This grilled Greek spatchcocked chicken is such an easy yet delicious summertime grilling recipe. It’s full of flavors like dill and lemon - especially using Olive Tree’s Meyer lemon olive oil in the marinade. It makes for an easy dinner at home or a gorgeous dish to serve your guests.
Don’t let the “spatchcock” part scare you away from this recipe. In the recipe post I share step-by-step photos on how to easily spatchcock your whole chicken. I find that by doing this it allows the bird to cook more evenly, resulting in a tender, juicy chicken. I’ve also included grilling instructions for pellet, gas, and charcoal grills. I’ve used all 3 with this recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Olive Tree Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp. dried Oregano
- 1 Tbsp. fresh or dried parsley
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1 whole chicken – fresh or thawed
- lemon slices
Serving size – 6 Prep time – 90 minutes Cook time – 60 minutes
Directions:
- In a small bowl blend the Greek marinade. Add the lemon olive oil, lemon zest, minced garlic, Oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, and dill to a bowl and stir to combine. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade for later.
- Next, you’ll spatchcock the chicken. To start, place your fresh (or thawed) bird onto a sheet of parchment paper. During this process, you can either use your bare hands or wear kitchen gloves, whichever you prefer. Always remember to wash your hands thoroughly after working with raw poultry before handling any other food.
- Lay the whole chicken back side up, so that you can see it’s neck and spine.
- Find the end of the neck and feel where the spine flows from neck to tail. You will be removing this spine.
- Using kitchen shears, begin to cut down one side of the spine, cutting through any bone. The bones should be small, and you should be able to cut through them easily. They will get a little harder to cut through towards the tail, but with a little force (or the help of your partner) you should be able to cut all the way through.
- Next, cut down the other side of the spine to the tail until you can fully remove the neck and spine.
- Then, gently flip the bird over and turn the thighs out. You can also press down on the breast of the bird to flatten it out further. (see step 4 in the image above)
- Place the whole chicken into a storage bag and pour the marinade into the bag. (Remember to reserve 1/4 cup for later) Add the lemon slices and place the bag into the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- After the chicken has marinated for an hour, it’s ready to grill. You’re going to want to grill the chicken at a temperature around 375 degrees F. and in indirect heat.
- Traeger or pellet grills will only indirect heat, set the temperature to 375 degrees F. and place the bird skin side up onto the grill.
- For gas grills, heat both sides of the grill until the temperature reaches 375 degrees F. (or set to medium). Then, turn one side of the burners off and place the bird skin side up onto that side, keeping the other side on.
- For charcoal grills, once the grill has heated up to around 375 degrees F., push the charcoals over to one side or to the back and place the bird skin side up on the opposite side of the hot coals.
- Grill until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Then, move the bird to direct heat, flip to skin side down, and cook until it reaches 165 degrees F. (about 5-10 more minutes).
- Once the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. remove from the grill and let rest for about 10 minutes. Brush with the reserved marinade and serve