Dry Brined Butterflied Roasted Chicken

Dry brined with herbs, this butterflied roasted chicken is super flavorful and juicy! Using the spatchcock technique allows for even cooking in less time than a traditional roast.

Nothing is better than filling your home with smells of a fragrant roasted chicken. I especially like cooking the bird on a hearty bed of root vegetables, similar to my lemon and herb roasted chicken recipe. It’s a full meal all in one! But I wanted to try a few new techniques to make an even more flavorful meal.

As the holidays are approaching I feel like this year’s culinary buzz words for cooking your poultry are dry-brine and spatchcock, aka butterflied. Both of these preparation and cooking techniques are designed to save you time in the kitchen while adding flavor and even cooking.

Allowing your poultry to sit in a saltwater brine or dry brine sprinkled on the surface helps slightly break down and loosen the muscle fibers, which in turn causes less contraction of the proteins when cooked, and less moisture is lost. During the process of brining, moisture can be absorbed into the muscle fibers, resulting in a juicier bird.

After reading more about dry brining, I decided to try a salt herb dry brine. The salt added directly to the surface of the chicken at first draws out the moisture through osmosis, the salt is dissolved in the liquid, then gets reabsorbed, creating concentrated salty goodness! Wet brines can leave the chicken flavor a little more diluted than dry brining.

I made a dried herb (oregano, thyme, and bay leaves) and salt mixture, then liberally sprinkled it on the surface and inside the cavity of the chicken, and wrapped it in plastic wrap for 24 hours. I then rinsed the surface of the chicken and dried very well before removing the backbone.

To get an even crispier skin, you can allow the brined chicken to air dry in the refrigerator with skin exposed about another 24 hours before roasting. Dry brining is not for the salt averse, the savory flavors come through, and it’s terrific yet strong.

Now for the cooking… Spatchcock or butterflied preparation is mostly cutting the backbone out of the poultry. This technique allows you to open up and flatten out the bird, evenly exposing the entire chicken to the roasting temperatures in the oven. What does this mean? Shorter cooking time and even cooking of the breast and thighs. No more dry meat, yay!

A little muscle and grit to remove the backbone, and you’re all set! If you become a fan of this method, heavy-duty kitchen shears to more easily remove the backbone may be an excellent investment.

Combining these two techniques are a winning team! You can serve this butterflied roasted chicken with your favorite holiday sides like mashed potatoes, green beans, or sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon, yum!

Dry Brined Butterflied Roasted Chicken

Dry brined with herbs, this butterflied roasted chicken is super flavorful and juicy! Butterflying the chicken allows for even cooking for less time.

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4.80 from 20 votes

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 5 pound whole chicken
• ▢ ¼ cup kosher salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• ▢ 3 dried bay leaves, finely crumbled
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil

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Instructions 

• Combine salt, oregano, thyme, ground pepper and crumbled bay leaves.
• Dry the outside and inside of the chicken. Evenly sprinkle skin and cavities of chicken with salt mixture, about 2 tablespoons inside, and the rest rubbed onto the outside of the bird.
• Wrap chicken in plastic wrap and place in a large plastic bag. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Set wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, set aside.
• Remove chicken from plastic. Rinse inside and out; pat dry with paper towels.
• Using sharp kitchen shears, remove spine from chicken, cutting along the spine from the neck down to the tail. Discard the backbone.
• Flatten chicken by placing skin-side up on a cutting board and applying firm pressure to the breast bone.
• Transfer chicken to the wire rack and position it so that breasts are aligned with the center of a baking sheet and legs are close to the edge. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Set oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 400°F.
• Rub chicken on all surfaces with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Lightly season with freshly ground black pepper.
• Roast until the thickest part of breast registers at least 160-165°F using an instant-read thermometer and the joint between thighs and body registers at least 165-170°F, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Equipment

• Cooling Rack
• Poultry Shears
• Instant-Read Thermometer

Notes

• For a crispier skin, you can refrigerate the butterflied chicken on a sheet pan on top of a wire rack uncovered, for 24 hours.
• If you like a saltier chicken, butterfly the chicken first then season with salt just on the surface of the skin (breast, thighs, and wings), but not on the cavity. Refrigerate uncovered on a sheet pan on top of a wire rack for 24 hours, then roast (do not rinse). You want to season generously, but not have a thick salt crust.
• MAKE IT WHOLE30: Use extra-virgin olive oil, and use sea salt for kosher salt.

Nutrition Facts

Serves: 6 servings

Calories 662kcal (33%)Carbohydrates 0.4gProtein 56g (112%)Fat 48g (74%)Saturated Fat 12g (60%)Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 267mg (89%)Sodium 547mg (23%)Potassium 9mgFiber 0.2g (1%)Sugar 0.01gVitamin A 2000IU (40%)Vitamin C 9.1mg (11%)Calcium 10mg (1%)Iron 4mg (22%)

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.