Baked BBQ Chicken is the ultimate recipe you’ve been searching for online! This Baked BBQ Chicken is tender, juicy, and finger-licking good. Trust me, BBQ chicken can’t get much better than this, which is why I’m so excited to share this Baked BBQ Chicken recipe! These babies are seasoned to perfection and baked in broth & honey BBQ sauce. They’re super delicious, simple, and easy to make! There’s nothing “fancy” about these BBQ thighs, but they’re definitely a must-try! Give this recipe a shot and tell me what you think!
I’ve been asked by so many of my subscribers to create a recipe for Baked BBQ Chicken thighs! And after weeks of trying to find the time to do it, I finally delivered on my promise. When it comes to cooking BBQ chicken thighs, what I find people struggle with the most is keeping them nice and tender. They often overcook the Baked BBQ Chicken, which results in distasteful dry and chewy meat.
The key to tender juicy Baked BBQ Chicken is cooking it at the right temperature for the right amount of time. Some folk think the longer you cook it the more tender it gets. Now I’m not saying they’re wrong because the chicken will get very tender if you bake it under aluminum foil. The problem with that is you end up with stew-like chicken falling off the bones and we don’t want that!! You want the chicken to maintain its shape and be nice and tender on the inside. Covering it is completely unnecessary because chicken thighs are already a pretty tender meat – it’s not tough like turkey and steak which requires the assistance of aluminum foil for tenderness.
When my aunt Beverly makes Baked BBQ Chicken, she pokes several holes in the chicken first. She also pours the BBQ sauce over the chicken before she places it in the oven. Most people bake their chicken and add the BBQ sauce when it’s almost done. But what I like to do is bake the chicken in the BBQ sauce for 2 hours… just like my aunt does. Poking holes in the chicken allows the BBQ sauce to permeate all throughout the meat as it’s cooking. It chicken also absorbs some of the BBQ and liquid hickory smoke.
Baked BBQ Chicken
I like to use Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce because of its thickness, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought sauce or homemade BBQ. No matter the brand, I like to go with honey or sweet n spicy. I’d advise you to do the same for this Baked BBQ Chicken recipe. “Why not original BBQ sauce?”, you might ask. Listen, you can’t go wrong with original BBQ sauce and what kind of BBQ sauce you use is totally up to you. But the key to good food is layering it with different flavors. And since sweet n spicy BBQ consists of 2 flavors that are perfectly made for each other, it’s the best choice of BBQ sauce to me. But again, feel free to use whatever kind you like best.
I use a variety of seasonings to ensure the chicken is packed with flavor. The most important seasoning is the Italian seasoning because it has basically every herbal seasoning in it. Now, you may look at the ingredients and wonder why I add green peppers and onions to my chicken. And believe it or not, it’s just something I did one day when I was baking chicken to avoid wasting food. I was making dinner and had a little bit of onions and peppers left over from the potato salad I had just made.
There was so little of them left I just decided to throw em in the baking dish with the chicken instead of throwing them away because I just hate wasting food. And once I taste the chicken, I thought the onions and peppers added a nice flavor to it. And so that was all she wrote! I’ve been adding onions and peppers to my baked chicken ever since. The onions and peppers are optional though so you can omit it if you want. But enough with the yapping, give this BBQ chicken a shot and let me know how ya like it.
Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
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Baked BBQ Chicken Recipe
- Prep Time: 40 Mins
- Cook Time: 2Hr 5 Mins
- Total Time: 2 Hr 45 Mins
- Yield: 5
- Category: BBQ
- Cuisine: American
Description
Tender, juicy, baked chicken thighs, seasoned to perfection and cooked in BBQ sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 Lbs Chicken Thighs
- 1 Cup Honey BBQ Sauce
- 4 Tsps Butter
- 1/4 Cup Green Peppers, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Onions, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tsps Hickory Liquid Smoke (optional)
- 1–1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Onion PowderÂ
- 1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 Tsp Thyme
Instructions
- Combine the liquid hickory smoke and BBQ sauce in a small bowl.
- Coarsely chop the onions & peppers.
- Cleaning the chicken: Remove as much fat as possible and the excess skin and clear slime under it, then place the chicken in a baking dish
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Season the chicken and add in the chopped onions and peppers.
- Add in the butter and water then place the chicken in the oven.Â
- Bake for 1 hour, then add in the bbq sauce.Â
- Bake for 30 more minutes then remove.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
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23 thoughts on “Baked BBQ Chicken Recipe”
Hi Jay,
I have an Homemade BBQ recipe that you blessed us with some years ago.
It was so delicious. I can’t seem to find it on your website anymore.
Are you no longer offering that recipe. If so, please reconsider.
Sincerely,
A big fan.
Is there anyway to clear up video on baking for 1 or 2 hours ? Kind of confusing .! Also sent you a email phillyboyjay much love!
It’s 2 hours
It stated on the recipe to cook for 2 hours, but in the video it says 1 hour could you please tell me which is correct?
Bake it for 2 hours.
Kids and hubby really enjoyed, the recipes never disappoint
I just made this for dinner and I will never make oven baked chicken any different after this! Holy smokes it was delicious. 10/10
The best BBQ chicken you can make at home. This is a fav at my house.
Thanks, Sharise!!! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Great recipe Jay keep them coming
Two Thumbs up!!! This is a keeper.
It good
Thanks Guys, Your Recipe Was Too Fantastic. Me and My Family Loved it. I Will Share your Rrecipe with my friends. Hope they will love it too.
Thanks for the secret to oven baked bbq, I.e. the broiler T the end.
I see it says 1 cup of BBQ sauce, yet you are using 1 cup on the bottom, 1 cup on the top and 1/2 when broiling. Not sure what’s w
I’m confused about what is “Tsp” and “Tsps”. Could you please explain? I want to do this recipe right the first time. Thanks
Singular and plural—ie; 1 tsp vs 2 tsps
This recipe is so easy to make and so delicious to eat! I have made it twice. I love all of your receipes.
Hello, I tried this recipe very very good. I Rate it a 5 and over.
Thank so much!
This is delicious and so easy to follow! This is the 2nd recipe of yours I have tried I also made the sheperd pie. It’s one of my favorites!! Made it for a party and so many people wanted the recipe. Cant wait to continue to explore your recipes. My taste buds and tummy are very happy.
Loved this recipe. I always find your recipe’s easy to follow. I made your Sheperds pie last night, although I must point out that as you used ground beef, it was actually a cottage pie, as sheperds pie is made with ground lamb.
Can I also teach you how to pronounce Worcestershire (as in Worcestershire sauce)?
I live in Worcestershire England, and we simply pronounce it “WOOSTER-SHEER”… So, next time I watch one of your video’s with a dish requiring Worcestershire sauce, I expect you to know how to pronounce it Lol.
It’s called an accent. Americans and British pronounce words differently. Its why non-English foreigner get to choose American English or British English. It a culture thing.
I made this recipe for my boyfriend for his birthday! It was deliciously tender and flavorful! Thank you for another delicious recipe.