Mango & Peach Butterflied BBQ Chicken
A summery chicken recipe that makes the most of summer fruits like mango and peach!
Butterflying and barbecuing is my favourite way to cook a whole chicken because:
- The chicken is flatter with more surface area so it makes cooking time faster. It takes me 40 minutes to barbecue vs 1.5 hours to roast in an oven.
- When you open up a chicken, your marinade penetrates deeper and faster.
- The whole chicken cooks more evenly and you don’t run the risk of over cooked breasts and undercooked thigh like you can with a roast.
- Also when you barbeque, the grills and flames make the skin crispier and charry.
Butterflying a chicken might sound intimidating but it’s really quite simple. All you need is kitchen scissors and 3 minutes and anyone can do it themselves, a butcher is not necessary.
The marinade is an easy ‘chuck everything into a blender situation’ with mango, peach, onion, chilli, garlic, smoked paprika, oil, vinegar, brown sugar and salt that you just thicken and reduce down in a pot. This quantity of marinade in this recipe is enough for at least 3 chickens, so keep the remainder in a jar in the fridge to use up on your next meal.
Serves- 4
Ingredients- 17
Cooking Time- 1.5 hours
Skill Level- Easy
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, I use a Lilydale Free Range
- 3 tablespoons of salt
Marinade
- 1 ripe mango, peeled
- 1 yellow peach, peeled
- 2 small brown onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 red long cayenne chilli, roughly chopped
- 8 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 cup of vinegar
- 1 cup of oil
- ⅓ cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
Method
- Place all of the marinade ingredients into a blender as well as all of the other marinade ingredients.
- Blend until smooth and then transfer to a pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a low to medium heat and cook for 15 minutes until its reduces slightly and thickens. Transfer to a bowl to cool back to room temperature before using. This quantity of marinade is enough for at least 3 chickens, so keep the remainder in a jar in the fridge to use up within a month.
- To butterfly your chicken, flip it so the back is facing upwards to you. Using kitchen shears, cut out the spine/backbone of the chicken by snipping upwards on either side of it. You should be left with 1 long strip of backbone that you can discard or freeze to use for a stock later.
- Then open up the chicken like a book and using a sharp knife, cut down into the breast bone to snap it in half and flatten the chicken. Use kitchen shears to cut out any bones that are exposed or trim any fat you don’t want. This allows the chicken to spread out flat onto your BBQ for even and faster cooking.
- Generously salt the whole exterior and interior of the chicken and use your hands to rub it into the flesh.
- Pour generous spoonful's over the chicken and massage it all over the skin. Allow to marinade in your fridge for a minimum of 1 hour and maximum of 24 hours.
- Heat your BBQ and then place your chicken on the grill section and cook for 15 minutes on each side with the lid closed on medium heat (around 200 degrees celsius). Open the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes on high heat to get extra char marks on the chicken. Brush some extra marinade over the chicken whilst it cooks. You could also oven roast your chicken for 30 minutes at 200 degrees celsius fan forced and then turn it up to 230 for the last 10 minutes to get extra browning.
- Add the optional corn onto the barbeque once you flip your chicken (15 minutes into the cook). To make a basting sauce, mix 1 tablespoon of the marinade into 2 tablespoons of melted butter and brush a little at a time on the corn whilst it cooks.
- Transfer to a platter allowing the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving with rice and or a salad between 4 people.
If you are looking for more Chicken Recipes, you can find some of my favourites below;
Love this recipe and trying it on the weekend. What size chicken do you use here?