Baked Bbq Chicken Tips
Our Favorite Bbq Chicken Sides
You could go so many directions with your BBQ chicken sidestheres no real right answer to this one. A green salad and some chips, or some macaroni salad, even, would be so good. You could use the chicken to build a super great sandwich, in which case sides arent even necessary. But, if youd like to build a really classic BBQ chicken dinner, these side dish recipes are the way to go:
Can You Cook Raw Chicken In A Sauce In The Oven
Cooking raw chicken in a sauce in the oven can be a great way to get that delicious, juicy bird. However, there are a few things you need to be aware of before trying this process.
The first is that cooking chicken in a sauce can result in it becoming dry and overcooked. Second, make sure to use an oven safe dish or pan when cooking your raw chicken because even the slightest mistake can lead to disaster.
Recommended Reading: Ge Digital Air Fry 8-in-1 Toaster Oven
The Very Easiest Bbq Chicken Recipe Ever Baked In The Oven For Year
Finger-licking good is just the tip of the iceberg with this baked BBQ chicken recipe! Cooked in the oven, these chicken thighs couldnt be easier to make any time of yearno grill necessary. Chicken thighs are much more moist and juicy than chicken breast, and nutritionallytheyre a bit more fatty but theyre also more nutritious. Coated generously in BBQ sauce and then baked in a hot oven, they become absolutely fall-apart tender. You can serve them with corn on the cob, a big salad, or build a wonderfully messy BBQ chicken sandwich around those perfectly roasted, saucy chicken thighs. However you eat them, we promise youll be deeply satisfied.
Common Questions About Baked Bbq Chicken Breast

Is this a saucy chicken recipe?
There will be enough sauce in the baking dish to spoon some over the chicken breasts when you serve them.
What BBQ sauce should I use?
We love to make our own homemade BBQ sauce so we can control the sugar and other ingredients. If you have a favorite store-bought BBQ sauce use that! Sweet Baby Ray’s is a popular choice.
Can I make this recipe with chicken thighs?
Chicken thighs cook differently than chicken breasts. If you want to use thighs, we recommend using our baked BBQ chicken recipe.
Why is the sauce runny?
Some chicken breasts are injected with water to make them look larger. This water is released during cooking which can water down the sauce. If this happens to you, pour the sauce into a small pan and boil it rapidly over high heat for a few minutes so it thickens.
How do I tell if the chicken is cooked?
When chicken breast is ready to eat, the meat will be completely white on the inside. Using an instant-read meat thermometer is the best way to check the chicken. Knowing the exact temperature helps ensure that you don’t overcook the chicken, which is essential if you want it to remain juicy. Once the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, it is fully cooked and safe to eat.
You May Like: How To Cook Small Ham In Oven
What To Serve With Bbq Chicken
You can serve this Baked BBQ Chicken Breast with any easy sides you like! For a well-rounded meal, choose a vegetable, healthy grain, and serving of fruit to go with the protein-dense chicken. Here are some ideas to get you started:
If you try a recipe and you like it, leave us some feedback in the comment section below, and dont forget to rate it! We would love it if you shared it with friends and family.
Finally, please use our hashtag #healthyfitnessmeals on for a chance to be featured! FOLLOW Healthy Fitness Meals on | | | for all of our latest blog posts and recipes.
How To Make The Best Bbq Sauce For Chicken
And just like that, you’ll have better BBQ sauce than anything you’ll find in a store. So easy!
Full recipe in the recipe card below.
Of course, you can use BBQ sauce to marinate your chicken before you throw them on the grill, but it has so many more uses.
Don’t Miss: Electric Oven Won’t Heat Up
How To Get Crispy Charred Skin
Oh boy, do I love some good crispy chicken skin. Those dark, charred parts of oven bbq chicken are the best!
Something to note: these chicken pieces are smothered in sauce, so the skin wont ever be quite as crispy as when you roast it when herbs and butter, for example.
Here are some tips for getting that dark, charred, crispy skin:
How To Get A Super Thick Bbq Glaze
First, the chicken is seasoned with oil, salt and pepper, placed skin side down on a rimmed baking sheet, and roasted for 25 minutes.
Then, the chicken is removed from the oven and basted with BBQ sauce THREE times.
Each time BBQ sauce is added, it thickens and caramelizes in the oven. By the time youve added that third layer, youve got a delicious thick, sweet, sticky layer of BBQ sauce on every inch of the chicken.
YUM.
Don’t Miss: Chicken Cooking Temperature In Oven
Baked Bbq Chicken Breast
Baked BBQ chicken breast is an easy weeknight dinner recipe that is always a winner. The chicken is smothered in bbq sauce then baked for 30 minutes. It turns out tender, juicy, and delicious every time. If you’re looking for an oven baked bbq chicken breast recipe, this is the one that you want to make!
