Grilled Ginger-Beer Chicken ![]()
By, John M. Goralka
Sacramento, CA
If you're craving a grilled dish with bold flavor, Grilled Ginger-Beer Chicken is a family favorite of mine. The sweet, spiced kick of ginger beer caramelizes beautifully on the grill, giving the chicken a rich, smoky glaze. It’s the perfect balance of tangy, savory, and just a little bit unexpected. This recipe never disappoints.
Total Time: 2 hr 20 min
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 50 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 6 chicken quarters (4 to 4 1/2 pounds total)
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 6 12 -ounce bottles ginger beer
- 6 black tea bags
- 3/4 cup minced onion
- 1 28 -ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 12 sprigs thyme
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Directions
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Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Toss the ginger with 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle half of the mixture on the chicken; reserve the rest. Refrigerate the chicken, uncovered, for at least 2 hours.
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Meanwhile, make the sauce: Pour the ginger beer into a wide skillet; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook over high heat until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and steep for 10 minutes; discard the tea bags. Add the onion, tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and thyme. Return to high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 50 minutes, using a potato masher to crush the tomatoes during the last 5 minutes. Remove the thyme. Set aside half of the sauce for serving.
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Bring the chicken to room temperature about 30 minutes before grilling. Preheat a grill to medium with indirect heat: On a charcoal grill, bank the coals to one side; on a gas grill, turn off half of the burners.
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Brush the chicken with some of the butter and sprinkle with some of the remaining ground ginger mixture. Place skin-side up on the cooler side of the grill; cover and cook until it starts browning, about 18 minutes, basting with more butter and sprinkling with more ground ginger mixture halfway through. Brush the chicken with a thick layer of sauce. Cover and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees F, about 20 minutes, basting with more sauce halfway through.
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Brush the chicken with more butter, then turn skin-side down and place on the hotter side of the grill (over direct heat). Cook, uncovered, until marked, about 2 minutes. Rotate the chicken to make crisscross grill marks and cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer to a board and let rest for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and serve with the reserved sauce.
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Sacramento Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney.
I’m John Goralka, a Sacramento Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney at the Goralka Law Firm, P.C. If you have an estate, tax or business situation needing legal help, contact our team for experienced and friendly advice. You can contact us at 916-440-8036. Alternatively, you can use our convenient online contact form here on our website. We listen, and you can have your questions answered, your case evaluated, and explore your options for getting the legal help you need.
There are almost 200,000 attorneys in the state of California, and fewer than 100 of those attorneys are State Bar Specialists in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate and State Bar Specialists in Taxation. I am one of the few attorneys with both critical specializations. I passed the California CPA examination and am a former income tax auditor and hearing officer. I am also recognized as a top attorney in the United States by US News and World Reports and by Best Lawyers and hold an AV rating from Martindale which is the premiere rating organization for attorneys. The AV rating is the highest possible rating for legal experience and for legal ethics.
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