The Easiest Grilled BBQ Chicken Recipe
Bursting with smoky goodness, and coated in a delicious barbecue sauce (it’s all about the sauce, right?) our grilled BBQ chicken recipe is a summertime essential! Homemade BBQ Sauce (we always have a jar of it in the fridge this time of year) and using indirect heat (more on that later) is the secret to making the barbecued chicken of your dreams. Just be sure to plan ahead, because it takes a while to achieve that perfectly smoky-char, and you definitely want your chicken to be completely cooked. For more great grilling ideas, check out Our Best Grilled Chicken Recipes. Want more grilled chicken goodness? Try our Hot Honey Chicken, too!
3 Key Ingredients
- Chicken: Duh! The best chicken to grill is bone-in, skin-on, because you want maximum flavor! But the exact cut of chicken you want to grill is up to you! We’ve included cooking times for chicken wings, legs, thighs, and breasts. You could do all thighs or all breast meat, but it can be nice to offer a mix it up because that way everyone gets the chicken pieces they want.
- Kosher salt: Season the chicken before you dunk it in BBQ sauce. It’s just good manners!
- BBQ Sauce: Homemade BBQ Sauce is the best, and it only takes about ten minutes to make, but store bought BBQ sauce is also OK to use. Sometimes you just need grilled chicken, stat!
How to Grill BBQ Chicken
- Heat one side of the grill on high (400° F).
- Start with direct heat: Place the chicken, skin side down, on the side of the grill with direct heat and cook until charred all over, about 3-4 minutes each side. We start with direct heat so that your chicken gets a nice char on the skin.
- Add the BBQ sauce: Turn and brush the chicken evenly with half of the BBQ sauce.
- Now, let’s use indirect heat: Move the chicken to the other side of the grill now. Cover the grill and let the chicken cook over indirect heat for 15-20 minutes.
- Flip it! Flip the chicken pieces, add more BBQ sauce.
- Cover and finish: The chicken is done when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F on an instant read thermometer.
How Long Will It Take To Cook?
Great question! It depends on what chicken pieces you’re cooking. An instant-read thermometer is the best way to check for doneness, but just so you can plan your day, here are some rough estimates:
- Chicken wings, legs and boneless chicken thighs take about 30-40 minutes, or 15-20 minutes per side.
- Bone in, skin on thighs and boneless chicken breasts (depending on size) take about 40-50 minutes, or about 20-25 minutes per side.
Grilling Tips
- Look for a “party pack” of chicken at the grocery store. It’s a great mix of chicken pieces, and ideal for making sure that everyone gets the piece of chicken they like most.
- Indirect versus direct heat: If you are using a charcoal grill, move the coals over to one side of the grill so that you’ve got both a direct heat zone (for the first 10 minutes) and an indirect heat zone available to you.
- If you would like to speed up the cooking process, you can cook the chicken closer to the direct heat. However, keep in mind that the BBQ sauce is more likely to char and you will also lose some of the smokiness that results from cooking over indirect heat.
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftover grilled BBQ chicken in the fridge for 3-4 days. One of our favorite things to do is shred leftover BBQ chicken and use it in bowls and salads. You can also freeze BBQ chicken leftovers once it has cooled completely to room temperature. It will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
More Delicious Grilled Chicken Recipes
Let’s Be Grill Buddies!
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