This recipe is the chicken breast version of our popular baked bbq chicken thighs. It’s all about the sweet and sticky bbq sauce that coats the chicken and creates a delicious sauce as it cooks.
The chicken turns out tender and juicy and absolutely smothered in a thick and caramelized bbq sauce.
It’s an incredibly easy recipe that you can reach for on busy weekday evenings and know that it will be a hit at your dinner table!
And if you make your own bbq sauce then you can skip the refined sugars and turn this into a healthy recipe.
How Long Does It Take To Bake Bbq Chicken In The Oven
The entire process including a 5-minute prep takes less than an hour. You can split the entire cooking time into three steps:
- Prep – It is very easy to prep and does not take more than 5 min.
- Bake the chicken – 20 mins to cook the chicken as a first step.
- Apply BBQ sauce and bake again – 20 mins in total. 10 mins each side after applying the BBQ sauce.
Recommended Reading: Ooni Pizza Oven Discount Code
How To Make Baked Bbq Chicken Breast
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Then grease a casserole dish with a bit of oil.
- Season chicken: Place the chicken breast into a large Ziploc bag. Add oil, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, and salt. Shake well until fully coated with oil and spices.
- Add BBQ sauce and bake: Next, place the chicken into the prepared dish. Brush the breast with half of the BBQ sauce and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
- Flip and add more sauce: After 15 minutes flip the chicken and brush again with the BBQ sauce and continue to bake until cooked through.
- Serve: Once done, remove from the oven. Slice and serve warm with the remaining BBQ sauce.
What To Serve With Baked Bbq Chicken

In the spirit of all things BBQ, Im going to suggest classic sides for a BBQ cook out and also some lighter alternatives just in case youre counting your calories!
1. Sauce subs:
- Ketchup – sub with Tomato Sauce
- Cider vinegar – can sub with white wine, sherry or champagne vinegar, OR 2 tbsp normal white vinegar
- Onion powder – sub garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, finely minced
2. Chicken –Breast / boneless thighs
- Mix sauce WITHOUT water
- Use 1 kg / 2 lb breast or boneless thighs
- Follow the cooking directions in this recipe – Sticky Baked Chicken Thighs. ie coat with 2/3 sauce, bake on high, baste with remaining sauce & broil/grill to finish.
3. TIPS:
- Pan – light scrubbing will be required to clean! So either use glass/ceramic OR metal pan lined with foil then parchment/baking paper.
- Sauce thickness at end depends one many factors eg – how snug the chicken is in the baking dish, how juicy / fatty the chicken is, oven accuracy. But very easy to adjust – too thick, add splash of water, too thin, return just the pan to the oven for a minute or two
4. Barbecue Sauce5. Nutrition
Don’t Miss: Lodge Dutch Oven 6 Quart
What Kind Of Bbq Sauce Should I Use
You can use any kind you want! I live right down the street from Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX, and Im obsessed with their Spicy BBQ Sauce.
A lot of readers have commented that theyve used Sweet Baby Rays with great results.
Something to keep in mind: a lot of store-bought BBQ sauces have a lot of added sugar. Frankly, its what makes it taste so good and sugar is vital for getting that thick caramelization. You can make your own homemade bbq sauce if you prefer.
Prepare yourself for finger-licking deliciousness.
Oven Roasted Bbq Chicken
This Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken is an easy way to enjoy sticky, finger licking chicken that turns out tender and juicy every time. Seasoned chicken breasts are roasted, then smothered in BBQ sauce, and baked to perfection. This will be a family favorite recipe, guaranteed!
This post was originally posted on 8/3/2020 and updated on 7/29/2022.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Click HERE to read my policies.
Also Check: Outdoor Brick Grill And Oven
Best Bbq Sauce For Chicken
This is our favorite BBQ sauce for chicken. It has the perfect balance between sweet and tangy with a little hint of smokiness. It makes chicken taste amazing! It’s also quick to make and easily refined sugar-free.
THIS. Yes, this sweet, tangy, smoky, and oh so tasty BBQ sauce that is perfect for chicken. Or perfect for nearly everything you want to taste like delicious BBQ.
Baked Bbq Chicken Drumsticks
Delightfully tangy baked BBQ chicken drumsticks combine crispy baked chicken legs with a smoky barbecue sauce that’s cooked to perfection! This easy dinner is a family favorite go-to for nights that you can’t fire up the grill!
Enjoy all the flavor of the grill with half the effort with these delightfully sticky baked BBQ chicken drumsticks!
These baked BBQ chicken drumsticks are perfect forthose times you are craving BBQ, but dont have the right weather to fire up the grill. They are also so easy to prepare that you may just make them even when it is BBQ weather outside!
Baking these drumsticks gives you a nice toasty outside that helps keep the chicken nice and juicy inside. It also makes it extremely easy for you!
Once the chicken is in the oven, you can let it do its thing until its time to add the BBQ sauce.
