Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken
Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken is a great dinner to add to your grilling plans. Layers of delicious flavor make this whole smoked chicken a great option that will blow the store bought rotisserie chickens away.
Whole chickens are so easy to smoke on your grill. To keep the chicken moist, we do a simple salt water brine and then inject the chicken with melted butter and herbs. It’s finished with a delicious dry rub and then slow cooked with hickory smoke.
Ingredients for Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken:
- 1-2 Whole Chickens
For the Brine:
- warm water
- kosher salt
- lemon
- black peppercorns
For the Chicken:
- Butter
- Granulated Garlic
- Lemon Rosemary Dry Rub
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How to Grill Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken:
- In a large pan or bowl, combine warm water with salt and mix until salt dissolves.
- Add lemons and peppercorns.
- Submerge chicken in brine.
- Cover and refrigerate 1 to 4 hours.
- Drain chicken well.
- Pat dry with paper towels and place on a baking sheet.
- Melt butter and mix with granulated garlic.
- Using an injector to get butter under the skin of the chicken and down into the breast, thigh and leg areas.
- Tie chicken with butcher twine if desired.
- Sprinkle dry rub over outside of chicken.
- Prepare a grill fire to 350° with hickory or oak for smoke flavor.
- Cook chicken over indirect heat with the grill closed for 1 to 1 1/2 hours keeping the temperature between 300 – 325°.
- Use a digital thermometer to check the chicken in the thick part of the thigh, near the bone, cooking until it reaches 165°.
- Remove from grill and allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT:
Whole chicken can be wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 2 days.
Remove meat from bones and store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 4 days.
Freeze smoked chicken in a Vacuum Sealer bags or 2 layers of plastic wrap and a layer of foil up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator.
To reheat chicken, add to a skillet with 1 tablespoon of chicken broth or water per cup of chicken. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally about 8 minutes.
Recipe Ideas for Smoked Chicken:
It is just as easy to cook two whole chickens as it is one. We generally have one for dinner and use the other one for a quick dinner or two later in the week. Be sure to save your carcasses to make the best homemade chicken broth.
Smoked chicken has so many meal possibilities making it one of our favorites for meal prep. We love to serve it with grilled vegetable rice pilaf, slicing it for Philly Chicken sandwiches, making tacos and adding it to pasta.
More Whole Chicken Recipes:
Smoked Chicken with rosemary mustard bbq sauce has tons of flavor and is no ordinary, boring chicken dinner!
Apple Cider Smoked Chicken is always a favorite with the sweet apple cider marinade that pairs so well with the smoky chicken.
BBQ Spatchcock Chicken is a great way to cook whole chickens on the grill. The chicken is butterflied and flattened to cook faster and more evenly.
Cajun Butter Smoked Chicken is one of our most popular chicken recipes. It’s made with a homemade blackened seasoning that will have you coming back for more.
Add this Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken to your weekend grilling plans to make easy weeknight dinners.
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Lemon Rosemary Smoked Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
For the Brine:
- 4 quarts warm water
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
For the Chicken
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- ¼ cupLemon Rosemary Rub
Instructions
- In a large pan or bowl, combine warm water with salt and mix until salt dissolves.
- Add lemons and peppercorns.
- Submerge chicken in brine, then cover and refrigerate 1 to 4 hours.
- Drain chicken well and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a baking sheet.
- Melt butter and mix with granulated garlic.
- Using an injector to get butter under the skin of the chicken and down into the breast, thigh and leg areas.
- Tie chicken with butcher twine.
- Sprinkle dry rub over chicken.
- Prepare a grill fire to 350° with hickory or oak for smoke flavor.
- Cook chicken over indirect heat with the grill closed for 1 to 1 1/2 hours keeping the grill temperature between 300 - 325°.
- Use a digital thermometer to check the chicken in the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, until it reaches 165°.
- Remove from grill and allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
