Spatchcocking a bird involves removing the backbone before flattening out the breasts and legs. It’s an old way to speed-up the cooking time of poultry and game as it allows the heat to pass more evenly around the bird, ensuring that the legs cook as quickly as the breasts… it also means that it’s the perfect technique for air-frying. Here, a 4 lb chicken is spatchcocked and a spice rub is applied before being roast in the air-fryer; this size of chicken should be suitable for the best air-fryers, but if you have a larger fryer then you can, of course, cook a larger bird. The result is wonderfully moist chicken with a crisp, spicy skin. We made this using the Nuwave Brio Air Fryer.

To spatchcock the chicken, place the bird breast-side-down on a sturdy chopping board and, using a sharp knife or a pair of scissors, cut from the rear cavity up to the neck cavity along either side of the back bone. This will remove a strip approx. 1 ½ inches wide from the back of chicken. Once the backbone has been removed, gently press down on the bird to flatten in out.
Mix the oil and lemon juice and rub it all over the chicken.
Mix the remaining dry ingredients and rub them over the chicken too.
Preheat the air-fryer for 3 minutes at 425°F (220°C). Place the chicken in the air-fryer and roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C).
Remove the chicken and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
Directions
To spatchcock the chicken, place the bird breast-side-down on a sturdy chopping board and, using a sharp knife or a pair of scissors, cut from the rear cavity up to the neck cavity along either side of the back bone. This will remove a strip approx. 1 ½ inches wide from the back of chicken. Once the backbone has been removed, gently press down on the bird to flatten in out.
Mix the oil and lemon juice and rub it all over the chicken.
Mix the remaining dry ingredients and rub them over the chicken too.
Preheat the air-fryer for 3 minutes at 425°F (220°C). Place the chicken in the air-fryer and roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C).
Remove the chicken and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Hello there, my name is Tracey Allen from New York. I am a cooking enthusiast and a restaurant industry veteran. I have been spreading my passion for air fryers and simplified cooking with colleagues and friends for close to a decade. If you have any questions about air fryers, air cooking or healthy cooking feel free to contact me on the contact page.
Recipe seems to be missing some info. After roasting at 425 for 20 minutes, recipe says to reduce temp to 350. But, it doesn’t say how to cook at 350.
When looking at total cooking time I deduced there was 15 minutes left to cook at 350. Hope I’m right cause I’m cooking this later today.
The total cook time (shown above in the recipe) says 35 minutes, so my guess would be, 425* for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350* flip and cook an additional 15 minutes.
My guess would be as shown on recipe above, the total time is 35 minutes. So, 425* for 20 minutes, flip and reduce the temperature to 350* and bake an additional 15 minutes.
The cook time says 35 minutes total, so roast another 20 minutes at 350
The cook time says 35 minutes total, so roast another 15 minutes at 350
I believe the recipe means preheat 3mons at 425, degrees the. reduce to 350 and cook 20mins. Tried it and it’s perfect.
My air fryer only goes to 400°
What do I do?