Description
In this exciting whole chicken recipe, you’ll learn how to BBQ a whole chicken with some simple ingredients and simple prep work. This simple recipe uses a simple BBQ marinade, a tasty chicken dry rub, and indirect heat, producing perfectly juicy, tender, and delicious BBQ chicken each time.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Equipment Needed
- A sharp knife or kitchen shears
- Instant-read thermometer
- Wood chips
Ingredient List
- 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Melted Butter (1 stick)
Mop Sauce Ingredients
- 1–quart apple cider vinegar
- 1 can beer
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 16 ounces of barbecue sauce
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Flatten your chicken: Cut your chicken in half to allow the bird to cook evenly. Use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut along the backbone. Once you remove the backbone, cut your chicken in half through the middle of the breastbone.
- Prep the rub: Combine the black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and kosher salt. Next, pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Make sure to apply the dry rub mixture uniformly on the meat, rubbing in the dry rub with your hands. Store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Fire up the gas grill or charcoal grill to 400°F using two zones, and prepare to cook the chicken over indirect heat.
- Place chicken on the grates with the rib side down and allow to grill with high heat for 20 minutes. Baste with butter and close the lid. Continue to cook for 20 minutes before basting with butter again. Mop the chicken skin side with the mop sauce every 10 minutes, flipping the chicken as needed. Allow to grill for an additional 20 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature of the chicken with an instant-read thermometer. Once the chicken reaches 160°F in the thickest part of the chicken, remove from the grill.
- Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. As the chicken rests, carryover cooking should increase the temperature by about 5 to 10°F for a final barbecued chicken internal temperature of 165°F.
- Slice your grilled whole chicken and serve with BBQ sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Rest Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8 ounces
- Calories: 600
- Sodium: 915mg
- Fat: 26.46g
- Saturated Fat: 9.5g
- Protein: 64.26g
- Cholesterol: 198mg