Best Grilled Spatchcock Chicken

Why does spatchcocked chicken work for this recipe?

Since spatchcocked chicken is flat, it cooks faster and more evenly. The skin gets completely crispy and every part of the chicken cooks perfectly without drying out. If you’ve been hesitant about grilling a whole chicken on a charcoal grill, this is the way to go. It’s simple, easy and results in a delicious grilled chicken that’s perfectly crispy on the outside and absolutely juicy on the inside.

Grilling on charcoal

While gas grills are very convenient and easy to work with, the flavor that charcoal grill gives meat is truly unique (Have you checked out my Persian style grilled chicken wings? Out of this world good!). Of course, you can make this recipe on a gas grill as well, but my personal preference is for charcoal grill because of the nice smoky flavor that goes deep into the chicken.

This is not your average salt and pepper grilled spatchcock chicken. Every bit of this chicken is flavored with delicious Mediterranean spices. Here is what you need to make a quick marinade for grilled spatchcock chicken:

• Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil always has more flavor.
• Spices: You need garlic powder, salt, sumac, oregano, paprika, all spice, cardamom and cayenne pepper. The amount of cayenne pepper depends on how spicy you like the chicken to be. You can also use seven spice mix or ras el hanout for this recipe.
• Lemon juice: To brighten up the flavors! It’s best to use freshly squeezed lemon juice.

5 tips for grilling spatchcock chicken

1. To make sure the chicken is flavored to the maximum, rub the marinade both on and under the skin. Loosen the skin gently with your fingers without ripping it and rub the meat with the marinade Then rub the rest of the marinade on the skin. As you move your hands on the chicken, the marinade also spreads under the skin. 
2. It’s best to marinate the chicken overnight.. However, if you’re in a hurry, 30 minutes will work just fine. 
3. Make sure the chicken is at room temperature before you put it on the grill. Cold chicken takes longer to cook and might not cook evenly. 
4. Start with grilling the chicken on indirect heat (more on that below) and then char the skin on the direct heat. 
5. When the chicken is ready, let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing so the juices stay in the meat and don’t ooze out. 

How to grill a spatchcock chicken

Marinate the chicken

Mix the olive oil and lemon juice with the spices and rub it under and on the skin of the chicken. Place the chicken in a container and marinade for 4 to 8 hours. However, as noted above, you’ll get most of the flavor by marinating for as little as 30 minutes.

Heat up the grill

Heat the grill to two-zone heating. This means you put all the coals on one side of the grill and keep the other side empty. Now you have direct and indirect heat. Heating up a charcoal grill takes about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Grill the chicken

Place the chicken on the indirect heat first (where there are no coals under the chicken), cut side down, and close the grill lid. Grill for about 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Then grill on the direct heat skin side down for about 10 to 15 minutes for the skin to get crispy and charred. Check to make sure the skin doesn’t burn. Let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing. 

Frequently asked questions

Serving suggestions

I love serving our summer favorites with this grilled spatchcock chicken. Here are a few suggestions:

Salads: fattoush salad, Turkish ezme, Greek salad, tabouli salad, creamy cucumber salad, sumac onions and Turkish tomato salad. 

Rice: Lebanese rice and vermicelli, Greek lemon rice, Persian herb rice and Persian tomato rice. 

Vegetables: Mediterranean grilled vegetables, batata harra, Greek potatoes, Greek style baked fries and Mediterranean potato salad or Ensalada Rusa.