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🏠Home » Recipes » 101's Best Recipes

Grilled Whole Chicken on a Gas Grill (No Spatchcock Needed)

Updated: Jun 21, 2025 · Published: May 8, 2024 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 41 Comments

Jump to Recipe
Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Grilling a whole chicken on a gas grill doesn’t need fancy prep or spatchcocking. Just season, brush with butter, and cook it using indirect heat. You’ll get juicy meat and crispy skin—no cutting required.

Grilled whole chicken on a gray plate.
Jump To (scroll for more)
  • 🐓 Ingredients
  • 👨‍🍳Quick Overview: Grilling a Whole Chicken Without Spatchcocking
  • ⏲️ How Long to Grill a Whole Chicken
  • 🧂 Seasoning Options
  • 🔥 Grill Setup for Indirect Cooking
  • 🍗 Related Recipes
  • 🌡️ Recommended Thermometers
  • 🍴 How to Serve Grilled Whole Chicken
  • ❄️How to Store Leftovers
  • ❓FAQs
  • ⚕️Food Safety
  • 📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions

quote mark
Featured Comment by Janice :
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best. Ever. Why would you ever BBQ a whole chicken any other way? No changes to the recipe. Perfect the way it is. Thanks!!"

🧡 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • No spatchcocking needed: Skip the scissors—this method keeps the bird whole and simple.
  • Golden skin, juicy meat: Indirect heat cooks both white and dark meat perfectly—tender inside, beautifully browned outside.
  • Beginner-friendly grilling: No flipping or fussing. Just set it and let the grill do the work.
  • Flavor your way: Use basic salt and pepper, a BBQ rub, or your favorite herb blend.

🐓 Ingredients

Whole chicken with seasoning and butter—labeled.
  • Whole chicken (4–6 pounds): A good size for even cooking. Larger birds may overbrown before fully cooked.
  • Butter (melted): For browning and crisp skin.
  • Seasoning: Coarse salt and black pepper. Garlic powder is a nice touch but optional.
  • Optional: Add dried herbs or a BBQ dry rub for extra flavor.

Required equipment: Grill surface thermometer and an instant-read thermometer—don’t guess on temps.

👨‍🍳Quick Overview: Grilling a Whole Chicken Without Spatchcocking

1. Set-up the grill

Prepare your grill for indirect cooking. Aim for a surface temperature of about 400°F in the indirect zone.

clean and oil grill crates.

2. Prepare and season the chicken

Clean, trim, and pat dry the chicken—do not rinse. Truss the legs and tuck the wings under. Brush with melted butter and season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. We also like to add garlic powder.

shaking seasoning on the chicken.

✅Pro Tip: Trussing (tying the legs together) pulls them toward the center, helping the chicken cook more evenly. Use kitchen twine—it’s made for this job.

3. Grilling the chicken

Grilling Part 1:
Place the chicken on the grill with one thigh angled toward the direct heat. Close the lid and leave it alone for 40 minutes.

chicken on the grill with thermometers.

Grilling Part 2:

At 40 minutes, rotate the bird so the other thigh faces the heat. Brush with more butter, close the lid, and continue grilling until the breast reaches 165°F.

brushing the chicken on the grill after rotation.

4. Rest

Let the chicken rest for 5–10 minutes before carving to keep the juices in the meat.

Whole grilled chicken on a light blue plate.

✅ Pro Tip: Cutting too soon lets juices run out. Letting it rest makes every slice juicier.

👇For complete step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card or keep reading for tips, flavor options, and serving suggestions.

⏲️ How Long to Grill a Whole Chicken

A 5-pound whole chicken will take about 80 minutes to grill over indirect heat at 400°F on a gas grill. Times will vary depending on grill setup and bird size. Pellet and charcoal grills work just as well—if you have room for true indirect cooking and can hold the heat steady.

A spatchcocked (butterflied) chicken will cook in about half the time, thanks to the flatter shape.

✅ Pro Tip: The chicken is safe to eat at 165°F in the thickest parts, but aim for 185°F in the thighs for the best texture. Always use a thermometer—guessing leads to dry or undercooked chicken.

🧂 Seasoning Options

Classic butter, garlic, and salt work beautifully—but chicken is a blank canvas. Add herbs, a BBQ rub, or spice it up your way.

More seasoning ideas:
Rosemary, thyme, lemon-butter blends, or my All-Purpose Seasoning Salt are all solid choices.


♨️ BBQ Whole Chicken

Use a BBQ dry rub like Memphis or Chipotle. Brush with butter, season generously, and serve with your favorite BBQ sauce.


