- Prep15 min
- Cook45 min
- Freezer friendlyyes
Split chicken is a whole bird pressed flat, so it roasts evenly and carves in minutes. This one gets a garlic, lemon and saffron marinade, then a chunky herb salsa spooned over the top.
It’s a more-spoons dinner as written: raw chicken, a blender and a roasting tin. Ask the butcher to butterfly the bird, open a jar of garlic, and buy a herb sauce if the salsa is one job too many. Same dinner. A lot less wrestling.
Can I manage this today?
- Spoon rating: 🥄🥄🥄 More-Spoons (new to spoon ratings? Here’s what spoon theory is)
- Hands-on time: about 20 minutes. The 30 minutes of marinating and about 45 minutes of roasting are hands-off
- Main effort: drying and coating a whole raw chicken, then lifting a hot roasting tin
- Chopping: none with a blender and food processor. Peeling 8 garlic cloves is the fiddly bit, and jarred garlic skips it
- Standing and attention: a few oven checks to baste and cover the tin. Prep can be done sitting at a table
- Washing up: blender jug, food processor bowl, roasting tin and a chopping board (plus kitchen shears if you butterfly it yourself)
Quick spoon check
- No-spoons version: not this one. It involves raw chicken, so there’s no assemble-or-heat route
- Low-spoon version: butcher-butterflied chicken (or chicken pieces), jarred garlic, a ready-made herb sauce, a lined tin and frozen veg on the side
- As written: butterflied chicken, fresh garlic, homemade marinade, homemade herb salsa
Kerry’s notes
Straight up: this isn’t a low-spoon dinner as written, and I’d rather say so than pretend. I’d still make it, because the butcher does the hardest part and the oven does the rest.
Do the marinade the day before if you can. Coat the chicken, cover it and pop it in the fridge. Overnight gives you more flavour, and on the night all that’s left is the roast and the salsa. Line the tin with baking paper or foil before the chicken goes in, so the washing up is a non-event.
Cook to the thermometer, not the colour. Chicken that looks done and isn’t done makes for a long night.
Swapping the fat (ghee, tallow, olive oil) shifts the macros a bit. Leigh will want to tell you exactly how much, so I put the kettle on first.
Why this recipe works
- The marinade is one blend and one spread. No fiddly stages.
- The salsa is fresh and sharp, which balances the richness of the marinated chicken.
- The marinade and the salsa can each be simplified on their own.
- A butcher-prepared bird removes the most physical step.
- Bagged or frozen sides turn it into a full dinner without more cooking.
Ingredients at a glance
- Whole chicken: the main protein and the heaviest job. Buy it already butterflied if you can
- Garlic, cumin, cayenne and saffron: the warm, savoury base of the marinade. Cayenne adds gentle heat, saffron adds an earthy flavour and golden colour
- Lemon juice: adds acidity to balance the richness. Bottled works if squeezing lemons is too much
- Ghee: carries the spices and coats the chicken
- Tarragon, parsley and dill: the base of the green salsa
- Olive oil: loosens the salsa and carries the herb flavour
No Spoon Swaps
Shortcuts are legitimate ingredients. Here’s why we treat convenience ingredients as accessibility tools.
- Butcher-butterflied chicken: skips the cutting and the raw-chicken handling. Ask when you order
- Bone-in chicken pieces: no butterflying at all. Cooking times will change
- Jarred crushed garlic: skips peeling 8 cloves. Use 8 teaspoons. The flavour is slightly milder
- Bottled lemon juice: skips squeezing. The flavour is a little flatter
- Ready-made spice blend: skips measuring four spices. The flavour will differ from the cumin and saffron version
- Ready-made herb sauce (chimichurri or salsa verde): skips buying three bunches of herbs and washing the food processor. Check the label for allergens
- Chopped herbs with kitchen scissors: skips the food processor. The salsa is more rustic
- Lined roasting tin: baking paper or foil means no scrubbing
- Basting: keep it for now. A no-baste version hasn’t been tested
Substitutions and allergens
- No saffron: leave it out. It changes the flavour
- No fresh tarragon: use 1½ tablespoons of dried
- No fresh herbs at all: a ready-made chimichurri, salsa verde or herb dressing replaces the salsa
- No ghee: butter, tallow, olive oil or avocado oil
- Less heat: use less cayenne, or leave it out
- Texture: blitz the salsa briefly for chunky, or longer for smooth
Allergen notes
- Milk: ghee is made from milk and may not suit someone with a milk allergy
- Packaged spices, jarred garlic and ready-made sauces: check labels for allergens that matter to you
- Gluten and cross-contact: the basic ingredients don’t normally contain gluten, but packaged products vary, so check the label each time you buy
Equipment and easier alternatives
- Ask the butcher to prepare the chicken
- Use a lightweight roasting tin
- Sit at a table for measuring and prep. A microwave-safe Pyrex measuring jug is handy for the marinade
- Put the roasting tin on the open oven door or a heatproof surface before you lift the chicken
- Use a ready-made herb sauce to skip the food processor
- Line the tin to cut the scrubbing
Storage, freezing and reheating
- Fridge: keep the chicken and the salsa in separate, clean, sealed containers for up to 3 days
- Freezer: the cooked chicken freezes well. Make the salsa fresh when you need it, as it’s better that way
- Reheating: reheat only the portion you plan to eat, until it’s steaming hot all the way through. Don’t reheat leftovers more than once. Thaw in the fridge or on the microwave defrost setting, never on the bench
Serving ideas
- Bagged salad
- Microwave vegetables, frozen green beans or steam-in-the-bag broccoli
- Ready-made coleslaw
- Microwave cauliflower rice
- Leftover roasted vegetables
- How much veg and fat you add is between you and Leigh’s keto macro calculator
Frequently asked questions
What does “split chicken” mean?
