Beer Can Butt Chicken
Beer Can Butt Chicken has been a regular staple in my weekly rotation for at least 10 years – more than likely it’s way longer than that. It is so easy and the chicken comes out juicy every time!
We make it all year long and almost every single week. For us, we almost always have leftover chicken so it also makes another easy meal during the week. If you’re looking for a great recipe for leftover chicken try Chicken-a-la-king – it’s a one pot, comfort classic!
Cooking a whole chicken may sound intimidating, but please let me assure you that beer can butt chicken is so, so easy! Impress your family and friends with this healthy, delicious and juicy chicken (most kids get a kick out of the chicken standing up on the grill lol).
The bulk of the work for beer can butt chicken is in prepping your chicken for the grill. The cooking time is mostly hands free.
Before you start to prep your chicken, turn on your grill to allow it to heat up to 375 degrees. We have a 3 burner grill, so we light the left and middle burner to get the grill good and hot. When I’m ready to put the chicken I will put it over the unlit burner over indirect heat. So whatever your grill situation is, you will want to cook your chicken over indirect heat to avoid flare ups.
First, you’re going to want to throw out the contents in the cavity of the chicken, which usually contain the neck, giblets etc. Then, rinse your chicken under cold running water. Make sure to rinse inside the cavity and move the wings and the legs around to get everything rinsed good.
Pat your chicken dry with paper towels. I line a plate with paper towels in advance to make this step easier. Wash your hands before moving on to the next step.
Seasoning. I try to use one hand to handle the chicken and the other to season. Whatever you do, if your hand touches the chicken, wash it before moving on to something else.
First, you’ll want to generously season the inside of the cavity of your chicken with salt. Two good sized pinches will do – one for the upper side of the cavity and another for the bottom of the cavity.
Next you’ll want to season the outside of your chicken. Start with the breast side facing down and drizzle olive oil over your bird. Fully coat the chicken with olive oil.
Holding your hand about 6 inches above the bird sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. As far as other spices go, my go-to for beer can butt chicken is usually garlic powder, however, I change it up depending on what sides I have planned for that night. Sometimes I use greek seasoning, rib rub, taco seasoning, jerk seasoning. Chicken is so versatile you have a world of choices.
Flip the bird over so the breast side is facing up and repeat sprinkling with salt, pepper and whatever wonderful seasonings you choose.
For the beer in beer can butt chicken, you can use any beer you like to drink. I usually use a light beer. Remove about ⅓ of the beer from the can. Smash 2 cloves or garlic and drop them in the can. Next take your sprig of rosemary and put it through the opening of your can so it’s sticking out of the can.
Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for…put the beer can in the butt of the chicken so that your chicken is standing straight up. We’re ready to place it on the grill.
Place your chicken over indirect heat on your grill and set a timer for 1 ½ hours. You can turn your bird half way through cooking to crisp the skin evenly.
Temp your chicken by inserting a digital read thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. When the thermometer reads 165 the chicken is ready.
Let your bird rest on the counter for 30 minutes before carving. I tent mine with foil.
Don’t forget to save your chicken bones to make chicken stock! It’s easy and healthy. It also saves money not having to buy chicken stock.
A note on thermometers for temping meat: we really like this simple, inexpensive digital thermometer we got on Amazon.
Enjoy!
Beer Can Butt Chicken
Ingredients
- 5-7 pound whole chicken
- garlic powder
- Kosher salt
- course ground black pepper
- 1 can light beer whatever you have in the fridge
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to between 375 and 400 degrees
- Rinse your chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels
- Drizzle your chicken with olive oil and rub it all over to make sure the chicken is coated
- Season generously with garlic powder, Kosher salt and pepper
- Empty about 1/3 of a can of light beer, stuff the garlic clove into the beer can and the rosemary sprig so it is sticking up out of the can
- Put the can up the chicken's butt so the chicken stands up straight
- Place your chicken over indirect heat on your grill for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a digital thermometer reads 165 degrees
