How to: Butterfly a Chicken

Butterflying a chicken will speed up the cooking time of a whole bird and give you impressive looking meals.  It may seem daunting, but trust me – you can do it!

Here’s what I did:

Remove the neck and giblets, then place the chicken breast side down. Using kitchen shears or a very sharp knife, cut along the backbone from one end to the other.

Take out the entire back bone.  I know it looks gory, but it’s really not that bad.

Then, flip the bird over so it is breast side up and spread as open as possible.  Place both of your palms in the center of the bird and press down firmly until you hear the rib bones crack and the bird is laying flat.

There, you did it!

Use your favorite rubs or marinades to cook up your butterflied bird.  Try my Grilled Cornish Hens with Lemon-Thyme Butter for starters!