I’ll make this quick. You will never create better grilled beer can chicken than this.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 1 whole grilled chicken |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 (4 pound) whole chicken, rinsed and dried
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or more as needed
- ½ (12 ounce) can beer (such as Budweiser®)
Instructions
- Combine onion powder, salt, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and brown sugar in a small resealable plastic bag and shake the bag to mix the spices. Pour spice mix into a small bowl.
- Make 2 cuts in the chicken skin, on front and back of chicken; insert your hand underneath the skin in front and back and loosen and separate skin without tearing it. Rub the chicken skin and cavity with vegetable oil, and rub the spice rub over the chicken skin, inside the cavity, and beneath the loosened skin.
- Preheat grill for medium heat.
- Place the beer can on the preheated grill and sit the chicken onto the beer can. Grill until chicken is thoroughly browned, the juices run clear, and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the breast, not touching bone, reads at least 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 429 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 129 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 42 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 1291 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Everyone loved the seasoning! I used a Temp Spike meat thermometer and had to turn my grill to low to have it cook for 1 hr. Medium on my grill would have only cooked for 30 minutes. Grill temp was about 230F if I remember correctly. Potato stuffed in the neck was a great idea. Having a partner around to open doors to the house/grill is nice because your hands are covered in seasoning.
Wonderful flavor. I did mine in the oven. Had no propane for the grill. I didn’t have any light beer so subed chicken broth. The drippings were fabulous. I served them with the chicken. So yummy. I will definitely be making this. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
The cooking part is easy but the rub? Delicious!
Delicious!
Excellent and juicy! Put a potato in the neck as previous reviews mentioned
I’ve made this recipe 3 times. It’s excellent. I’ve also tried some of the other beer can chicken recipes on here but this one is the best. Be careful to not put too much of the rub under the skin as it can overpower the flavor with too much spice, other than that, it’s very easy. I use a meat thermometer and let it reach 165 with the indirect heat cooking method. Well done Clay!
Great recipe! Use the leftovers to make a pot pie, it’s delicious! Veggies, potatoes (cream of potato soup works too), chicken, pie crusts. Yum!
Simply amazing! I don’t use cumin or cayenne pepper and I reduce the paprika and slightly increase the rest – still the best! Definitely use an onion in the neck. I cook it in a beer can chicken wok thing and use the extra spice mix and some oil over some carrots, sugar snap peas and peppers and cook them in the wok for the last 15-20 minutes. Love it!
I made this using the exact recipe, and it turns out tender, moist, and delicious every time. I put the remaining spices in the can before it goes in the grill.
This. Was. Awesome!
Unbelievably good! Nice kick to it. A little difficult on a charcoal grill, keep it cooking and watch the meat thermometer. It fell off the bones and was so moist. Looking forward forward to having friends over for it next time. Give it a try!
Used 5lb. chicken and cooked just a little longer. Swwet onion fell out of the neck cavity, but chicken was very moist and tender.
Good eatin’! Just the right amount of spice if you like a little kick. Comes off the grill extremely moist. Never any leftover. I set it in a shallow pan on the grill for easy clean up.
Was great, very moist and flavorful!
Awesome!!
Wow!!!!! This chicken is amazing! I made it two days ago and it was so simple! The rub is OUTSTANDING and agree with others who have rated this recipe – it is a great rub. I did use only 1 tsp of cayenne pepper as I didn’t want it to overwhelm the other spices. It was perfect! The skin was crispy and the meat was juicy. Even my son, who is somewhat picky, said it was delicious. If you have left overs, try to get some of the rub on the inner parts of the breast by placing it against other pieces that still have skin on. I put all the little pieces together and smothered them in any remaining juices on the serving platter! Yummy!!!! Definitely a keeper for our family and a great dish if you’re having guests!!!
Made this again last night — fantastic as always! I cleaned and rubbed the bird in the morning (only used about 1/2 of the rub), then put it in the fridge for 4-5 hours. When I lit the grill (set for med-high heat), I put the chicken on the can/stand (treated with cooking spray). I applied leftover rub to any bare spots on the chicken, and stuck a wad of foil in the neck cavity. After preheating for 10-15 minutes, I put the chicken on the grill and left it on med-high (about 400-425F) for 5 minutes to crisp the skin, then turned down to medium-low (about 300-325F) Took about 1-1/2 hours to cook this 5-lb bird to perfection. Leftover meat makes the best chicken salad evah!
Delicious!
Made it tonight and it was a hit. I was thinking the spice mixture had too many ingredients in it, but I pretty much followed it and it was very good. I ran into an issue using cheap briquettes, but was able to finish the bird off with a gas BBQ that is part of my outdoor cooking set-up. I used Bud Light Lime beer, but I think just about anything would be good as the liquid steams up through the cavity. I’ve used Dr. Pepper before and it was good as well, but I think its the rub that sets this off. Whatever rub you choose, getting it under the skin (I used toothpicks to stitch the skin back together) and inside is key. I let mine set after the rub for about 1.5 hours before I set it on the grill. I also used a digital remote thermometer and tracked it to 165 deg. Pulled the bird out of the BBQ and let it set for 10 mins. Spectactular!
I followed the recipe for the rub, but left out the cayenne since my family has a low heat tolerance. I rubbed the chicken down, covered it, and let it sit in the fridge while I was at work. Since I’m a novice homebrewer, and had a batch of Sunset Pale Ale ready, I used it as the beer, and shoved an onion in the neck. I placed it on a half cooking sheet, set it on the preheated grill, and cooked it for an hour and a half at 350 and it came out perfect. The skin was crispy, and the meat was moist and flavorful. I’d skip the microbrew next time though. I don’t think the flavor of the beer added anything. Next time, like a previous reviewer suggested, I’ll put a twig of rosemary in a light beer like Bud or Coors.
I didn’t care too much for it.