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If you’ve ever wondered how to cook a whole chicken on the grill, it’s easier than you probably imagined. Roasting a chicken on the grill produces a flavorful and tender chicken that is perfect for a weeknight dinner, a special occasion, or even just for meal prep.
You may have heard of beer can chicken on the grill, but rest assured that no beers were wasted on this easy chicken recipe. You can season this chicken as I did or add your own seasonings based on your preference.
Where’s the recipe?
Here at My Crazy Good Life we like to create recipes that any level of cook can make. In this post you’ll find detailed cooking instructions, ingredient information, and nutritional & healthy eating plan calculations. If you are a confident cook and want to get right to the recipe, scroll down to the bottom of the page where you’ll find the easy to print Grilled Whole Chicken recipe.
Ingredients
- Olive oil: You can also use melted butter if you prefer. Fat will help to get the chicken skin crispy.
- Lemon: You’ll need whole, fresh lemons for their zest & juice. Also, you’ll want to add slices to the top of your chicken–they’re helpful for flavor and they look fancy ;)
- Parsley: Dried parsley is great for this recipe, no need to run to the store for fresh.
- Salt and pepper: I don’t add much salt to my recipes, so you can add your own based on your tastes and dietary needs.
- Garlic: I used half of a fresh garlic bulb to the chicken cavity. If you want a little more garlic kick, you can add garlic powder to the outside breast meat.
How to grill a whole chicken:
- Prepare the chicken. Carefully unwrap your chicken over the sink – there will be a lot of liquid that comes out of the packaging and it’s best to contain it and reduce the splashing as much as you can. Check the inside cavity for any giblet packaging, then remove and discard. There’s no need to rinse the chicken (rinsing it could splash germs around), just pat it dry with some paper towels and set it aside.
- Preheat grill to 375º or medium, based on your grill options.
- Create aromatics. Zest and juice 2 lemons, then set aside. Combine the parsley, 2 lemon rinds, and one half bulb of garlic, then stuff them inside of the chicken.
- Season the chicken. Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt & pepper, and parsley in a small bowl. Drizzle on top of the chicken, making sure to coat the chicken breast, wings, and thighs.It’s ok to get a little messy here.
- Get ready to grill. Slice the third lemon. Place the chicken on the grill, breast side up, and lay your lemon slices on top. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can slide these underneath your chicken skin.
- Cook. Grill your chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165º. Our 5 pound chicken took about one hour. This time varies based on the size of the chicken and the nature of your grill. The weather can also impact how stable the temperature stays in the grill.
- Let it rest. Carefully remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Remove the lemon wedges and discard.
- Carve and serve!
Recipe tips
- Wondering how long to grill a whole chicken? Cooking time will vary, but the general rule of thumb is to grill for about 12 – 15 minutes per pound. Check that the temperature has reached 165º by sticking a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken thigh, keeping it away from any bones. If you’ve got a two or three pound bird it may only take 30 minutes or 45 minutes to cook.
- If you like to smoke meat, you can do that here by adding your favorite (soaked) wood chips to a smoker box and set it inside your gas grill. You may want to put the smoker box over indirect heat so that the wood chips smolder slowly.
- This is a great recipe to make homemade chicken stock with–don’t let those bones go to waste!
Healthy Eating Plans
21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix
Servings: about 4 3/4 cup servings, depending on the size of your chicken
Entire recipe: 4 red containers, 4 teaspoons of oil (I give you the counts for the entire recipe so you can learn about the containers as well as recalculate them if you change something).
Per 3/4 cup serving, count 1 red container and 1 teaspoon of oil.
(using your red container, portion out 3/4 cup of light chicken breast)
Weight Watchers
Using skinless breast meat only, this recipe counts as 0 Points on the 2023 Plan | 2 Blue Plan Points | 2 Green Plan Points | 2 Purple Plan Points
More healthy grill recipes
- Portobello Fajitas on the Grill
- Avocado Bacon Chicken
- Spicy Teriyaki Salmon
- Roasted Artichokes with Dipping Sauce
- Copycat Chipotle Chicken
- Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce
How to Grill a Whole Chicken
Equipment
- Kitchen Knife
- Mixing Bowls
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
Ingredients for Grilled Chicken
- 4 lb whole chicken
- 3 lemons you'll use the zest and juice of 2 lemons, then 3-4 slices from the 3rd lemon to set on top of chicken while it cooks.
- 2 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 lemon rinds saved from lemons zested & juiced for outside
- 1/2 bulb garlic
- 4 tsp olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
Instructions
- Carefully unwrap your chicken over the sink. Check the inside cavity for any giblet packaging, then remove and discard. There’s no need to rinse the chicken, just pat it dry with some paper towels and set it aside. 4 lb whole chicken
- Preheat grill to 375º
- Create aromatics – Zest and juice 2 lemons and set aside. Combine the parsley, 2 lemon rinds, and one half bulb of garlic, then add it to the inside of the chicken. 3 lemons 2 tbsp dried parsley 2 lemon rinds 1/2 bulb garlic
- Season the chicken – Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt & pepper, and parsley. Drizzle on top of the chicken, making sure to coat the chicken breast, wings, and thighs. 4 tsp olive oil salt & pepper 1 tbsp dried parsley
- Get ready to grill – Slice the third lemon. Place chicken on the grill, breast side up, and lay your lemon slices on top.
- Cook – Grill your chicken until it’s internal temperature reaches 165º. Our 5 pound chicken took about one hour.
- Let it rest – Carefully remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Carve & serve!
Notes
Recipe tips:
- Cooking time will vary, but the general rule of thumb is to grill for about 12 – 15 minutes per pound. Check that the temperature has reached 165º by sticking a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken thigh, keeping it away from any bones. If you’ve got a two or three pound bird it may only take 30 minutes or 45 minutes to cook.
- If you like to smoke meat, you can do that here by adding your favorite (soaked) wood chips to a smoker box and set it inside your gas grill. You may want to put the smoker box over indirect heat so that the wood chips smolder slowly.
- This is a great recipe to make homemade chicken stock with.
Nutrition
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