Spatchcock Chicken with Squash
This Spatchcock Chicken with Squash is a family favorite fall dinner. Crispy skin, juicy and flavorful meat served with buttery squash and tender potatoes. It’s a one-pan chicken dinner perfect for the whole family and impressive enough to serve during the holidays.
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Why This Recipe is So Good
No marinating or lengthy prep required. This crispy roast spatchcock chicken is prepped, seasoned, and thrown into the oven in under 20 minutes. The compound butter adds sooo much flavor to the chicken and vegetables – it’s such a must for this spatchcock chicken recipe.
Juicy whole roasted chicken every time. Often, when roasting a whole chicken, the white meat dries out by the time the dark meat is cooked through, so that’s why spatchcocking is the perfect cooking technique. The backbone is removed, allowing the whole chicken to cook evenly and ensuring that the white meat is perfectly tender and juicy.
The blend of fall squash and fingerling potatoes is perfection. The squash is soft and buttery flavored with chicken juices and the potatoes are tender and fluffy.
Recipe Ingredients
- Whole chicken – You’ll need a 3 ½ – 4lb whole chicken. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before prepping and roasting. This will make spreading the butter easier, and everything will cook at an even rate.
- Compound butter – This is a blend of softened butter and herbs and spices like ground paprika, dried thyme, granulated onion and garlic.
- Squash – I used a mix of honeynut squash, acorn squash and delicata squash. Feel free to swap it out for your favorite fall squash or add brussels sprouts, carrots or pearl onions for a different flavor.
- Potatoes – Fingerling potatoes or some other small potatoes work so well in baked chicken dishes. They soak up the juices, taste amazing, and easily makes this a one-pan dinner.
How to Make Spatchcock Chicken with Squash and Potatoes
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Make compound butter
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together softened butter, kosher salt, black pepper and seasonings until combined, then set aside.
Spatchcock chicken
Remove giblet packet if included, then pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place it onto a clean cutting board breast side down. Use a sharp pair of kitchen shears to cut out the backbone. (Keep the spine to make Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Broth). Flip the chicken back over, breast side up. If it doesn’t lie flat, use the heels of your hands to press the breast down until it cracks and the chicken is flat.
Spread butter all over chicken
Use your fingers to loosen the skin all around the breast, legs and thighs. Wearing kitchen gloves, spread the compound butter all over the chicken, including under the skin.
Bake
Once the whole chicken is covered in compound butter, place the chicken breast-side-up into a large baking dish or 15-inch cast-iron skillet. Cover the skillet with a large piece of parchment paper and aluminum foil, then bake for 1 hour. Arrange squash and potatoes under and around the chicken. Bake for another 30 minutes covered. Increase the heat, then continue baking until the skin is crispy golden brown.
Serve
Allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 – 15 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute back into the meat. Slice your roasted spatchcocked chicken and serve with squash and potatoes. Enjoy!
Looking For More Recipes?
- Spatchcock Lemon Herb Butter Chicken with Fingerling Potatoes
- Herb Butter Spatchcock Cornish Hen
- Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken with Potatoes
- Cajun Cornish Hen
- Oven-Roasted Whole Duck Recipe
- Chicken Fried Chicken with Homemade Pan Gravy
- Smothered Chicken Wings
- Pan Seared Boneless Chicken Thighs with Homemade Gravy
- The Best Crispy and Juicy Fried Chicken without Buttermilk
- Sheet Pan Turkey Sausage with Fall Squash and Potatoes
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Spatchcock Chicken with Squash
Equipment
- 15-inch cast-iron skillet or large baking dish
- Parchment paper and aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 3 ½ – 4 lb whole chicken free range and organic
Compound butter
- ½ cup butter softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
Vegetables
- ½ small Honeynut squash seeds scooped out, cut into large chunks
- ½ small Acorn squash seeds scooped out and cut into large chunks
- ½ small Delicata squash seeds scooped out and cut into large chunks
- 1 lb fingerling potatoes rinsed and cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make compound butter
- In a medium mixing bowl, add softened butter, kosher salt, black pepper, dried thyme, ground paprika, cayenne pepper, granulated onion and garlic. Stir until combined, then set aside.½ cup butter, 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon ground paprika, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon granulated onion, ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
Spatchcock chicken
- Remove giblet packet if included, then pat chicken dry with paper towels. Place it onto a clean cutting board breast side down. Use a sharp pair of kitchen shears to cut out the backbone of the chicken. (Freeze and save to use for chicken broth or stock later). Try not to cut too much of the meat when cutting out the backbone.3 ½ – 4 lb whole chicken
- Rinse out any giblets or debris, then pat the chicken dry again with paper towels.
- Flip the chicken breast side up. If it doesn’t lie flat, use the heels of your hands to press the breast down until it cracks and the chicken is flat.
- Use your fingers to loosen the skin all around the breast, legs and thighs. Wearing plastic gloves, spread the comppound butter all over the chicken, including under the skin. Add a bit of butter under the skin and then use your hands to press and spread the butter down to the legs or other harder-to-reach areas of the bird.
Bake
- Once the whole chicken is covered in butter, place it breast-side-up in a large baking dish or a 15-inch cast-iron skillet. Cover the skillet with a large piece of parchment paper and aluminum foil, then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
- Arrange squash and potatoes under and around the chicken, then bake for another 30 minutes covered.½ small Honeynut squash, ½ small Acorn squash, ½ small Delicata squash, 1 lb fingerling potatoes
- Remove the parchment paper and aluminum foil, then increase the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for an additional 15 – 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is golden brown.
- Allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 – 15 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute back into the meat. Slice spatchcocked chicken, then serve with squash and potatoes. Enjoy!
Notes
How To Store/ Make Ahead
Reheat covered in the oven so it remains juicy. To freeze: wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then store in a freezer-safe bag to freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen, covered so the meat doesn’t dry out in the oven.Tips and Tricks
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator at least 30 – 45 minutes before baking to ensure even cooking. And it will be easier to spread the butter on the chicken if it isn’t super cold straight from the fridge.
- Butterflying the chicken is done by using a pair of sharp kitchen shears to cut along the spine to remove the backbone of the chicken. It’s not hard to do, but it’s important to have sharp shears to make the process easier. Also, try not to cut away too much of the meat when cutting out the backbone. Alternatively, you can ask your butcher to butterfly or spatchcock the chicken for you.
- Add the squash to the chicken in the last 30 minutes of the cooking time if you want the squash to have a firmer texture. As written, the squash will turn out very soft.
- Butter: Make sure to use room temperature softened butter. It will make it easier to spread on the chicken.
- Wear plastic gloves if you don’t like touching raw meat. Plastic gloves are especially helpful when spreading the butter on the chicken.