🔥 Spicy Rotisserie-Style

For bold flavor, try this spicy rub after brushing with butter:

  • 4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp each: black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme
  • 2 tsp paprika and sugar
  • Optional: ¼–½ tsp cayenne for heat

🔥 Grill Setup for Indirect Cooking

With indirect grilling, only part of the grill surface is over an active burner (direct side), and the other part (the indirect side) has the burners turned off. This setup gives you the gentle, even heat needed for whole chicken.

Gas grills vary, so check your model. You’ll want a surface temp of 350° to 400°F in the indirect zone. For more help, see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill and How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking.


🌲 Using Wood Chips for Smoke (Optional)

  • Want a touch of smoky flavor? Add wood chips over the direct heat side.
  • Keep the lid closed to trap the smoke during cooking.
  • Use a smoker box, foil pouch, or a dedicated tray if your grill has one.
  • Hickory and applewood pair great with chicken.

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🍗 Related Recipes

Once you’ve mastered whole chicken on the grill, try more bone-in favorites:

  • Oven Baked Whole Chicken – No grill? This is your go-to for indoor roasting.
  • Grilled Chicken Legs – Juicy and flavorful with crispy skin.
  • Grilled Bone-in Chicken Thighs – Easy to season and quick to grill.
  • Grilled Split Chicken Breasts – Tender white meat without drying out.
cooked butterflied chicken on white plate.

Spatchcock Chicken

If you are interested in the Spatchcock technique of flattening and cooking a whole chicken, check out my easy recipe. This will also work well if you want to grill half a chicken.

🌡️ Recommended Thermometers

You can make this work with a grill surface thermometer and an instant-read thermometer—but a two-probe remote thermometer makes it easier. You’ll keep an eye on both grill temp and meat temp without opening the lid or playing guessing games.

🔧 DrDan Tip: Never trust your grill’s built-in thermometer. It’s often off by 50°F or more.

Affiliate Disclosure:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn from other affiliate programs. These links help support the site—but they won’t affect your price.

Smoke remote thermometer

Smoke™ by Thermoworks™

The perfect remote thermometer home cooks—a quality but still economical two probe remote thermometer..
Shop Thermoworks
Red Thermapen One

Thermapen™ One from Thermoworks™

My personal favorite cooking tool. It will make your a better cook today. More expensive but will last for years.
Go to Thermoworks
TP19 from the manufacture..

ThermoPro TP19 Instant Read Thermometer

Fast and accurate instant read thermometer at a lower price perfect for any use.
Shop at Amazon
CDN Grill Surface Thermometer

CDN Grill Surface Thermometer

Cheap and reliable—I still one mine.
Shop at Amazon

These are examples of what I use, but many other great options are available at Amazon or your local big box store.

🍴 How to Serve Grilled Whole Chicken

Let the chicken rest for 5–10 minutes before carving—this helps the juices redistribute so every bite stays moist.

Serve it up with simple sides like Stovetop French Fries, Grilled Baby Potatoes, a side salad, or Grilled Pineapple Slices for something sweet.

❄️How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover chicken in an airtight container—refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Cold slices are great on salads, or repurpose them into basic chicken salad or Waldorf Chicken Salad for a quick meal.

❓FAQs

Why let the chicken rest before serving?

Resting helps juices reabsorb into the meat after cooking. Skip it, and you’ll lose that moisture all over your cutting board.

What temperature should I cook whole chicken to?

Aim for 165°F in the thickest part of the breast for food safety. Always use a thermometer—don’t trust guesswork or grill timers.

Why do the thighs need to be hotter than the breast?

Thighs are tougher cuts and become tender at around 185°F. In this method, they’re angled toward the hotter side of the grill, so they cook faster—and benefit from some extra radiant heat. That lets them hit the ideal temp without overcooking the breast meat.

⚕️Food Safety

Don’t rinse raw chicken—it spreads bacteria around your sink and counters. See Why Not to Rinse Raw Chicken? for more.

The USDA recommends an internal temp of 165°F in the thickest parts for safe chicken. For best texture, aim for 185°F in the thighs and legs.

Don’t stuff the cavity with anything that will be eaten. It must also reach 165°F, which usually means the rest of the bird ends up overcooked.

Always wash your hands before and after handling raw chicken, and store it below 40°F—well away from ready-to-eat foods.

📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions

Grilled whole chicken on a gray plate

Grilled Whole Chicken Without Spatchcocking

5 from 11 votes
From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Grilled Whole Chicken Without Spatchcocking (butterflied or flattened) is juicy and tender with great grilled flavor. This recipe starts with an easy prep, and then you cook the intact, full chicken with indirect heat on your backyard grill.
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings #/Adjustable :6 servings
Print | Pin | Email share | Like and save for later Saved!

Ingredients

US Customary - Convert to Metric
  • 4 pound whole chicken - 4-6 pound range. Bigger will take longer.
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste - Or seasoning of your choice.

