The secret to the best homemade BBQ chicken? Made-from-scratch BBQ sauce and lots of it! This chicken is smothered with tons of flavorful sauce, beautifully smoky, and is the absolute quintessential cookout chicken!
Alrighty, guys. I sincerely hope you brought your napkins and your game-face chicken chops today.
Because today I bring you the keys to a killer, and I mean KILLER Fourth cookout. Only the best, best, BEST homemade BBQ chicken for you all.
The biggest cookout of the whole summer is on the horizon and you need to start making your plans NOW to make the best BBQ chicken of your entire life.
In all seriousness, y’all. The.Freaking.Best. This chicken appears at nearly every summer cookout in my family and has never once let me down.
It’s absolutely time you guys got to experience such chicken bliss.
Secret spilling time, y’all. — So the secret to this chicken truly is in the sauce. Oh, heavens, the SAUCE!! ???
It’s just a classic homemade BBQ sauce, but I kid you not: it BLOWS Sweet Baby Ray’s all the way back to the grocery shelf. No need for that fake stuff anymore. Real deal BBQ chicken, please and thanks!!
It’s sweet, tangy, a little bit spicy, and I quite honestly just want to put it on everything.
Besides a good sauce, one of the only other best-kept secrets for an amazeballs BBQ chicken is WHEN to add the sauce. We don’t want to brush our sauce on the chicken before cooking it, because it will all cook off the chicken pretty much the moment we put it on the grill.
You’re gonna want to season your chicken nicely with salt and pepper and then throw it on the grill and let that cook away for awhile. THEN during the last 10 minutes of cooking…brush, baby, BRUSH all that glorious sauce into every single little chicken nook and cranny.
Once your chicken is fully cooked…more sauce on top. Seriously, just go nuts with the sauce.—it’s the best part.
Word to the wise: Make sure you save that white shirt for another day because this chicken is totally the messy kinda food, and let’s be honest: those are the best kinds of food.
You’re probably gonna need like 5 napkins, and that’s totally fine.
The one and only BBQ chicken your life needs is WORTH IT.
So many heart-eyes, guys. So many BBQ chicken feels. ??????
The Best Homemade Grilled BBQ Chicken
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Ingredients
- BBQ SAUCE:
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 cup dark molasses
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-1/2 lbs chicken legs and thighs
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, molasses, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Bring sauce to a low simmer, then remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool sauce and then store in refrigerator until ready to use (or up to 1 week)
- Make the chicken. Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill chicken over medium-high heat, turning occasionally until chicken registers 165F degrees. During last 10 minutes of cooking, start brushing chicken with BBQ sauce. Once chicken is done, brush with additional sauce. Enjoy!!
Nutrition
More cookout inspiration right this way!!
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Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
Oh man, barbecue chicken is my favorite! My Grandpa used to make this on the grill, and it was just so good. I love that you made your own sauce, Sarah! This is totally calling my name and needs to happen soon!
Sarah says
That’s so neat that your grandpa used to make the chicken in your family, Gayle!!
aimee @ like mother like daughter says
BBQ Chicken is my favorite meal to grill up all summer long, but I’ll admit I love sweet baby rays, I definitely have to give this homemade sauce a try next time. It looks amazing!
Sarah says
You can’t beat homemade bbq sauce! It’s totally the secret to the best chicken. 😉 Thanks Aimee!
Ashley says
Totally loving the sound of that sauce!! I hope you have a fantastic holiday weekend Sarah!!
Sarah says
Thanks Ashley! You have an awesome long holiday weekend too!
Jess @ Sweetest Menu says
Good golly! This looks seriously better than half the chickens I’ve ever had at a restaurant! I am sooooo coming over! 😉
Sarah says
You’re so welcome to come over ANY time for grilled BBQ chicken, Jess!!
Puja Darshan says
My husband is going to love this recipe.I absolutely liked your presentation and picture Sarah!!!
Sarah says
Thank you so much, Puja! Let me know if you try this chicken!
carlo bi says
This is a beautiful recipe I will give this one a try!
Sarah says
Let me know if you do, Carlo!
Brian says
Hi Sarah,
The homemade sauce for this BBQ chicken literally had me kicking my fingers!
It was very juicy but that is OK because we can clean up our own mess. The tangy taste that comes from the vinegar perfectly compliments the brown sugar and the molasses. So it’s not too tangy or too sweet. This dish was easy to prepare and not too spicy either. Plus everyone loves it
Thank you
Sarah says
So glad to hear this chicken was a winner for you, Brian! Enjoy! 🙂
Judith Fertig says
Great article! Thanks for sharing the secret to the best homemade BBQ chicken. I will try this recipe by tomorrow.
BBQ Queens says
5 star for this recipe! Very detail. Thanks!
eatfrysmith says
Can I use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs?
Sarah says
Yes! However, you may need to adjust the cook time slightly as breasts tend to take longer to cook.
Alex Smith says
i am agree with you
Alex Smith says
I love grill. Article very helpful for bbq lover. All information here. Really very nice information. But i need bbq beef.
Lulu says
oh wow!! these look awesome!! we are year round grillers over here and these chicken are right up our alley! can’t wait to try it out ?
Alex Smith says
Great! I am hungry after reading your blog. Everything is looking very tasty. Your topics are very helpful for this community. Thank you so much for sharing a good article with us.
Juliya says
This is the ultimate guide to make the homemade grilled in a very easy and quick way. I will surely try this at home. Thank you for sharing it.
Jazz says
What a great piece of article I found today, I really enjoy this recipe as It looks so delicious and yummy I really love this recipe and I will try this on the special occasion of my family get to gather.
THANK YOU
Stephen says
Wonderful Sarah, You are amazing and an excellent chef. I will love this roasted BBQ chicken recipe. After the lovely reading of this article I am craving for these tasty chicken BBQs. Thanks for sharing your recipe