Smoked Whole Chicken
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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!
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!
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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Smoked Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 3 Tbsp BBQ Chicken Rub
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.
Beth says
This looks so delicious and tasty! My family and I are big chicken lovers! This is going to gone in seconds! Can’t wait to make this!
Megan Mitzel says
You will love it!
Lisalia says
Yummy! I’m new to using my Traeger and love finding new recipes to try. This was EASY and delicious! Thanks for my new favorite way to eat chicken. And the chicken rub recipe is AWESOME!
Megan Mitzel says
I’m so glad you loved it!
T Ranatza says
Do you brine your chicken before smoking? Do you have any problems with it getting too dry?
Julie Evink says
Hi! We didn’t brine it and thought it was great, but you surely could if you choose!