Air Fryer Spatchcock Chicken. An easy take on roast chicken in the air fryer and a delicious alternative to the classic rotisserie chicken. Simple to make, easy to cook and a great family supper.
Air Fryer Spatchcock chicken or Butterflied chicken if that is what you call it where you live is a delicious way to enjoy whole chickens.
Looking through my Mrs Beeton Book Of Household Management there is a section dedicated to spatchcocked chicken. It is described as an economical and fast way to cook chicken and can often be shared with bigger families.
However, we know it a different way. That is because living here in Portugal this is how the famous Piri Piri Chicken is cooked on the barbecue. It is then chopped up into pieces of chicken in a similar way to how you have chicken pieces at KFC.
I was walking from the doctors to the park yesterday with Jorge. He had just been to the doctors for his 18-month vaccines and we were meeting Sofia and Dominic at the park to enjoy the afternoon Portuguese sun. This was back in April when you packed both your umbrella and your suntan cream as you didn’t know what to expect.
Well to our surprise it was sunny.
I walked the 1 mile to the park from the doctors with the son in his pushchair and sun on my back.
I went past the supermarket, the council buildings, the local bars and then finally I hit the smell that drives me crazy when I was nearly at the park. Piri Piri chicken being served for lunch. Served with French Fries and a fresh salad it smelt amazing.
If you want to picture it in your own mind, then it is like Nandos Peri Peri Chicken and just like at Nandos you can serve it with Nandos spicy rice and with other sides of your choice.
Fast forward a few hours and I have chicken spatchcock out of the freezer to cook for dinner, without having the patience for it to thaw out.
That smell clearly gets me obsessing over spatchcock chicken!
Air Fryer Spatchcock Chicken
From a cooking time point of view the spatchcock chicken rules the roost in the air fryer. That is because you can cook a spatchcock chicken from frozen in the same time it takes you to cook a large rotisserie chicken from fresh.
You can season it just like you would with a regular chicken. The only difference is that the way you have bought it, it has been flattened out. This makes it quicker to cook.
We paid 2,20€ for our 0.9 kilo spatchcock chicken before we placed it in the freezer for a future recipe. I am just so pleased that today is the day, as I often get cravings for bone in chicken with a garlic flavour.
To make spatchcock chicken in the air fryer you just follow these simple steps:
#1 Mix your marinade ingredients in a bowl until you have a thick paste
#2 Add the spatchcock chicken to the air fryer and add your marinade
#3 Cook it on both sides for 25 minutes each and serve
- Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Grill Pan
- 0.9 Kilo Spatchcock Chicken
- 1 Tbsp Garlic Puree
- 2 Tsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Mixed Herbs
- Salt & Pepper
- Mix together all the seasonings, the olive oil and the garlic puree until it forms a really thick paste.
- Place the spatchcock chicken in the air fryer on the air fryer grill pan. Using your hands rub the garlic paste over all visible skin so that you have created a good coating.
- Cook in the air fryer at 180c/360f for 25 minutes on each side.
- Serve warm with rice and salad.
We would normally cook our whole chickens in the air fryer main basket. But this time the chicken was longer than usual, and it would only fit in the air fryer grill pan! If your spatchcock chicken is thawed adjust the time to 20 minutes on each side.
Always check that the chicken is cooked before serving, as some air fryers are more powerful than others. When turning your spatchcock chicken over, I find the easiest way and to stop yourself getting burnt, is to use kitchen tongs.
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