With how easy these are to prepare you also have plenty of time to make additional homemade side dishes and even desserts!
Recommended Reading: Control Board For Whirlpool Oven
Why Youll Love This Bbq Chicken Recipe:
- ITS EASY TO MAKE: You only need a few ingredients, including a handful of seasonings, some chicken, and barbeque sauce to prepare this recipe.
- THE CHICKEN TASTES AMAZING: No more dry, flavorless chicken when you follow this recipe. Its absolutely delicious.
- ITS SO VERSATILE: You can do a lot with this chicken after youve prepared it, such as serving it on a bed of lettuce in a salad, using it to make a burrito bowl, or even pairing with some of your favorite side dishes.
The Baked BBQ Chicken is, by far, one of the easiest recipes youll ever come across. Whether youre new in the kitchen or not, you can enjoy making this delicious entree.
How To Make Baked Bbq Chicken:
Baking chicken is a simple process that people all over the world do on a daily basis. Whether baking chicken in the oven or in the slow cooker, the final product really depends on how you marinate, sauce, spice, or season the chicken.
For this BBQ Chicken recipe, I like to marinate my chicken breasts in some oil and the seasonings ahead of time.
Then when preparing to bake we cover them in the BBQ sauce. Easy to make and it results in a super moist and juicy, and flavorful chicken breast.
Next, you just need to figure out what to serve with the chicken! My Best Side Dish Recipes to Serve with Chicken Roundup will be perfect for you to figure out a companion to this dinner.
Recommended Reading: Ninja Foodi Air Fry Oven Recipes
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Super Easy! When it comes to cooking chicken, it doesnt get much easier than these baked drumsticks. Once you have seasoned them, just slide them in the oven and let them cook.
So Tasty! Think about why friend chicken is so yummy, it has a toasty outside that seals in all the juiciness of the chicken! These BBQ drumsticks do the same thing, but with delicious barbecue sauce!
It’s Versatile! I love making these with drumsticks, but you can use your favorite chicken pieces!
Why These Are Our Go

- The combination of simple, pantry-staple spices gives them tons of flavor.
- They are always juicy. We cook them with the skin on which ensures they never dry out.
- Based on the popular Perfect Baked Chicken Breasts recipe so you’ll know they’ll be a hit.
- After only 5 minutes of prep and they’ll be ready to hang out in the oven and cook themselves.
- Sugar-free! Many chicken thigh recipes call for sugar, but we think it’s unnecessary. This recipe is crazy delicious AND healthy.
- Whole30 + keto + gluten-free. All the good things.
- Leftovers are great sliced off the bone and served over salad for lunch. 1 recipe = 2 meals. Love meal prep!
You May Like: Sweet Potato Recipes In Oven
How To Bake Bbq Chicken
This recipe is so easy to make that it’s one of our go-to recipes for when we don’t feel like cooking. Here’s what to do:
That’s it! BBQ baked chicken in 4 simple steps!
Full recipe in the recipe card below.
How To Store Baked Bbq Chicken In The Fridge
It is easy to refrigerate or freeze cooked BBQ chicken. The good thing is once you reheat it, there isn’t any difference at all while you have it post freezing.
To refrigerate baked BBQ chicken, put the cooked pieces in an airtight container .
You can refrigerate them for up to 3 days.
To freeze the chicken, cling wrap the pieces individually . It would be difficult to separate them later if they stick together. Put the wrapped pieces in a zip-lock bag and you can leave it frozen up to 3 months.
When it is time to serve the chicken, take them out of the fridge and leave it aside to thaw. Once the chicken comes to room temperature, reheat it in the microwave until it gets warm.
Read Also: Wood Pizza Oven For Sale
What Cut Of Chicken Is Best To Use For Oven Bbq Chicken
For the juiciest, most tender oven bbq chicken, youre definitely going to want to use bone-in, skin on chicken pieces for this. I used a mix of thighs and drumsticks, and I do recommend using thighs and/or legs, since dark meat is harder to overcook and almost always tastes juicier than white.
Heres a general run-down of which cuts are worst and best for oven bbq chicken:
- Worst: boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Not quite as bad: boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Better: bone-in, skin on chicken breasts
- Best: bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and/or legs
If you want to use chicken breasts, I recommend making sure you get bone-in, skin on breasts. Or at the very least, bone-in. The skin and the bone both help keep the chicken super juicy. And if you use dark meat as well, youve hit the trifecta! Using bone-in, skin on dark meat guarantees juicy, tender chicken every time. As a bonus: these pieces are generally a lot less expensive!
If you really want to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, make sure you cook them for less time. Check out the recipe notes for how to do it. For a recipe that uses bone-in, skin OFF chicken thighs, check out this Spiced Chicken and Rice with Apples and Raisins.
And if youre looking for super high quality chicken at a reasonable price, check out ButcherBox!