Smoked Whole Chicken Stuffed With Herbs and Lemon {How Long at 225F}

Herb Stuffed Smoked Chicken

It’s been WAY too long since I’ve posted a new Smoked Whole Chicken recipe.  I love sharing new, tasty ways to cook a bird.  This, my fowl friends, might be the tastiest yet.

Let me show you how to cook an extraordinary bird on your smoker!

Prepare the Chicken

We are going to add multiple layers of flavors to this chicken from the stuffing inside the cavity and the herb butter under the skin.

Stuff the Inside of the Chicken

We are going to stuff the inside of the chicken with lemon, garlic, rosemary, thyme and parsley.

Herbs for stuffing the bird

Cut the lemons into halves (or quarters), insert them first, and stuff the garlic and herbs around the lemons.

The aromatics will infuse the chicken with tons of flavor as they steam inside the bird on the smoker.

Uncooked chicken stuffed with herbs

Rub Herb Butter Underneath the Chicken Skin

Prepare an herb butter by combining

  • 3 tbls softened butter
  • 1 tsp ground sage
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp salt

NOT ONLY did we stuff herb happiness inside the bird, but we shoved it underneath the skin as well.   Gently lift up the skin and rub most of the butter directly onto the breast meat.

Take a little of the butter and rub it on the surface of the skin.

Yep.  Buttery Herb Deliciousness. At this point the bird has been seasoned inside and out with Parsley, Sage Rosemary and Thyme….Simon & Garfunkel would be proud of this chicken.

These chickens were left with no choice but to end up amazing.  They were surrounded by it.

Do You Need to Brine the Chicken Before Smoking?

Since we are going to be smoking a whole bird at low temperatures we do not have to brine the bird to keep it moist.  Between the skin, bones and aromatic stuffing there are plenty of barriers against the bird drying out.

For this recipe the only real reason to brine would be to add another layer of flavor.  If you want to add the extra flavor layer then you could soak the chicken in a basic brine for a few hours or speed things up with this great chicken injection recipe.

Smoke the Chicken at 225F

Set your smoker to 225F and add some hickory and apple wood into the mix and your taste buds are delighted by the onslaught of flavor.  Cook it just like any other 5lb chicken we’ve done before in our How to Smoke a Whole Chicken Recipe.

 

Chicken on the Smoker

How Long Does it Take to Smoke a Whole Chicken at 225F?

It usually takes about four hours to smoke a five pound chicken at 225F.

But as I always say, it’s all about the internal temperature of the chicken, not the time on the pit.  The perfect internal temperature for smoked chicken 165F in the breast and 175-185F at the leg.  If they hit 165 in 2 hours or 8 hours, that’s just fine.

Smoked Herb Stuffed Whole Chicken

Smoked Whole Chicken Stuffed with Herbs and Lemon

A whole chicken is stuffed with aromatics and smoked at 225F.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Calories 377 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Whole Chicken

For Stuffing

  • 2 Lemons cut in halves
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • sprigs of thyme
  • sprigs of rosemary
  • sprigs of parsley

For Herb Butter

  • 3 tbs butter
  • 1 tsp ground sage
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Rinse off chicken thoroughly.
  • Stuff it with the lemon, garlic and herbs
  • Gently lift skin with finger and smear herb butter on both breasts.
  • If you have extra, go ahead and rub outside of bird as well.
  • Smoke with fruit wood at 250 for about 3 hours - until internal temp is 165 in breast and 175 in legs.
  • Let rest for at least 15 minutes before enjoying.
Keyword Smoked Herb Stuffed Whole Chicken

2 thoughts on “Smoked Whole Chicken Stuffed With Herbs and Lemon {How Long at 225F}

    1. Great question – and yes! You can brine using the same herbs – the chicken will definitely take in those flavors. I’ve used fresh rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, garlic….turns out great.

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