Peruvian Spatchcock Chicken with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
Servings
4
Total time
1
hourSpatchcock. Weird word, wonderful technique. Cutting the backbone out of the chicken allows for quick cooking and for 100% of the skin to be exposed and that means golden, brown crispiness. Our Peruvian Chicken Blend brings in smoky, spicy flavor and gorgeous color. Serve it with this Creamy Cilantro Sauce for dipping.
Leftovers? Not sure how that’s possible, but this chicken, pulled from the bone, makes for great sandwiches especially with the cilantro sauce to dress things up.
This recipe was featured in Smidgen Podcast, Episode 1. Subscribe to our podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify for anywhere you get podcasts.
Ingredients
1 chicken, backbone removed
Salt
Instructions
- Using kitchen shears or a knife, remove the backbone from the chicken. Turn the chicken and flatten. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and Peruvian Chicken Blend. If time allows, do this early in the day or, even better, the day before, and hold in the fridge. This dry brining of the chicken has multiple benefits: even cooking, better browning and improved flavor through and through.
- When you’re ready to roast the chicken, heat the oven to 450°F. Rub Pecan Oil on both sides of the chicken, and place the chicken, breast side up, in a cast iron skillet. Tuck the wing tips under the wings. The drumsticks should be turned inward.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes or until deeply golden brown. Keep an eye on it so that the edges don’t burn. Once the chicken is golden brown and the skin is starting to look crispy, reduce the heat to 325°F and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked throughout. If the chicken is getting too brown, tent with foil. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh registers 165°F.
- Allow to rest for about 15 mins and carve. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Sauce.
2 Comments
I love making this recipe, but I feel like there’s some sort of Mandela effect afoot here. I see in the ingredients, it lists “salt”, but I don’t see it being mentioned again anywhere in the recipe.
I could have sworn at some point that I was supposed to pat the bird dry and salt it and leave it in the fridge the night before to kind of dry out so that the skin would be extra crispy in this recipe… but that whole part is missing, too.
Did I accidentally combine/confuse two separate recipes, or is there a chunk of directions missing? What are we supposed to do with the salt?
Hi Genevieve. No Mandela effect in effect! We recommend dry brining or early salting for nearly every protein. In addition to that info missing, there were some other issues with the recipe. It’s all fixed up now! I love that you’re making this recipe. It’s from our archives and definitely worth a freshen up! Thanks for letting us know – and big thanks for the review!