Beer Can Whole Grilled Chicken

Beer Can Whole Grilled Chicken is a fun way to cook chicken. You need a beer can chicken stand to do this. The stand along with the can of beer and chicken legs helps support the chicken on the grill, and the beer helps keep the chicken moist while grilling. I don’t taste a lot of beer flavor in the chicken but if this is a concern of yours, you could easily swap out the beer for a can of pop – any cola flavor will work well. Coca Cola or Dr Pepper seem to be the most popular, but I bet you could get a hint of citrus flavor if you used Mountain Dew.

The recipe can be found here.

Preheat the grill to 350 – 375 degrees F. If you have an upper rack in your grill, remove it before preheating because the chicken will not fit with the upper rack. Try to keep the heat within this range while grilling, for more consistent cooking.

Pour out 1/4 – 1/2 of the can of beer (or pop). Place the can in the chicken stand.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. You want to use a chicken that is about 4lb but it’s OK if it’s slightly larger. You’ll just have to adjust the cook time. Place the chicken on the chicken stand.

Optional – rub the chicken with the seasoning of your choice.

I find it easiest to place the chicken stand on a baking sheet and use that to transport the chicken to the grill. It’s more stable and sanitary than carrying it by hand.

Place the chicken stand on the grill. You want to use indirect heat so it’s best to keep the outside burners on and turn off the center burners. If you grill over direct heat, you chance the legs or wings catching fire! Alternatively, you could place the chicken stand on a grill pan and that would help prevent burning. Lots of options so do what you are comfortable with!

Grill for 60-75 minutes, checking occasionally. Adjust the temperature of the grill if it starts to drop or if the chicken is starting to burn / char. You want the chicken breast to be 165 degrees F.

Also optional, but when the chicken is close to being done, brush with BBQ sauce. Let the chicken continue to cook and baste occasionally until cooked through (165 degrees F).

Carefully remove from the grill and let rest on the counter for about 10 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute. Make sure to use hot pads or you’ll burn your counter!

Use tongs / forks / hot pads to remove the chicken from the chicken stand. Slice the chicken and serve warm with extra BBQ sauce on the side for dipping.

The recipe can be found here.

It’s SO easy and SO good! This is one of the only ways we will grill chicken. It’s a full meal and usually provides leftovers. We sometimes eat the chicken as is and sometimes we make little sandwiches. Pair it with some potato salad or pasta salad and you have yourself a nice little picnic!