Butterflied, oven-roasted chicken that cooks evenly in less time than a traditional whole chicken and adds extra flavour to root vegetables by roasting everything in one pan.
Butterflied chicken. What is it? To ‘butterfly’ (also known as ‘spatchcocking’) means to cut a piece of meat in half but not all the way through in order to ‘open up’ the piece of meat or make it flatter for even and faster cooking. So to butterfly a whole chicken means removing the backbone from it to flatten it. This makes roasting an entire chicken more quickly, thanks to its flattened surface area. A whole chicken usually takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to roast (depending on if it is stuffed or not) so the faster version with the butterfly chicken is a win in my books! It also adds LOADS of flavour with its rosemary garlic butter drippings to the vegetables when you roast everything in one pan. Lastly, you can turn the excess drippings into an excellent gravy that you can pour over your chicken.
*Good To Know*
- Do I need a special tool to butterfly the chicken?
No, you do not. I used a poultry shear since that is a tool I already have on hand, but you can use a regular kitchen shear, which will still cut through the chicken backbone.
Ingredients you will need
For the chicken
- a whole chicken
- unsalted butter
- fresh garlic
- fresh or dried rosemary
- kosher or sea salt
- ground black pepper
- ground paprika powder
For the root vegetables*
- sweet potatoes
- carrots
- brussel sprouts
- red onion
*The listed vegetables are suggestions. You can use any root vegetable to your liking.
For the gravy
- a bulb of garlic
- kosher or sea salt
- brown sugar
- cornstarch
How to butterfly a whole chicken
Rinse and pat dry the chicken, then remove the butcher’s twine if present. Turn the chicken, breast side down, and cut along each side of the backbone with a sharp kitchen or poultry shear. Use the neckbone as a guide by cutting on each side of the spine until you have removed the backbone with the neckbone attached. Save this in a freezer bag to include it in a broth later. Turn the chicken over and press on the chicken to flatten it. That’s it! You have just butterflied your chicken.
Add root vegetables to a heavy-duty roasting pan. Peel the papery outer layer of a whole garlic bulb. Cut a 1/4 inch from the top of cloves with a sharp knife and place the bulb in the corner of the roasting pan on top of the vegetables—season vegetables with salt, ground black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.
In a small heatproof bowl, melt unsalted butter for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir in salt, ground black pepper, rosemary, garlic, and paprika powder. Brush butter mixture all over the butterflied chicken and place it on the vegetables. Roast chicken and vegetables on the middle oven rack at 400°F (204°C) for 45 minutes or until the chicken’s internal temperature reads 165°F (74°C) when checked with a food thermometer.
Tip
- A food thermometer is your best friend in the kitchen for cooking and baking. I highly encourage you to invest in one since that will take out a lot of the guesswork for cooking your food.
- Try to cut root vegetables the same size, so they cook evenly.
Save the drippings for your gravy
Transfer the chicken onto a cutting board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes so that the juices can reabsorb back into the meat.
Meanwhile, scoop vegetables into a serving dish. Pour excess drippings from the roasting pan into a small saucepan through a strainer. Remove the garlic cloves from the bulb you roasted and add them to the saucepan. Add water, salt, and sugar to the saucepan. Then bring everything to a boil while you stir. To thicken the gravy, mix cornstarch, and water in a small bowl and whisk it into the sauce until it thickens.
You can serve the chicken with just root vegetables and gravy or add a rice or noodle side. Enjoy!
Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Rosemary-Garlic Butter and Root Vegetables
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 3 pounds whole chicken, butterflied and flattened
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 3 teaspoons fresh rosemary (finely chopped), or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1½ teaspoons fresh minced garlic (4 cloves), or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
For the root vegetables
- 5 large carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 2-inch strips
- 5 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 pound brussel sprouts, halved
- 2 large red onions, peeled, trimmed and cut into wedges
- 1 bulb fresh garlic, papery outer layer peeled and 1/4 inch cut off the top
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the gravy
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons water
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the chicken
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Make sure the oven rack is moved to the middle.
- Rinse and pat dry the chicken, then remove the butcher’s twine if present. Turn the chicken, breast side down, and cut along each side of the backbone with a sharp kitchen or poultry shear. Use the neckbone as a guide by cutting on each side of the spine until you have removed the backbone with neckbone attached. Save this in a freezer bag to include it in a broth later. Turn the chicken over and press on the chicken to flatten it.
- Add root vegetables to a heavy-duty roasting pan. Peel the papery outer layer of a whole garlic bulb. Cut a 1/4 inch from the top of cloves with a sharp knife and place the bulb in the corner of the roasting pan on top of the vegetables—season vegetables with salt, ground black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.
- In a small heatproof bowl, melt unsalted butter for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir in salt, ground black pepper, rosemary, garlic, and paprika powder. Brush butter mixture all over the butterflied chicken and place chicken on the vegetables. Make sure the wings are pointing towards the legs.
- Roast chicken and vegetables (uncovered) on the middle oven rack at 400°F (204°C) for 45 minutes or until the chicken’s internal temperature reads 165°F (74°C) when checked with a food thermometer.
For the gravy
- Transfer the chicken onto a cutting board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes so that the juices can reabsorb back into the meat. Meanwhile, scoop vegetables into a serving dish.
- Pour excess drippings from the roasting pan through a strainer into a small saucepan. Remove the garlic cloves from the bulb you roasted and add them to the saucepan. Add water, salt, sugar, and bring everything to a boil on high heat.
- In a small bowl combine cornstarch with water then whisk the slurry into the gravy until it thickens.
- You can serve the chicken with just root vegetables and gravy or add a rice or noodle side.
