There is plenty of crispy golden skin to appreciate on this butterflied roast chicken with lemon and rosemary. The chicken cooks more quickly and evenly when the backbone is removed using a knife or kitchen shears, and the breast meat doesn’t dry up. Grilling butterflied chicken is particularly tasty.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, backbone removed
- kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 lemon, sliced into rounds
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- ½ cup white wine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil. Place a rack on top of foil.
- Rub olive oil on both sides of chicken and generously season with salt and black pepper. Arrange lemon slices and rosemary on the rack and place chicken, skin-side up, onto the rack.
- Roast in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 55 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Transfer chicken to a serving platter and tent a piece of aluminum foil over it. Discard lemon and rosemary and remove rack.
- Pour wine into the baking pan and gently loosen the bits of food in the pan with a wooden spoon, being careful not to tear the foil. Strain pan juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil; cook until sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken.
- Chicken broth can be used in place of white wine.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 283 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 114 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 178 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Loved this recipe! Super easy and very delicious!
I used a 5 lb chicken and it was delicious. The chicken was nice and crispy. And the gravy was yummy, thanks to the wine!!
I think butterflying/spatchcocking is the best way to cook a chicken. Cooked for 50 minutes and let stand for 10 minutes during which time the temperature rose a bit more to get to 165 degrees. I salted it on top of and under the skin with kosher salt and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to draw out the moisture for the crispiest skin. It’s important to use a young 3-4 lb fryer versus an older/heavier roasting hen which will turn out stringy and tough due to the short cooking time.
So bland. No go.
I think this recipe works better with a smaller bird. I like how simple and flavorful this recipe is. Don’t be afraid to remove the backbone of a chicken. It’s easier than it seems.
The best roast chicken recipe anywhere. Easier than whole roast chicken and more accessible carving meat. Punished young son once by saying if you don’t pick up your room no roast chicken. Clean room!
The thigh/drumstick were great, but the breasts took way longer. I had hoped the butterflying would do the trick to equalize cooking times, but I did have a 5+lb bird, so I don’t know about a true fryer.
After reading the reviews I decided to make this in a cast iron skillet. Great flavour in the drumsticks and thighs but the flavour didn’t come through in the breast meat and no one cared for the flavour of the drippings, perhaps it was my lemons but it was very bitter. Thanks for sharing.
Very tender chicken, evenly cooked throughout. One change: I don’t cut out the backbone — too messy — I just make one cut through the back and flattened out the chicken with the backbone cooking still attached on one side.
This was delicious…super easy…and hubby had extra servings until he couldn’t eat anymore! Definitely do again!
I love this recipe but only gave it 4 stars because the aluminum foil makes it impossible to get all of the good drippings. Use an iron skillet with a round rack and then you can transfer the chicken to a plate and make the sauce in the skillet on the stove.
BEST CHICKEN RECIPE EVER!!! I’m sort of new to the roasting chicken thing, and instead of a whole chicken I used chicken quarters, but I did everything the recipe called for and THEY WERE JUST AWESOME!!
Delicish! Used broth not wine. Big hit! Thanks!
We found the chicken to be bland and there was very little to work with to make the sauce. Also the lemon and rosemary didn’t come through at all. The baking method is different though. I might try that again but with the meat seasoned differently.
Put a few extra touches added celery, carrots, onions and garlic underneath chicken and rubbed a butter rosemary lemon mix under skin. The family absolutely loved it, my daughter said it was the best rotisserie style chicken she ever ate!
I will never cook whole chicken any other way. Butter flying it was simple. This is terrific, easy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I didn’t change a thing.
This recipe was excellent! My family said it was the best whole chicken I ever made! The only change I made was I used fresh thyme and I placed lemons and thyme on the top of the chicken. A keeper!!
I love this dish and I think it’s my husbands favorite, he thinks I spoil him something awful, when actually this is one of my easiest dinner offerings. I fix it exactly as you do until “skin-side up on a rack” because I don’t use a rack, instead I slice one large onion, 2 smashed garlic cloves, slice lengthwise 2 carrots, and two celery stalks.and a couple of rosemary sprigs under the chicken as well as two on the top. I lay these in a pan to create a bed for the chicken, then proceed as above. When it’s time to remove the chicken I discard the aromatics and then drain the pan juices for a wonderful sauce either with broth or wine. Sometimes at the beginning I will strew around the edges of the chicken 1 dozen new red potatoes, don’t throw these out with the aromatics just tuck them close to the chicken while it’s “resting” and awaiting it’s sauce. Experiment with the herbs too in your aromatics, like a TBS of oregano sprinkled over them, the flavor will come up to the chicken while cooking.