EASY Orange-Glazed Spatchco*ck Chicken Recipe — Be Greedy Eats | Where Food Meets Comfort (2024)

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Moist, Juicy, and Full of Flavor

I don’t know about you all, but chicken can get very basic and repetitive. Of course, it is an easy way to go when cooking, but after eating it the same three or four ways I am tired. One of the biggest and most repetitive ways of making chicken is roasting it.

The traditional seasonings and herbs are added and it takes the standard hour and fifteen or thirty minutes. Can you think of anything more boring? Well, I think I have a solution to that problem. My Easy Orange-Glazed Spatchco*ck Chicken is moist, juicy, and full of unique flavors! It definitely took the boring out of my regular weeknight dinner.

Spatchco*cking 101

First of all, some of you are probably wondering what in the world is a spatchco*ck chicken.? I thought the same thing when I first heard the word. I originally thought it was a different cooking method for chicken. But, all it really is butterflying a whole chicken.

This is my favorite way of roasting a whole chicken. Most of the time, traditional roasting will leave with fully moist dark meat and dry white meat. Spatchco*cking produces a fully juicy and moist chicken. Once you do this the first time, you’ll never roast a chicken the traditional way again!

You’ll need a pair of kitchen shears and a sharp knife. I found that kitchen shears work the best when spatchco*cking. The first thing you’ll do is cut the backbone out along both sides of the spine with the kitchen shears.

You’ll then open the rib cage of the chicken. With a sharp knife, you’ll make a small cut down the chicken's sternum. You will hear a slight crack. With both hands, break through the breast bone. Make sure to leave the breast bone in to keep the chicken intact. The chicken will now lay flat, as you can see above.

This process takes no time at all. Plus, you can use the backbone for roasting and stock purposes.

HOW SHOULD I SEASON the chicken?

With any whole bird, seasoning is essential! Making sure that every single part of the bird is fully seasoned will ultimately determine how the bird tastes in the end. I personally stick to one or two salt seasonings. The rest includes spices and ground or powdered seasonings or herbs.

I made this seasoning list pretty simple in this recipe. The list of seasonings is pretty accessible in any grocery store. But, I’ll list some of my favorite salt-based and salt-free seasonings and herbs below.

Orange-Glazed Spatchco*ck Chicken Ingredients:

The ingredients are pretty simple in this recipe; but, let’s still walk through them to understand them.

• Whole Chicken: A 4 - 5 lb chicken will do just fine for this recipe. They are pretty inexpensive as well. Make sure that the skin is on and the giblets are removed

• Cooking Oil: Any simple cooking will work. This will help to keep the seasonings on the chicken (i.e. EVOO, grapeseed, or vegetable oil).

• Butter: Make sure that the butter is softened so that you can easily spread it across your skillet or roasting pan.

• Seasoning Salt & Kosher Salt: I used both of these as my salt-based seasonings. They are my go-to’s. Just be careful to not go crazy with them.

• Ground Black Pepper: You cannot have salt without ground black pepper. Plus, you do not need too much for this recipe.

• Paprika: The paprika really doesn’t have too much of a taste, but it adds such a pretty color to the final product.

• Onion Powder & Garlic Powder: I put onion and garlic powder in everything! They add the extra flavor that I need.

• Cayenne Pepper: We need just a little bit of spice for this recipe. It goes really well with the sweet glaze.

• Italian or Poultry Seasoning: Either of these will work. The herbs add some earthy flavor to the chicken that will really stand out when roasted.

• Yellow Onions & Sliced Oranges: These two make the bed for the chicken. They also add a ton of flavor to the final sauce that is created at the bottom of the pan.

• Orange Juice & Zest: The juice is the base of the glaze. The zest adds an extra bit of vibrancy to the glaze. The sugars from the juice will reduce and create a delicious glaze.

• Soy Sauce: This adds umami to the glaze. That salty component really shows through in the end.

• Brown Sugar & Ketchup: The brown sugar and ketchup add additional sweetness to the glaze. Plus, they will reduce as well as they cook.

• Garlic: The minced garlic adds additional flavor to the glaze. I wanted fresh garlic in order for it to really shine through when the chicken was cooked.

How to Make Orange-Glazed Spatchco*ck Chicken:

Now that we have gotten the ingredients out of the way, we get into actually making this delicious chicken! With all of this extra chicken in my house, I needed to find new ways to make it. This chicken right came out better than I could have ever expected!

The full written recipe is below, but here’s an overview.

• Step 1: Preheat the oven. This should always be your first step when roasting or baking anything. 400 degrees will work just fine for this recipe.

• Step 2: Make the Seasoning Mix. Mix the seasonings together in a bowl and reserve for later use.

• Step 3: Spatchco*ck the Chicken. Place the whole chicken breast-side down with the wings facing towards you. With a pair of kitchen shears, cut out the backbone along both sides of the spine. Open the rib cage of the chicken. With a sharp knife, make a small cut down the chicken's sternum. You will hear a slight crack. With both hands, break through the breast bone. Make sure to leave the breast bone in to keep the chicken intact. The chicken will now lay flat.

• Step 4: Trim & Season. Trim any excess fat off of the chicken. Dry the chicken off completely and flip it on its back. Take half of the EVOO and rub it into the back of the chicken. Season the back of the chicken well. Press the seasonings into the chicken. Then, flip the chicken over.

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• Step 5: Repeat Step 4. Rub the other half of the EVOO into the chicken and season it well. Make sure to season in between all of the parts of the chicken. Press the seasoning into the chicken. Do not rub at all.

• Step 6: Prepare the Skillet or Roasting Pan. Take the softened butter and coat a cast-iron skillet or roasting pan. Lay the onion and orange slices in the bottom of the pan to create a bed for the chicken.

• Step 7: Roast the Chicken. Lay the chicken in the cast-iron skillet or roasting pan breast-side up with the wingtips of the chicken tucked in. Roast in the oven for 1 hour, or until the dark meat of the chicken reaches 165 degrees internally.

• Step 8: Make the Glaze. While the chicken is roasting, combine all of the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepot. Heat the pot on medium-high. Allow the glaze to cook for about 5 - 10 minutes, or until has reduced by ¼.

• Step 9: Baste the Chicken. When the chicken is half of the way cooked, begin brushing the chicken with glaze. Baste the chicken in the glaze and its juices every 5 to 10 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.

• Step 10: Rest & Serve the Chicken. When fully cooked, remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the chicken as you desire. Serve and enjoy!

I’d love to hear your feedback about this EASY Orange-Glazed Spatchco*ck Chicken. Leave me a message in the comments section below. Remember to share and enjoy! Follow Be Greedy Eats on Pinterest and Instagram as well!