Beer chicken is very tasty and easy to make. It's also great for guests and no one can able resist the creamy sauce and crust made from cooking with beer. We suggest making it with chicken thighs or wings, but you can also prepare a sort of chicken breast stew and cook it in the same way. It depends a bit on the result you want to achieve. The presence of the skin, however, makes all the difference.
For beer chicken, we’ve got three irresistible recipes. Choose your favorite and enjoy!
Classic Beer Chicken
Sauté chopped celery, carrot and onion in oil and butter. You can also add bacon or pancetta for more flavor. Clean and pluck any remaining feathers or hair from the chicken. Flour the thighs or wings and add them to the sauté. Once chicken is cooked on all sides, add the beer. Choose a blonde beer with an aftertaste that’s not too bitter. Adjust the salt and pepper and wait for the sauce to thicken a bit. Serve the hot chicken with French fries or with baked or roasted vegetables.
Beer-frosted Chicken
An even tastier finger-lickin’ variant – because this dish is eaten with your hands! First, marinate the chicken by covering it with beer and a few sprigs of rosemary. Let it rest for about two hours covered in the fridge. Drain the chicken and cook it in a pan or on the grill and once browned, blend it with the marinated beer. Once the alcohol has evaporated and the sauce has reduced, brush the chicken with honey and continue cooking, adding more beer. Add salt and pepper and serve once the sauce has become thick and creamy (or almost completely reduced).
Beer Can Chicken
The original name of this recipe, ‘Beer Can Chicken,’ is fun to make (and serve) because the chicken is actually cooked on top of a beer can, like it’s almost sitting on top of it! For this recipe, use a whole chicken placed on top of a can and cooked on the grill or barbecue. First, clean the chicken well and remove entrails. Wash it inside and dab it with a paper towel. Brush it inside and out with a mixture of oil, coarse salt, mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander and pepper. Add as many spices as you’d like – including any herbs of your choice. Thread a can of beer into the base of the chicken.
Transfer the chicken to a large baking dish, making sure that the chicken is supported well enough not to fall off while on the grill (preferably outdoors), and cook for about an hour and a half, steaming it occasionally with beer. Honestly – for safer cooking, you shouldn't use a beer can at all, but a similar container made of a specific material safe for cooking instead. The aluminium from the beer can is not very healthy. Once the chicken is cooked, take the can out very carefully and throw the contents away. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve hot.
