How to Butterfly a Chicken

Wanna learn how to butterfly a chicken? Here are easy step-by-step instructions with photos on how to do it!

Roasted chicken is one of the simple comfort food pleasures that most people love. But for those who don’t know how to do it, it can be intimidating. It’s why precooked rotisserie roasted chickens can be found at most grocery stores nowadays. The beauty of the rotisserie is the spinning of the chicken as it cooks allowing for even cooking and eliminating dry breast meat and underdone leg and thigh meat. But learning out to butterfly a chicken is the simple trick of just removing the chicken backbone, often called spatchcocking, means you can flatten the chicken, which allows for an even heat distribution on all the chicken, without having to rotate it. Here are easy step-by-step instructions on how to butterfly a chicken:

Step 1. Lay the chicken upside down with the backbone facing up.

Step 2. Using kitchen scissors, cut down one side of the chicken next to the backbone.

Step 3. Once you’ve cut one side, cut down the other side of the chicken backbone, freeing the backbone from rest of the bird. Discard the backbone or freeze it in a big ziplock bag for making stock.

Step 4. Flip the chicken over so the breast side faces up and firmly press down on the breast to flatten the bird. You may hear a snapping noise, that’s normal.

Rub the chicken with whatever herbs you want, or just plain salt and pepper and then roast it! For an average 3 1/2 pound chicken, it should only take 30-45 minutes at a preheated oven of 450˚F. Fast right?