Spatchcock Chicken

This is the easiest and most delicious roast chicken you will ever make. You need only a few basic ingredients and will have very little clean-up!

For fun, I’ve combined the full unboxing of an organic, naturally raised Butcherbox chicken with the unboxing of my new Canyon Ultimate. The recipe parallels preparing the chicken spatchcock style with pro tips for building up a new road bike.

Enjoy and impress your friends with both!

Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

1 whole chicken (4-5 pounds)

2 lemons

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP lemon pepper

1/2 TBSP kosher/sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1. Remove the packaging and gizzards from the chicken. Save the gizzards for stock, if desired.
2. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Turn breast side down on a clean cutting board, locate the back bone and cut from top to bottom completely removing the backbone (using a very sharp knife or kitchen scissors). Save the backbone with the gizzards for stock, if desired.
4. Turn the chicken breast side up and press firmly on the breast bone, cracking it, so the chicken lays flat, spatchcock style. You can roast or grill like this, or cut down the breast bone and cook in two pieces, for faster cooking.
5. Place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon pepper, salt and garlic powder. Use your hands to spread the mixture all over the chicken, and under the skin on the breast and side. Tuck the wings under the chicken so they don’t burn.
7. Cut the lemons into quarters and spread around the chicken, peel side up.
8. Bake for approximately 2-2 1/2 hours (or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees). Spoon the juices from the chicken and the lemon over the chicken every 45 min.
9. Serve with the juices from the pan spooned over the chicken and the roast lemons or fresh lemons for extra flavor.
10. To make stock, add 6 cups of water to a pot with the gizzards, back bone, and leftover bones from the roast chicken. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, and any other herbs or vegetables you desire. Season with salt and pepper. Let cook on a low rolling boil until the stock has been reduced to 4 cups. Using a colander drain the stock into glass storage jars for future use. Save the vegetables from the stock for use in the future soup or sauce!