be cutting through rib bones; some force may be needed.
Open the chicken by spreading it apart where you removed the backbone. Then, flip it over so that it is breast-side-up.
Press down firmly on the chicken to crack the breastbone and flatten the chicken. The cracking sound is the breastbone breaking. It is necessary to get the chicken to lie flat.
Optional: Trim any fat or skin that isn’t needed, particularly around the exposed tail area where the backbone was removed. To prevent the wings from burning, tuck them under the breasts. This also helps the chicken lay more flat.

Notes

Note: This post explains HOW to spatchcock a chicken. I will follow up with a post on cooking spatchcock chicken in the oven and grill.

Nutritional information is for one 5-pound chicken.

Nutrition