Vertical Roasted (Beer Can) Chicken

8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Vertically Roasted Oven-Baked Chicken (Beer Can Chicken) is an easy way to get an evenly cooked, flavorful, juicy whole chicken with crispy skin every time!

As easy and flavorful as our Rotisserie Chicken, this oven-baked Chicken Recipe is fun to make and can be served as one pan meal with the potatoes and carrots!

Vertical Roasted Chicken in black pot

BAKED BEER CAN CHICKEN

If you have been wanting to try Beer Can Chicken but weren’t sure about cooking it on the grill, you’ll love this fail-proof recipe! No need to worry about your chicken toppling over or flare-ups from the chicken fat. This oven baked chicken recipe is hands off once it goes in and you end up with a perfectly golden brown crispy skin and evenly cooked, juicy fall-off-the-bone chicken!

This Beer Can Chicken, or Vertical Roasted Chicken, is so easy to make with just a few key preparations. The first thing to do is remove your middle oven rack or place it low enough for the chicken to be upright while it cooks. While you do use a beer can (or upright roaster) to prop up the chicken, you do want a pan to catch all the drippings that will fit the bird and the potatoes and carrots.

Beer Can Chicken is great for summertime dinners, you can just pop the chicken on a half-filled beer or soda that got too warm to drink. Use a beer or soda you like to drink since the flavor is going to steam through the chicken. It won’t be the exact taste of the beer, more like the top notes. Fruity beers are going to give a fruity note, IPAs will have a hoppy, herby flavor, and dark soda will have a deep caramel flavor.

If you don’t have a beer can or soda can, you can make Vertical Roast Chicken on an upright roaster. Don’t have that fancy gadget? Use a bundt pan or an angel food cake pan! Place the chicken over the center part and put your potatoes and carrots around the chicken. Place the pan on a baking sheet with sides high enough to keep any juices from spilling on the bottom of your oven.

Easy Beer Can Chicken is a tasty, simple dinner all year round with a side of Dinner Rolls and side of Sautéed Green Beans. Make a summer Beer Can Chicken dinner by leaving out the potatoes and carrots and serve instead with Mac and Cheese and Coleslaw!

EASY SIDE DISH RECIPES:

If you don’t have a beer can or soda can, you can make Vertical Roast Chicken on an upright roaster. Don’t have that fancy gadget? Use a bundt pan or an angel food cake pan! Place the chicken over the center part and put your potatoes and carrots around the chicken. Place the pan on a baking sheet with sides high enough to keep any juices from spilling on the bottom of your oven.

Easy Beer Can Chicken is a tasty, simple dinner all year round with a side of Dinner Rolls and side of Sautéed Green Beans. Make a summer Beer Can Chicken dinner by leaving out the potatoes and carrots and serve instead with Mac and Cheese and Coleslaw!

Beer Can Chicken before cooking

VARIATIONS ON BEER CAN CHICKEN

  • Spice Rub: Try our homemade Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning for a grocery store deli chicken flavor, or try dry rub seasonings like lemon pepper, cumin, chili powder, and onion powder.
  • Beer: Try a coffee stout for a hint of toasty, espresso flavor or a fruity hefeweizen for a summery, citrus flavor. Light beers won’t give a lot of flavor but will still make the chicken moist and juicy.

BBQ Sauce Pairings

Cook the Beer Can Chicken on beer or soda can, and baste with a BBQ sauce that pairs with the soda or beer flavor. Check out our flavor pairings below:

Grilled Beer Can Chicken

  • Season chicken with spice rub and set aside.
  • Turn all but 1 burner (2/3 or 3/4) to high heat and heat grill to 450 degrees F.
  • Place half empty beer can in a 9×13 pan and carefully prop chicken upright with can in cavity.
  • Set pan over the burner that is not on and pour 1 cup water into pan.
  • Grill over indirect heat, covered, for 35 minutes. Rotate pan.
  • Baste chicken with drippings every 10 minutes for an additional 25-35 minutes, until chicken internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
  • Rest chicken 10 minutes before removing from beer can and carving.

EASY CLASSIC DINNER RECIPES

HOW TO STORE BEER CAN CHICKEN

  • Serve: Beer Can Chicken can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it should be cooled and stored.
  • Store: Place chicken pieces, potatoes, and carrots in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat the chicken and veggies on a baking sheet in the oven on low heat.
  • Freeze: Once cooled, place Beer Can Chicken (cut into pieces) in a sealed container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating everything in the oven.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN BEER CAN CHICKEN IS DONE

According to the U.S. Food Safety Guidelines, a whole chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Measure the temperature at the inner parts of the thigh or wing, and the thickest part of the breast with an instant-read thermometer.

Beer Can Chicken served in bowl with vegetables

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Beer Can Chicken

Vertically Roasted Oven-Baked Chicken (Beer Can Chicken) is an easy way to get an evenly cooked, flavorful, juicy whole chicken with crispy skin every time!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 3-4 pound chicken , giblets removed and patted dry
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
  • 8 small Yukon Gold Potatoes , halved
  • 3 carrots , cut into 2 inch chunks

Instructions

  • Preheat oven 400 degrees F
  • Place the chicken on the upright roasting rack (or mostly empty soda/beer can) in a large shallow pan.
  • In a small bowl mix together salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, paprika and thyme.
  • Rub it all over the chicken.
  • Add the potatoes and carrots around the chicken in the pan.
  • Roast for 75-90 minutes or until the thickest part of the thighs are at 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

Nutrition

Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 666mg | Potassium: 961mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 4059IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 3mg

Beer Can Chicken collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This came out really nice and very flavorsome and most, the skin also very nice and crispy. I rubbed the chicken with the spices overnight to get some more flavor and the potatoes and carrots I mixed together with crushed fennel seed, dried sage and garlic salt for a bit more flavor.

  2. This is so delicious and tasty! We love this recipe here at the house! It’s so flavor filled and so good! Can’t wait to make this recipe again!

        1. The first thing to do is remove your middle oven rack or place it low enough for the chicken to be upright while it cooks. While you do use a beer can (or upright roaster) to prop up the chicken, you do want a pan to catch all the drippings that will fit the bird and the potatoes and carrots.