Food for Blog: Simple Roasted Chicken

Long before I knew how to butterfly a chicken I would toss a whole roaster in the oven and it would turn out alright.  Now I have requests for my chicken all the time.  It's kind of my go to when I'm not sure what to make or I need something fast to make.  You read that correctly, when I need something fast to make.  There are two ways to butterfly a chicken.  The first way is to simply remove the backbone, the second is to remove the both the backbone and the ribs/breast bones.  I just do the first option and remove the backbone only.  It has made my chicken go from blah to juicy and delicious.  You can do it too!


Prep time:  10 minutes or less (I'm down to less than 5 min)
Cook time:  20 minutes per pound, usually about 1 1/2 hours

What you need:

• Whole chicken
• 13x9 baking dish
• Foil (optional, I've found that it makes clean up a lot easier)
• Paper towels
• Kitchen Shears
• Olive oil
• Optional:  salt, pepper, minced garlic, bay leaf

                                                                     Instructions:

The key to making this easy is how you prep.  Turn your oven on to 350 degrees.  Place your trash can under your sink to the side of where you will stand.  Cover your baking dish in foil and place it next to the sink.  Grab about 4 paper towels and set them in the baking dish.  Grab your spices and oil and set them next to the baking dish.  Put your chicken in the sink and grab your kitchen shears.  Now you're ready.

Cut open the chicken bag and rinse your chicken off.  Grab the chicken by the tail bone and cut down the backbone.  There will be crunching sounds, keep going!  Turn your chicken around and cut down the other side to finish removing it.  Finish rinsing off the chicken and grab your paper towels.

 Pat it dry and set it in the dish, arranging it the way you want it.  Push down and make the chicken flat so that it will cook as evenly as possible.  I make this the last time I'm going to touch it so I only have to wash my hands once.  Now you can toss the bone, bag and paper towel in the trash right next to you.  Because you moved the trash can right next to you there is no gross dripping all over the floor.  Wash your hands.  Drizzle olive oil and your spices and toss it in the oven uncovered. 




Easy and delicious!  Butterflying my chickens has made all the difference in how juicy they are.  I never have dry chicken anymore.  Don't want to make it because you'll have leftovers?  Let me show you what to do with them!  My next Food for Blog posts will cover chicken leftovers.

You might also like:

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Chicken Bruschetta

The Best Chicken Enchiladas