A whole chicken that’s been butterflied, also called spatchcocked. The backbone is removed and the bird is pressed flat. It’s an even thickness, and more of the skin is exposed to the heat.
Can I ask the butcher to butterfly the chicken?
Yes, and it’s the easiest option. It saves the cutting, the grip strength, the raw-chicken handling and one board to wash. For more shortcuts like this, there’s our low-spoon grocery shopping guide.
How do I butterfly it myself?
Only if it feels safe and manageable.
- Put the chicken breast-side down on a stable chopping board.
- Cut along one side of the backbone with strong kitchen shears.
- Cut along the other side.
- Remove the backbone.
- Turn the chicken breast-side up.
- Press firmly on the breastbone until it lies flat.
- Tuck the wing tips behind the breasts.
Can I use chicken pieces?
Yes. The cooking time will change with the cut, the size and whether there’s bone.
Do I need both a blender and a food processor?
No. You may be able to make both in one appliance, but wash the bowl thoroughly after the raw-chicken marinade. The easiest option is to blend the marinade and use a ready-made herb sauce.
Is it dairy-free?
Not as written. Ghee is made from milk. Swap in olive oil or avocado oil if you need to avoid milk, and check any packaged ingredients.
Split Chicken with Herb Salsa (Butcher Does the Wrestling)
Equipment
- Roasting tin
- Blender
- Food Processor
- Chopping Board
- Sharp Knife
- Kitchen tongs
- Clean food thermometer
- Strong kitchen shears, only if butterflying the chicken yourself
- Foil
- Baking paper
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken butterflied (1.8–2.2 kg)
- 8 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (60 ml)
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 pinch saffron threads (about 20)
- 80 ml ghee (about ⅓ cup, melted), or a good quality animal fat
- ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Herb salsa
- 3 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves (or 1½ tbsp dried)
- 3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 tbsp fresh dill
- 250 ml olive oil (about 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Instructions
Before you start
- Heat the oven to 200°C fan-forced.
- If you're butterflying the chicken yourself, do it now, before you make the marinade (steps are in the post FAQ).
- After handling raw chicken, wash your hands with soap and water.
- Wash the chopping board, shears and benchtop with hot, soapy water before you make the salsa.
Make the marinade
- Put the garlic, lemon juice, cayenne, cumin, saffron, ghee, ¼ tsp salt and a pinch of pepper in the blender.
- Blend until it's a smooth paste.
- Taste, and add a little more salt only if you want it.
Marinate the chicken
- Pat the chicken dry all over with paper towel.
- Spread the marinade over the whole chicken.
- Cover the chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Overnight gives a stronger flavour.
- Don't leave the raw chicken to marinate on the bench.
Roast the chicken
- Line the roasting tin with baking paper or foil.
- Put the chicken in the tin, skin-side up.
- Pour over any marinade that ran off while it marinated.
- Roast for 25 minutes, basting at the 10 minute mark and again at the 20 minute mark.
- Loosely cover the tin with foil.
- Roast for another 15–20 minutes, until the thickest part of the thigh reads at least 75°C on a clean thermometer, with the probe not touching bone. Check the breast too if the chicken is large.
- Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, loosely covered to keep it warm.
- Carve it or pull it apart.
Make the herb salsa
- Put the tarragon, parsley, dill, olive oil and lemon juice in the food processor.
- Pulse 3 to 5 times, until it's a chunky sauce.
- Stir in ¼ tsp salt and a pinch of pepper, then taste.
Serve
- Spoon some salsa over the chicken.
- Put the rest of the salsa on the table.
- Serve with a veg or salad you can manage today.
Notes
Nutrition
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A final spoon-saving note
Give it a go on a day with a few spare spoons. Ring the butcher, grab the jarred garlic, buy the bagged salad. The oven does the heavy lifting. And if the herb salsa is a step too far, spoon a ready-made sauce over the top. Dinner’s still sorted.
