‘Spatchcock’ is a fancy term for flattened chicken. The chicken has been butterflied – backbone is removed – which allows it to lay flat. You can cook it on the grill or in the oven. Besides tasting great it also cooks in a shorter time than cooking a whole chicken (less than an hour).
For ease, I ask our favorite butcher (Worrell’s in Malvern, PA) to prepare the chicken for me so we don’t have to do any butchering at home. Here’s a quick video from the BBC’s Good Food team if you prefer to do it yourself. All you need is a good pair of kitchen scissors or poultry shears.
Once the chicken has been procured, it gets brined for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours. It’s a simple brine of whole heads of garlic, bay leaves, Kosher salt and water. I wrap up the garlic and torn bay leaves in a kitchen towel and use a flat meat tenderizer to break up the garlic heads. Then put this along with the salt and water into a two gallon Ziplock bag as it’s large enough to hold a full chicken. The brining process ensures that the end result is a moist chicken. Before going on the grill, it gets rubbed all over with a crushed red pepper (AKA red pepper flakes) and garlic oil.
Then Ed takes over to cook it on the gas grill. We tried a few different techniques that left the skin of the chicken too charred. This approach resulted in super moist chicken with a nice crispy skin. And, it smelled so good.
This chicken is perfect for a summer BBQ and pairs well all of your favorite summer side dishes. In case you’re looking for something new, here’s a few suggestions: Burrata Caprese Salad, Lemon-Basil Potato Salad, Grilled Mexican Street Corn or Susie’s Wild Rice Salad.
This chicken has a great flavor and is just right for me in terms of spiciness (I’m a bit of a wimp). If you like a lot of spice feel free to double the amount of crushed red pepper.
| Spicy Grilled Spatchcock Chicken | Print |
- 1 whole chicken (3-1/2 to 4 pounds), spatchcocked (see Notes)
- 2 whole garlic heads
- 6 bay leaves, torn
- ½ cup Kosher salt
- 8 cups cold water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (red pepper flakes) (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
- Spatchcock the chicken – use strong kitchen scissors or poultry shears and cut down either side of the spine (opposite side of the breast). Pull out the spine, turn the chicken over and press down on the breast of the chicken to flatten it out to an even thickness.
- Place garlic heads and bay leaves in the center of a clean kitchen towel. Fold up the towel so nothing can ‘escape.’ Using a flat meat tenderizer or rubber mallet, pound the mixture until the garlic cloves are crushed. Add mixture to a two gallon Ziplock bag. Add salt and water and stir to dissolve. Place chicken in bag, press out the air and seal. Place chicken in a bowl (just in case something leaks) in refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator an hour prior to cooking.
- Heat olive oil, minced garlic, crushed red pepper and black pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant and sizzling and the mixture registers about 200°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, about 40 minutes. (This can be made a few hours in advance. Store at room temperature.)
- Remove the chicken from brine and rinse off the garlic and bay leaves. Dry chicken with paper towels. Place breast side up on a large baking sheet. Rub the olive oil mixture under the skin as much as you can and use the remaining on top of the skin. There’s no need to put any on the back side of the chicken.
- Prepare a gas grill (assuming three burners) for medium indirect heat. Turn all burners to medium-high to pre-heat. After about 15 minutes turn off the middle burner and turn the remaining two burners down to medium.
- Place the chicken skin-side up in the middle of the grill (burner below the chicken should be off) with legs facing towards the back of the grill (hotter side). Cover and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) reads 150 to 160°F (almost cooked through). Begin checking at 40 minutes although it may take as long as 50 minutes depending on your grill.
- Move the chicken to the left or right side of the grill (so it’s directly over one of the lite burners). Cook for 2 minutes, flip the chicken to char and crisp up the skin side, another 3 or 4 minutes. Check that the temperature in the thigh is now at least 165°F. If it is not, then move the chicken (skin side up) back to the middle of the grill (burner below the chicken remains off), cover and cook until a final temperature of 165°F (thickest part of the thigh) is reached.
- Remove from the grill. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
* Don’t pound the garlic and bay leaves in the same bag you’re going to store the chicken as you’re likely to make a few small holes while pounding.
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