I love roast chicken, but it can be hard to find the time to make it. I usually spend a couple of hours prepping, basting, etc. Roast chicken is definitely a weekend type of meal around here. Then I read about spatchcock chicken and how this simple technique cuts down on cooking time. I was beyond intrigued. It looked easy enough and promised to cut the roasting time down significantly. I must try this!
Spatchcock chicken turns into a one-pan meal once you add roasted potatoes and asparagus.
The Ingredients
I chose this recipe because it had a short list of ingredients and made a complete meal in 1 pan. It sounded perfect for a weeknight meal, and that’s exactly when I made it. The chicken was the most expensive item at $6.54 for just under 4 pounds. A nice size for the 2 of us with guaranteed leftovers for lunch the next day.
The Process
I never imagined the words ‘easy’ and ‘roast chicken’ in the same sentence, but that’s exactly what this was. The instructions are easy to follow, and I didn’t have too much trouble spatchcocking my chicken. Even with sharp kitchen shears some of the ribs were tough to cut through, but I just needed 2 hands to breakthrough. The original post even links to a short video so you can see how it’s done.
I did deviate slightly from the recipe when it came to the potatoes. The red potatoes I bought seemed very large, so I quartered them instead of just halving them. That worked out well, though the cut sides did stick to the sheet pan more than the skinned sides.
This recipe took me 15 minutes to prep and 1 hour to roast for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes. I think it’s amazingly quick for a roast chicken, let alone a complete meal. And the result was a golden brown chicken with perfectly roasted vegetables. My husband and I loved it!
