Spiced Lemon Spatchcock Chicken

Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven’t planned your Christmas dinner yet, I have the perfect recipe for you if you want to try something simple and don’t like to eat turkey.

A couple tips before you start 🙂

  1. To get the best flavour, do all of your preparation the night before so that you can leave the chicken to marinade for as long as possible. The longer the better! I usually leave it for a full 24 hours.
  2. Make this recipe your own by adding the sides that YOU like. You can make it more Christmassy by adding roasted potatoes and blanched green beans or keep things simple with a salad.

I hope you enjoy it!

Spiced Lemon Spatchcock Chicken

Recipe by Nelma
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg Whole chicken

  • 1 tbsp Olive oil

  • Juice of half a lemon and lemon rind

  • 2 tsp Ground coriander

  • 1 tsp Fennel seeds, crushed

  • 1 tsp Turmeric

  • 1 tsp Cayenne pepper

  • 2 cloves of garlic

  • 1-2 shallots, minced

  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  • Cut the chicken like a butterfly, remove the backbone, clean the chicken and pat dry with kitchen paper towel and then put it aside.
    Note: If you’re not sure how to butterfly a chicken – check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRrNNabVpw
  • Mix the olive oil, lemon, spices and shallots together in a small bowl.
  • Brush the lemon mixture all over the chicken, cover with cling film and leave it in the fridge to marinade for between 1 – 24 hours – the longer you can leave it the better the flavour.
  • When you’re ready to cook, grill or bake the chicken bone side down on a medium heat or 180c for 35 – 45 minutes.
  • Tips
  • Tip 1: Spoon all the juices that form from the chicken marinade over the top of the chicken as it’s grilling or baking – perhaps 4-5 times during baking/grilling time. You’ll need to have patience with this part but it’ll be worth it.
  • Tip 2: If you’re grilling the chicken, you can add extra orange or lemon slices on top of the chicken while it’s cooking. It’s very delicious!

Notes

  • Keeps for leftovers for 2-3 days.

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