Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

This herb-roasted spatchcock chicken recipe is a full Sunday dinner in one package. From the perfectly cooked, herb-infused, crispy-skinned chicken and the glistening grapefruit-brightened roasted fennel and potatoes, which are nearly collapsing on themselves, to the buttery brioche stuffing, this is a French-inspired celebration to elevate a holiday meal or enjoy on a lazy weekend day.

According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, this dish takes inspiration from French country cooking in its purest form. Butter, herbs, and salt are used liberally, the cooking is low and slow, giving every ingredient a chance to cook to buttery perfection, and the result is a festival of colorful, succulent chicken, vegetables, and stuffing. It's both crunchy and soft, sweet and savory, a melange of textures and flavors that is worthy of a special occasion but that feels wholly comforting at the same time.

This is the kind of dish you put in the oven on a Sunday afternoon to get everyone around the table for dinner. And as everyone cuts into their portions, pouring leftover gravy on their slices of herb-speckled chicken, and spooning every last slice of roasted fennel and juicy grapefruit segment, there is nothing but the sound of clanking cutlery and contented sighs of pleasure.

To make the stuffing that accompanies this elegant roasted chicken, you'll need brioche bread cubes, butter, shallots, chicken stock, eggs, and fresh parsley, along with salt and pepper. The star is a whole chicken that will be spatchcocked and rubbed with softened butter, minced garlic, herbes de Provence, salt, and black pepper. Accompanying vegetables are baby potatoes and fennel bulbs tossed with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper, given a citrusy finish with grapefruit segments. The au jus requires pan drippings, chicken stock, and butter to create a rich sauce. Optional garnishes of fresh thyme and parsley add a finishing touch to this sophisticated one-pan meal.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Toast the brioche cubes on a baking sheet for 10 minutes until golden.

Preheat a skillet with three tablespoons of butter over medium heat.

Add the shallots to the pan and caramelize them until they're deeply golden, 15-20 minutes.

In a greased 9x13-inch baking dish, combine the toasted brioche, shallots, stock, whisked eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

To spatchcock the chicken, place it breast-side-down, cut along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears and remove the bone.

Flip the chicken over and press firmly on the breastbone to flatten it.

Combine 6 tablespoons of butter, garlic, herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper.

Carefully loosen the skin from the chicken breast and thighs.

Spread the herb butter under the skin and over the top of the chicken.

On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes and fennel with olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Arrange them in a single layer.

Place the chicken skin-side-up in the center of the baking sheet.

Roast for 50-60 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165 F in the thickest part of the thigh and the skin is golden brown.

Place the stuffing in the oven alongside the chicken for the final 30 minutes of cooking time.

Remove the chicken and vegetables from the oven, add the grapefruit segments to the vegetables, and toss gently to combine.

Tent the chicken with foil and rest it for 10 minutes.

Carve the chicken and transfer it, along with the vegetables, to a serving platter.

Strain the pan drippings into a saucepan, add the chicken stock, and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce by half, cooking for 8-10 minutes.

Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken with the stuffing, roasted vegetables, and au jus. Top the chicken with more fresh thyme and the stuffing with parsley, if desired.

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This recipe is truly an incredibly sophisticated amalgamation of flavors, but of course, we'd love to see how you make it your own. Don't love grapefruit? Use orange instead. Can't find fennel? Sub it with carrots. The possibilities for customization of each element of this meal are truly endless.

For the stuffing, we often substitute brioche with sourdough, challah, or, if needed, gluten-free bread, and swap chicken stock for vegetable stock to make it vegetarian-friendly when served separately. The herb butter can be customized with different herb blends like Italian seasoning, za'atar, or mixed dried rosemary and sage.

For the vegetables, you can replace fennel with carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, or sweet potatoes. Jerusalem artichokes and celeriac are two lesser-known root vegetable varieties that help keep the French spirit of the recipe. You can also sub the grapefruit for a burst of tart sweetness from dried cranberries or pomegranate arils. The au jus can even be skipped, saving you a bit of effort when making this on a time crunch. Either way, the dish will taste divine!

Spatchcocking chicken often feels like a technique only a chef would know, and plenty of chefs have their own way of doing it. However, at its core, spatchcocking is a simple technique that attempts to solve the fundamental challenge of cooking different parts of the bird evenly.

When you remove the backbone and flatten the chicken, you create a uniform thickness that allows the dark meat thighs and white meat breasts to reach their ideal temperatures simultaneously. This eliminates the common problem of dry breast meat or undercooked thighs.

Spatchcocking also helps to give you that perfect crispy skin all over the entire bird, because it exposes more skin surface area directly to the oven's heat. Spatchcocking also reduces cooking time by approximately a quarter, because the flattened bird has more contact with the hot pan and heat circulates more efficiently around it. The method also maximizes the chicken's contact with the vegetables below, allowing the rendered fat and juices to baste the potatoes and fennel continuously throughout cooking. In short, spatchcocking a chicken can help you solve the mystery of how to roast the perfect chicken in the easiest and shortest time possible. So why not try it?

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