Rex Linn not only plays a short-order cook on Happy’s Place who can chop up a cucumber with his bare hands, but he’s one heck of a chef in real life, too. In fact, Reba McEntire, who’s been dating Linn since 2020, is a big fan of the actor’s pecan smoked beer can chicken tacos. So much so that she featured them in her cookbook, Not That Fancy.
“I’m a get-in-there-and-throw-it-together-last-minute kind of cook, but Rex is a three- or four-day cook,” the country music legend writes in her book about Linn’s recipe. “These tacos take time, and there are no shortcuts (believe me, I’ve tried!), but it’s always worth it whenever I take that first juicy, fall-off-the-bone bite.”
In October 2023, the couple appeared on TODAY together to whip up this exact dish. Well, more specifically, Linn enlisted McEntire to help as his “up-and-coming sous chef” who was given the ultimate honor of taking a customary sip of beer. Read on for all the mouthwatering details.
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Reba McEntire took the “customary sip” while making Rex Linn’s beer can chicken tacos on TODAY
During their cooking segment on TODAY, Linn said his recipe will deliver “the greatest chicken you will ever have” as McEntire stood by, ready to assist.
To start, Linn mixed together hatch green chili powder with some mayonnaise. “Get it all stirred up,” he said. “Hatch green chili, the best ever. It’s spicy, but it’s got a roast-y flavor to it.”
Next, you’ll sauté some finely chopped sweet onions and jalapeño peppers with olive oil in a frying pan. Or as Linn explained, you’re “gonna mess around” with it. Once the onions and peppers are cooked and softened, you’ll add some garlic to the mixture.
To prepare the meat, Linn said “you’ve got to give your chicken a rubdown” with olive olive and then “blitz your chicken with rub” or desired poultry seasonings. Linn’s sous chef, ready with a spray bottle in hand, completed the next step by spritzing the raw chicken with apple juice.
Next up? The beer can. “This is crucial. You can use any beer you want. If you don’t want to use a beer, use something else,” Linn explained to the TODAY team. “When you open the beer … you have to have a customary sip. My up-and-coming sous chef Tater Tot McEntire will have a customary sip.”
“Sacrificing,” McEntire, who Linn sweetly calls “Tater Tot,” said directly to the camera as she took a swig.
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To add a bit more flavor and just for fun, Linn then sprinkled a bit of the chicken rub into the beer can, causing what Al Roker called a “beer volcano.” You’ll then position the chicken right over the beer can before placing it in a smoker, oven, or grill. Once the chicken is cooked, Linn then explained a “meticulous process” follows to make sure you get “get every morsel” of chicken, including the fatty skin.
“You have to chop up the skin and hide it in the meat so people don’t know it’s in there,” Linn quipped, using a cleaver to slice and chop the meat.
Finally, you’ll assemble the tacos with a dollop of the green chili mayo mixture topped with the onion and jalapeños, “just a touch” of avocado, the chicken, BBQ sauce, diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese.
The recipe was turned out so good, Craig Melvin told The Voice Coach, “Reba, that Rex is a keeper. He’s a keeper.”
You can find the full recipe for Linn’s beer can chicken tacos on TODAY and in McEntire’s book, Not That Fancy.
Rex Linn’s Happy’s Place character Emmett “navigates the ship from the kitchen”
On Happy’s Place, Linn plays Emmett, the tavern’s short-order cook, who the accomplished actor described in an October 2024 interview with TODAY as a “man of few words.” Often sharing wise advice with Bobbie (McEntire) and the rest of the staff, Emmett has worked at the bar for years and was good friends with Happy, the late father of Bobbie and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo).
“I think Emmett kind of navigates the ship from the kitchen,” Linn told TODAY.
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In an interview with USA Today, McEntire, who calls Linn “Sugar Tot,” shared that she specifically wanted Linn to have a role on the NBC sitcom. “I wanted him to be a part of [Happy’s Place],” she said. “We work well together. We have fun together. And I know his chemistry. He’s the veteran of us all.”
That chemistry and camaraderie continues when Happy’s Place Season 2 premieres on Friday, November 7, at 8/7c on NBC, and streaming the next day on Peacock.
