Monday Meals: Beer Can Chicken

With the 4th of July holiday right around the corner, we thought we'd share a fun, easy recipe guests will love! Beer can chicken is a great recipe to make for a crowd because it yields a ton of meat, it's a relatively low-maintenance recipe, and it gives you the chance to stand around the grill with a beer on the 4th of July. What more could a Cool Dad ask for? 

Beer Can Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 can of beer- your choice. We went with Modelo 
Olive oil
Seasonings of your choice (we went with a basic barbecue rub, but have also done lemon pepper in the past)


1. Heat your grill for indirect heat. 

2. While your grill is heating up, drink half of your beer. We also recommend sprinkling some of your chicken seasonings into the remaining beer- it allows the flavors to permeate inside the chicken cavity and give it a more intense flavor. You will also want to place a drip pan under where you will place the chicken.

3. Wash chicken, and make sure to remove any innards that might be in the cavity of the chicken. Rub the chicken with the olive oil and seasonings. 

4. Place the beer in the cavity of the chicken. Then carefully place your chicken on the grill. We have a beer can chicken holder, which is pretty helpful and prevents the chicken from falling over on the grill. It's not completely necessary, but it's still nice to have.

5. Cover the grill and cook for about an hour to an hour and a half. Now this is where it got interesting. We discovered our chicken was too tall for the grill.

But! The Wisconsin Test Kitchen was not deterred. We ended up creating a make-shift oven out of foil and an empty wine box. It ended up working out incredibly well, and ended up cooking a five pound chicken in about 2 hours.

Word of warning if you have this same problem: keep a squirt bottle of water close by in case the box starts on fire. 

6. Your chicken is done when a meat thermometer reads 175 degrees in the thigh.

The end result was a juicy, grilled chicken full of flavor. This was a great recipe to try on a hot summer day, because it didn't overheat the house, and it was a great alternative to roasting a chicken. Give it a try this weekend at your cookout, your guests will love it!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew