This is one of the juiciest oven baked BBQ chicken you’ll ever taste.
No backyard? No grill ? No problem!
With the help of a quick spice rub, your favorite barbecue sauce, and a blast from your oven’s broiler, you can quickly turn chicken pieces into crispy, slightly charred BBQ goodness for a not-boring chicken dinner any time of year.
Here’s how to make the easiest, tastiest BBQ chicken without a grill. It takes a little patience for the skin to crisp and the meat to tenderize, so don’t try to rush those steps (it’s worth it!).
WHAT CUT OF CHICKEN IS BEST TO USE FOR OVEN BAKED BBQ CHICKEN?
For the juiciest, most tender oven baked BBQ chicken, you’re definitely going to want to use bone-in, skin on chicken pieces for this. I do recommend using thighs and/or drumsticks, since dark meat is harder to overcook and almost always tastes juicier than white. As a bonus: these pieces are generally a lot less expensive!
If you use chicken breasts, I recommend bone-in, skin on.
You’ll notice the skin is still on it, you need that skin on as a sort of protective barrier on the chicken, so it doesn’t dry up, you can always remove that skin later.
If you really want to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, make sure you cook them for less time.
OVEN BAKED BBQ CHICKEN INGREDIENTS:
To make this oven baked BBQ chicken recipe, you will need:
Bone-in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks are the best for juicy chicken every time.
You can marinate the chicken in a brine, buttermilk or seasonings that you like.
Seasonings: I included an all-purpose blend of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and lemon pepper in the recipe below, which is super-simple and goes with just about anything. But feel free to sub in any dry seasoning blend that you prefer.
BBQ Sauce : You can use any kind you want! You could try Sweet Baby Ray’s or some spice BBQ Sauce or your favorite homemade BBQ sauce. You can jazz up your BBQ sauce with 1 tbsp. of your favorite jam or jelly. Just warm on low heat until jam/jelly dissolved. Sugar is what makes it taste so good and vital for getting that thick caramelization.
HOW TO BAKE BBQ CHICKEN :
Alright, so here’s the secret! To make perfectly juicy oven baked BBQ chicken, you simply need to follow this 6-steps.
Bake for 30 minutes – 400 F then drain juices, flip chicken
Bake for 15 minutes – 400 F then drain juices, place skin side down and baste with BBQ sauce
Bake for 10 minutes – 400 F then drain juices, flip chicken, baste with BBQ sauce
Bake for 10 minutes – 425 F then baste with BBQ sauce
2 minutes – put under broiler to caramelize
10 minutes – let chicken rest before serving
Drain juices – As you may notice at the bottom there’s extra fat or liquid,
what you want to do is to spoon that out cuz you really want this to be dry
of any sort of liquid any sort of fat before we start adding the BBQ sauce on it.
Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs and/or drumsticks bone-in, skin on about 2.5 to 3 lb.
- 1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
spices
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- You can marinate the chicken in a brine, buttermilk or seasonings that you like.
- Pat the chicken dry on both sides, then transfer to a medium bowl.
- Toss garlic, salt, lemon pepper and paprika in a small bowl. Sprinkle over chicken in bowl. Toss with tongs until pieces are coated.
- Preheat oven to 400 F and cover a baking sheet with foil.
- Place the chicken skin side down on a baking sheet.
Bake the chicken for :
- 30 minutes - 400 F then drain juices, flip chicken
- 15 minutes - 400 F then drain juices, place skin side down and baste with BBQ sauce
- 10 minutes - 400 F then drain juices, flip chicken, baste with BBQ sauce
- 10 minutes - 425 F then baste with BBQ sauce
- 2 minutes - put under broiler to caramelize
- 10 minutes - let chicken rest before serving. Enjoy.