Step-by-Step Instructions
 

  • Start with setting up your grill for indirect cooking. Clean and oil the grates. Turn the burners that will be on to full heat and watch the grill's surface temperature. Aim for 350° to 400° in the indirect area—adjust the burners as needed.
    clean and oil grill crates
  • Clean, trim, and pat dry the chicken—do not rinse. Be sure to remove any giblets.
    a whole raw chicken.
  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the microwave and brush all sides of the bird. Save the remainder for brushing the bird during the rotation on the grill. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. We use my All-Purpose Seasoning Mix, which has salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
    shaking seasoning on the chicken
  • Place on the grill with indirect heat, angling one thigh and the leg to the direct heat side. Close the lid, and don't touch it for 40 minutes.
    chicken on the grill with thermometers
  • Rotate the bird at 40 minutes angling the other thigh towards the heat. Give it a brush of butter and continue grilling until the internal temperature of the breast is 165°.
    brushing the chicken on the grill after rotation
  • Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
    cooked whole chicken sliced on plate-3

Recipe Notes

Pro Tips

  1. A good estimate of cooking time is 15-20 minutes per pound. But there is also variability due to the difference between grills.
  2. I suggest a 4-6 pound chicken. You can try bigger, but the skin may get overdone.
  3. Getting the grill set up correctly is the key to doing this right the first and every time.
  4. The grill surface temperature and the internal temperature of the chicken must be monitored. Remote monitoring is suggested but not required.
  5. Never trust a grill hood thermometer, and never cook by time alone.
  6. If you want BBQ whole chicken, use a dry rub to season.
  7. The minimum safe internal temperature for chicken is 165°. Aim for that in the middle of the breast. You will want to have the thighs or legs in the 185° range if you can.

Your Own Private Notes

Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.

To adjust the recipe size:

You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.

Nutrition Estimate (may vary)

Calories : 346 kcal (17%)Carbohydrates : 1 gProtein : 27 g (54%)Fat : 26 g (40%)Saturated Fat : 9 g (45%)Cholesterol : 119 mg (40%)Sodium : 523 mg (22%)Potassium : 274 mg (8%)Sugar : 1 g (1%)Vitamin A : 320 IU (6%)Vitamin C : 2 mg (2%)Calcium : 16 mg (2%)Iron : 1 mg (6%)
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Grilled full chicken, Grilled Whole Chicken, whole chicken on the grill

Originally Published June 11, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

Happy Lilly running in grass.

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  1. John Kennedy says

    May 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    5 stars
    Breast up or down?

    Reply
    • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says

      May 23, 2024 at 6:06 pm

      Hi John,

      Welcome to the blog.

      Breast up positioned with one leg and thigh towards the heat, then halfway though cooking, rotate to the other thigh/leg pointing to the heat still with the breast up.

      Dan

  2. Dale says

    June 18, 2021 at 11:49 pm

    5 stars
    Glad I found this recipe. My wife usually cooks whole chicken in her Japanese steam oven. I wanted to grill today so I loosely followed instructions and it came out perfect.

    Reply
  3. Janice says

    March 24, 2021 at 2:04 pm

    5 stars
    Best. Ever.
    Why would you ever bbq a whole chicken any other way. No changes to the recipe. Perfect the way it is.
    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Arletha Collins says

      August 15, 2021 at 8:24 am

      5 stars
      I like whole chickens and I like to Barbecue I don’t fry good chicken so grilling is best for me,Thanks.

  4. mark jaffe says

    February 12, 2021 at 10:26 am

    I tried this one but the bottom/thighs did not cook. The legs and breast were done and the thighs almost raw. Any ideas about why?

    Thank
    MJ

    Reply
    • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says

      February 12, 2021 at 10:34 am

      Hi Mark,

      Welcome to the blog.

      This would be a temperature issue. Be sure you are measuring the grill surface temperature in that area and not someplace else. I have had a few grill surface thermometers that were just wrong. So a new surface thermometer may be needed.

      Also, be sure you have the thigh angled to the hot side. You may need to angle it more that way.

      Dan

  5. Robert says

    August 10, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for this...I had a whole chicken to cook and really didn't want to heat up my kitchen on a 94 degree day. This was perfect and easily within my skill set.

    I used my 3-burner Ducane propane grill and it worked out so well. I heated the grill on all 3 burners, then turned off the center one and dropped the chicken on the grill over that area. I turned the other 2 burners to a more moderate setting and spread out the wings and legs away from the chicken body.

    Came back in 40 minutes (as instructed), brushed on the rest of the melted butter and let it go another 10 minutes. Checked the temperature and it was perfect. Pulled it off the grill, let it rest a bit, and voila! a perfect bird.

    Again, can't thank you enough!

    Reply
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