The easiest way to grill a whole chicken is just tossed on the grill—no need to cut the backbone out and break bones. There is no real secret. As Thoreau said, "simplify, simplify."
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A delicious chicken with great skin, very moist, and almost no work.
This a very dependable recipe you can do over and over once you learn your grill, it leaves the chicken intact without cutting up or spatchcocking (butterflying) the chicken.
It is a basic recipe that can be seasoned to your taste, but great with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Adaptable to most grills that are big enough for indirect grilling.
Check out other whole chicken recipes starting with Grilled Butterflied Chicken AKA Spatchcocked, Oven Roasted Chicken with Gravy, and Alabama BBQ Chicken. Or check out some other grilled skin-on-chicken recipes, starting with Grilled Chicken Drumsticks, Grilled Chicken Thighs, and Grilled Split Chicken Breasts.
This recipe is featured in Memorial Day Recipes, Fouth of July Recipes, and Labor Day Recipes roundups.
🐓Ingredients
- Whole chicken 4-6 pound range
- Butter
- Seasoning coarse salt and pepper or seasoning of your choice.
👨🍳How to Grill a Whole Chicken Without Spatchcocking
- Set up the grill for indirect cooking with a grill surface temperature of 350° to 400° in the indirect zone.
- Clean, trim, pat dry a whole chicken, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Then brush with butter and sprinkle on seasoning.
- Place on the grill with indirect heat, angling one thigh and leg to the direct heat side. Close the lid, and don't touch it for 40 minutes.
- Rotate the bird at 40 minutes angling the other thigh towards the heat. Give it a brush of butter.
- Continue grilling until the internal temperature of the breast is 165°—a total cooking time of about 80 minutes.Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
✔️Tips
- Use a chicken in the 4-6 pound range. Do not do this with a very large chicken or small turkey. Bigger will need to cook longer to finish the meat and may overcook the skin. You can try, but be sure the final internal temperatures are correct.
- It is a great basic recipe that is ultra simple. There is no fancy this or that: no brine, stuffing things under the skin or inside, and no smoking. You can do those things if you want.
- If you want a BBQ whole chicken, give it a light brushing of your favorite barbecue sauce about 5 minutes before the finish. And a nice BBQ rub will be a good addition.
- My recommendation for seasoning is a nice brushing of melted butter along with salt and pepper to taste. In my house, garlic is also required, so I went with my 7:2:2 seasoning. You can modify the seasoning to your taste.
♨️Grill setup
This recipe depends on indirect cooking, which sets up two zones of heat on the grill, one with direct heat and one with no heat under it. The chicken is cooked in an area of the grill with no heat while the other burners are turned on. Grills will vary how you do indirect cooking.
On the grill surface, you need the indirect zone in the 350° to 400° range. Never depend on a thermometer in a grill hood; you need a grill surface thermometer of some type.
Please see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for a more detailed discussion of grill temperature. And How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking where indirect grill setup is discussed in more detail.
Temperature monitoring
While you can do this with just a grill surface thermometer and an instant-read thermometer, some remote thermometers will help you maintain the grill temperature.
I used the Thermoworks Therma Q Blue (This is an affiliate link, meaning I make a small amount from your purchases. Your price is not affected by this commission.)
🔥Spicy Seasoning option
This is what I call a "spicy rotisserie chicken" spice option. This spice rub is packed with flavor.
Mix 4 teaspoons of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, 2 teaspoons of paprika, and sugar. Optional ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Apply after brushing the chicken with butter.
❓FAQs
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 is how we grill things like pork butt or beef brisket—also used in this whole chicken recipe.
The legs are tied (trussed) to bring them towards the center of the bird, leading to more even cooking.
The minimum safe internal temperature for chicken is 165°, according to the USDA. Aim for that in the middle of the breast. You will want to have the thighs or legs in the 180° range if you can.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo 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°. Adjust the burners as needed.
Clean, trim, and pat dry the chicken. See my discussion on Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? Be sure to remove any giblets.
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 7:2:2 seasoning, which has salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
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.
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°.
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Recipe
Grilled Whole Chicken without Spatchcocking
Ingredients
- 4 pound whole chicken - 4-6 pound range. Bigger will take longer.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 7:2:2 seasoning or just coarse salt and pepper - Or seasoning of your choice.
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°. Adjust the burners as needed.
- Clean, trim, and pat dry the chicken. See my discussion on Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? Be sure to remove any giblets.
- 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 7:2:2 seasoning, which has salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- 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.
- 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°.
- Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- A good estimate of cooking time is 15-20 minutes per pound. But there is also variability due to the difference between grills.
- I suggest a 4-6 pound chicken. You can try bigger, but the skin may get overdone.
- Getting the grill set up correctly is the key to doing this right the first and every time.
- The grill surface temperature and the internal temperature of the chicken must be monitored.
- Never trust a grill hood thermometer, and never cook by time alone.
- This works better if you have a method of monitoring the chicken and grill surface temperature without opening the lid repeatedly.
- If you want BBQ, brush on some sauce about 5 minutes before the bird is done.
- 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 180° range if you can.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published June 11, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Dale
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.
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!!
Arletha Collins
I like whole chickens and I like to Barbecue I don’t fry good chicken so grilling is best for me,Thanks.