Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe (2024)

LAST UPDATED: January 26, 2023 • FIRST PUBLISHED: July 5, 2019 • 4 Comments

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This grilled greek spatchco*cked chicken recipe is so full of flavor – lemon, dill, garlic – it’s just so delicious! Plus, it’s an easy gluten-free dinner recipe. And don’t be afraid of the grilling or spatchco*ck aspect of the recipe. It’s one of the easiest grilling recipes on the blog!

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Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe (1)

Easy grilled Greek spatchco*cked chicken recipe

I know I share a lot of chicken wing recipes, but today we’re going to focus on cooking up the whole bird! I’ve found that the secret to cooking a whole chicken easily is to spatchco*ck it. Spatch-what?? Spatchco*ck is a fancy word – that’s actually an abbreviation of the phrase ‘dispatch the co*ck’ (we’re talking birds here) which simply means to split open the bird down the back and flatten it out into essentially two halves.

I’ve found that when cooking a full chicken in this fashion it helps create a more even cook throughout the entire bird and ends with tender, juicy meat. I’ll walk you through the spatchco*cking process below and share some kitchen tools I recommend to make it an easy process.

Ingredients needed

Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe (2)

For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

1 whole chicken – fresh or thawed
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
lemon slices

How to make grilled Greek spatchco*cked chicken recipe

To start, 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.

Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe (3)

How to spatchco*ck a whole chicken

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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, (step 2 in the image above) cut down the other side of the spine to the tail until you can fully remove the neck and spine. (see step 3 in the image above)
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)

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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.

Recipe FAQs

What is the difference between spatchco*ck and butterfly?

They’re both terms for the same thing. Butterfly is a more common, or slang, term for spatchco*ck. They both mean to remove the spine and flatten the bird.

How long do you cook chicken on a grill?

I recommend following the recipe, but you want to cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Cooking times will vary based upon the size of the chicken and the temperature of the grill.

How do I grill with indirect heat?

The key to grilling with indirect heat is to keep your heat source to the side of your food rather than directly underneath it. Traeger grills only provide indirect heat. With gas and charcoal grills, you’ll need to keep your heat source to one side of the food you’re grilling.

Alternative Oven-Baked Option

If you don’t have a grill and would still LOVE to try this recipe, here are cooking directions for oven-baked Greek spatchco*cked chicken:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the marinated chicken onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
At 160 degrees F. – flip the oven to the broiler setting and cook under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Be sure to watch closely as to not burn the chicken. If your oven does not have a broiler setting – simply skip this step and cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Once the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. remove from oven and let rest.

Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe (8)

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For cutting poultry, I recommend a good pair of kitchen shears like these Heavy Duty Cooking Scissors.
For marinading a whole chicken, you could simply use a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag or a BPA-free brining bag.
The Meyer lemon olive oil makes the marinade in this recipe, so don’t skip this step! Be sure to use the code “wander” at checkout for free shipping.
I know these guys are expensive, but I cannot recommend a Traeger grill enough. We were hesitant to purchase at first, but now I can’t imagine grilling with anything else. Cooking on a Traeger is almost equivalent to cooking in the oven. No flame flare-ups, no lighting and hoping your face doesn’t catch on fire, no running out of gas mid-grill. I’m so glad we invested in our Traeger because it has made grilling super easy for me!

Make it a meal!

Lemon Garlic Hasselback Potatoes
Gluten-free Peach Galette
Strawberry Rosé Spritzer

Grilled Greek Spatchco*cked Chicken Recipe

Yield: 6

This grilled greek spatchco*cked chicken recipe is an easy summer grilling gluten-free dinner that's full of flavor and ends with a trendy juicy chicken to share with your family.

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

Instructions

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 spatchco*ck 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 grills are indirect heat, so 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

Notes

I do not recommend using a frozen chicken for this recipe.
Cooking time at 375 degrees F. should be right at one hour.
Nutritional Disclaimer

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