Smoked Whole Chicken

Tender, juicy Smoked Whole Chicken made on your smoker is the best dinner that’s quick and easy. Simply rub your chicken seasoning on the chicken and smoke it low and slow. The chicken is so flavorful and juicy. Perfect for a weeknight dinner or meal prep!

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Juicy, tender chicken with a delicious smoky flavor that you have made! How does that sound? Whole chickens are one of my favorite things to make, but during the winter I typically just put them in the crock pot. During the summer we put a delicious BBQ Chicken Rub on them that’s homemade, then put them on the pellet grill.  After three hours or so, depending on the size of your chicken, you’re left with a tender, juicy Smoked Whole Chicken!

Why this recipe works:

• 5 Minutes of prep then hands off!
• Uses a delicious homemade chicken seasoning.
• Perfect for meal prep or make two of them and use one for meal prep and one for dinner.
• Tender, juicy and smokey every single time.

Ingredients Needed

• Whole Chicken
• Chicken Rub

We love our homemade chicken rub and make a batch up to have whenever we smoked chicken.

You can also use your favorite store-bought chicken rub or a different homemade rub.

Steps to Prepare

• Prep Smoker – Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. We used competition blend pellets in our pellet grill, but hickory, apple, pecan and maple would be great too!
• Prep Chicken – Rinse the chicken under cold water. Pat dry. Trim any excess skin or fat around neck area on in the cavity of the bird. Then rub the chicken with dry rub liberally.
• Smoke – Place chicken on smoker. Close pellet grill lid and cook at 250 degrees for about 3 hours for 3.5 lb chicken or until chicken has reached 165 degrees F.
• Rest – Let rest 5-10 minutes and then enjoy!

How long does it take to smoke chicken?

This really depends on the size of your chicken. It will take about three hours at 250 degrees to smoke a regular size chicken about 3-4 lbs.

Best Wood For Smoking Chicken

We recommend using apple wood chips to smoke chicken. This is a mild, sweet tasting smoke that compliment chicken perfectly.

You could also use cherry, mesquite, hickory or maple wood chips.

When is Smoked Chicken done?

The internal temperature of a chicken should be 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh. Grab your instant read thermometer or use the probe on your smoked to monitor the temperature.

More dry rub recipes!

• Dry Rub for Ribs
• Sweet and Smoky Rub
• BBQ Chicken Rub
• Dry Rub for Pork

COMPLETE YOUR MEAL WITH THESE RECIPES:

• BBQ Baked Beans On the Grill
• Smoked Stuffing
• Grilled Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread
• Grilled Caesar Salad

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5 from 2 votes

Smoked Whole Chicken

Tender, juicy chicken that's rubbed with a homemade BBQ seasoning and smoked low and slow.

Prep:10 minutes mins

Cook:3 hours hrs

Resting Time:10 minutes mins

Total:3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 whole chicken
• ▢ 3 Tbsp BBQ Chicken Rub

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Instructions

• Set smoker to 250 degrees F using wood of your choice. We used competition blend wood, but hickory, apple, oak, pecan and maple would be great too!
  
• Rinse the chicken under cold water. Pat dry. Trim any excess skin or fat around neck area on in the cavity of the bird. 
• Generously rub the chicken with dry rub. Make sure you get all areas of the chicken covered with the spices. We recommend lifting the skin away from the chicken and rubbing spices under the skin to make sure the spices infuse into the chicken. You can even throw some spice in the cavity to give it even more flavor.
• Place the chicken on the smoker rack and close lid. Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. This can very by chicken size. Ours took about 3 hours and was 3.5 lbs.

Tips

How long does it take to smoke chicken?

This really depends on the size of your chicken. It will take about three hours at 250 degrees to smoke a regular size chicken about 3-4 lbs.

Best Wood For Smoking Chicken

We recommend using apple wood chips to smoke chicken. This is a mild, sweet tasting smoke that compliment chicken perfectly.

You could also use cherry, mesquite, hickory or maple wood chips.

When is Smoked Chicken done?

The internal temperature of a chicken should be 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh. Grab your instant read thermometer or use the probe on your smoked to monitor the temperature.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 418kcal (21%), Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 35g (70%), Fat: 28g (43%), Saturated Fat: 8g (50%), Cholesterol: 142mg (47%), Sodium: 134mg (6%), Potassium: 380mg (11%), Vitamin A: 345IU (7%), Vitamin C: 3.4mg (4%), Calcium: 51mg (5%), Iron: 2.8mg (16%)

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We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box is calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.