Spatchcock chicken grilled and then smothered in pico de gallo and tomatillo sauce is a fantastic summer recipe. A whole chicken is butterflied open and then combined with the smoke of a charcoal grill and freshness of seasonal tomatoes, lime, and cilantro!
Looking for a quick grilling chicken recipe that has a touch of smoke from charcoal smoke, but still tastes fresh from tasty pico de gallo. Then read on how this grilled chicken recipe will have your guests asking for seconds.
Ingredients for pico de gallo
Spatchcock Chicken Grilled
Why butterfly a chicken open? Simple butterflying a chicken and taking out the back bone greatly increases grilling time. This is the perfect style for a quick simple meal on the kettle grill.
What is Pico De Gallo?
During the summer months take advantage of the fresh ingredients this season has to offer. Use fresh picked summer plum tomatoes and fresh garlic that hasn’t been sitting on a market shelf all winter long.
Pico de Gallo
Pico De Gallo combines the following…
- 3 diced plum tomatoes.
- the juice of two limes.
- salt to taste.
- a pinch of granulated sugar.
- two chopped green onions.
- A handful of chopped fresh cilantro.
The longer you let it sit covered and let the flavors come together, the better. Hopefully, you can leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Tomatillo Sauce
While you are combining those ingredients for the pico de gallo you can put together the tomatillo sauce as well.
- Roast 4 tomatillo peppers and 2 cloves of fresh garlic in the oven at 400 degrees F for a 1/2 hour.
- Once done roasting for a 1/2 hour, combine with a handful of cilantro, small onion slice, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, the juice of one lime and puree.
Last step before the spatchcock chicken goes on the kettle grill is to stuff fresh chopped parsley and cilantro under the chicken skin and season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.
Why butterfly open the chicken?
Biggest reason to butterfly open the chicken is cutting down on grill time. The chicken lays flat on the grill grates and speeds up the grilling process
How to grill Spatchcock chicken?
Fire up your charcoal and get it nice and hot on 1/2 the grill. Leave the other half of the grill open which is where the chicken will lay on the grill grates.
Once hot lay the chickens down with the skin side up away from the direct heat and cover the grill with the kettle lid. Rotate the chicken towards the charcoal after 30 minutes and check the temp.
Check the thickest part of the chicken for internal temperature. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you should bring the chicken up to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. With bone in chicken, I prefer to bring it up to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember, by butterflying the chicken and removing the backbone, you can lay the chicken flat on the grill allowing for more of the surface area of the chicken to cook which reduces the time needed to grill so keep an eye on the birds. Should take about 50 minutes.
Top with the pico de gallo and tomatillo sauce.
Grilled Spatchcock Chicken with pico de gallo and tomatillo sauce.
If you like this recipe for Spatchcock Chicken Grilled then check out these other awesome chicken recipes from Sear Marks!
Grilled Chicken with Shawarma Seasoning and Aleppo Peppers
Yogurt Marinated Chicken Skewers
Spatchcock Chicken Grilled
Spatchcock chicken grilled and then smothered in pico de gallo and tomatillo sauce is a fantastic summer recipe. A whole chicken is butterflied open and then combined with the smoke of a charcoal grill and freshness of seasonal tomatoes, lime, and cilantro!
Ingredients
- 2 medium sized whole chickens
- For Pico De Gallo.
- 3 diced plum tomatoes.
- the juice of two limes.
- salt to taste.
- a pinch of granulated sugar.
- two chopped green onions.
- A handful of chopped fresh cilantro.
- For Tomatillo Sauce
- 4 tomatillo peppers.
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic.
- handful of cilantro.
- small onion slice.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
- juice of one lime.
Instructions
For Pico De Gallo combine.
3 diced plum tomatoes.
the juice of two limes.
salt to taste.
a pinch of granulated sugar.
two chopped green onions.
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro.
For Tomatillo Sauce.
Roast 4 tomatillo peppers and 2 cloves of fresh garlic in the oven at 400 degrees F for a 1/2 hour.
Once done roasting for a 1/2 hour, combine with a handful of cilantro, small onion slice, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, the juice of one lime and puree.
For chicken
Lite and heat charcoal on one side of kettle grill.
Stuff chopped parsley and cilantro under chicken skin.
Place chicken on grill grates on indirect heat skin side up.
Close lid.
Check internal temp after 1/2 hour then rotate chicken.
Grill to an internal temp of 175 degrees F.
Remove and serve.
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