One can say that oven-baked barbecue chicken will always be the perfect finger food. Have you ever heard of finger food? I’m sure you have! Finger foods are those types of yum yums, which you just can’t stop licking off your fingers. If you are a foodie and you’ve got a man at home, oven-baked barbecue chicken is exactly for you.
Even though the climate doesn’t allow us to sit outside and enjoy a lovely barbecue in the garden, we can still indulge on the delicious barbecue flavour from the oven-baked barbecue chicken. Get a head start on the barbecue season and set the trend in your neighbourhood. You’ll soon find neighbours bringing pints over to your house.
What is BBQ
BBQ, short for barbecue, is a cooking technique that usually involves slowly cooking an ingredient over open fire. Today’s definition of a barbecue involves a couple of friends and pints of beer. You can consider using a fixed grill or a portable grill. Either way it gets the job done. The main thing you’ll get out of the barbecuing technique is the presence of the delicious smoky flavour that just lasts throughout each bite. In fact, in some cultures, barbecues are used to preserve meat, as a result of the smoke. Nowadays, people usually associate barbecues with marinating their chosen ingredients. That’s technically incorrect because marinating is a totally separate cooking technique.
Where did it come from?
So, when and where did barbecuing first show up? There are debates whether one should credit barbecues to cowboys in the West (USA) or to the Caribbean. It’s a very tough discussion, as you can argue that surely the early Greeks “barbecued” their meat too. What do you think – when and where did it start? Every single time I shut my eyes and think of oven-baked barbecue chicken, I think of TV ads from the US. I know that it’s not just a fourth of July type of thing, we Britons can proudly call ourselves experts in barbecues. There is an American stigma to barbecues. Do you agree? Nevertheless, this recipe calls for an oven, not an actual barbecue. If you’ve got a barbecue – fantastic! Put it to work!
Using the chicken
Yes! You can use an entire chicken for the oven-baked barbecue chicken recipe. Either use a pack with pre-cut pieces from the supermarket, or you can butcher an entire chicken yourself. If you want to save money, buy the entire chicken or two. Cut the chicken into sections and keep the carcass for chicken soup. Throw in a couple of veggies, season well and you’ve got yourself two amazing dishes! Clever and economical at the same time. If you don’t have chicken sitting in the fridge, no worries. You can substitute easily with:
- Beef
- Fish
- Pork
- Vegetables
Nonetheless, beef still remains my favourite substitute for the oven-baked barbecue chicken. It doesn’t really matter what you use as long the sauce is tasty.
Vegetable lover
Do you prefer eating vegetables to meat? That’s absolutely fine. In fact, this recipe can be vegetarian-friendly very easily. Just use vegetables instead of meat. First, it contains less calories per serving. Second, it will cook faster, unless you get a huge piece of corn. Then it takes roughly the same amount of time. Third, you can eat totally guilt free! The vegetables you can consider using are:
- Corn – my favourite. Who doesn’t love smoky flavours on corn?
- Bell peppers– always works great with this sauce, especially if you burn them a little.
- Carrots – make sure you make the sauce thicker so it sticks to the carrots.
- Eggplant – burn the eggplant on the outside.
- Tomatoes
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
You can use so many different varieties of vegetables. I like to choose “finger veggies” for barbecue inspired recipe. Thus, corn is my favourite substitute for the oven-baked barbecue chicken.
The sauce
Simply mix all the ingredients together. The trick is in the ketchup. The higher quality ketchup you use, the more delicious your sauce on the oven-baked barbecue chicken will be! I like to use bio or organic ketchup, it’s less sweet and tastes more of tomatoes. You can try including an alcohol base to the sauce. I’ve come across a lot of suggestions of putting whiskey and honey in the barbecue sauce. Would you do it? I’ve also heard of putting beer into the sauce, for that nice bitterness. Apparently, it works well. If you want to try something completely new, why don’t you go for making paprika-honey-oregano marinade?
marinate
Once you finish your sauce, marinate your chicken if you plan to oven bake it. The longer you marinate, the better the chicken will taste. Not sure about you but, I myself am pretty impatient to marinate. I don’t plan ahead too much, and I struggle to marinate for long. What I usually do is to marinate my ingredients in the fridge overnight. It pays in the end! If you own a grill, just dip the chicken into the sauce and let it cook! Or in this case, let it smoke. Don’t be afraid to marinate the chicken longer. You can even do two days.
Serve with
You can just serve the oven-baked barbecue chicken as it is. It’s finger-licking good, so why add anything to it? It’ll just distract you from the delicious chicken. However, this is only under the assumption that you made enough for yourself. If you have guests or need to share, its best to serve the oven-baked barbecue chicken with a side.
You can consider a cherry tomato salad or a beautiful smashed cucumber salad. Eating meat can be quite heavy. Eating a light side will freshen you straight up for another piece of oven-baked barbecue chicken. If you want to go all in, then go for the obvious fries! As you can see, I’ve made plenty of sauce which can be poured into a bowl for dipping. Once you take the chicken out of the oven or off the grill, sprinkle some fresh coriander on top. It will add even more freshness.
For more recipes, see:
https://www.greedygourmet.com/recipes-by-course/main-course/cordero-de-cochifrito-recetas/GIVEAWAY
Oven-Baked Barbecue Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs, skinned if you prefer
- 120ml (8 tbsp) tomato ketchup
- 30ml (2 tbsp) brown sugar
- 15ml (1 tbsp) mild mustard
- 30ml (2 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 15ml (1 tbsp) vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C/425°F/gas 7).
- Make 2-3 deep cuts in each piece of chicken using a sharp knife. This allows the sauce to penetrate and flavour the chicken well.
- In a large bowl, mix the ketchup, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and oil. Add the chicken and stir until well coated with the sauce.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Give the remaining pan sauces a stir and drizzle over the chicken.
Notes
- Baked potatoes, boiled new potatoes or chips/fries with a crispy green salad.
- You can bake the chicken for a longer time; say 180°C (fan 160°C/350°F/gas 4). Just check that it’s cooked!
- The better quality ketchup you use, the greater the taste.
- If you like lots of sauce to dip your chips in, double up on the ingredients.
- After scrubbing the roasting tin for what felt like eternity I started using a silicone one and it works a treat.
- If you own a barbecue, you can grill the chicken on it and baste it with the sauce above.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 375
- Sugar: 15.5 g
- Sodium: 539 mg
- Fat: 19.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.2 g
- Protein: 30.3 g
- Cholesterol: 105 mg
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Muneeba says
Aha .. that makes two of us .. I don’t have a BBQ either – am saving for the perfect one! This chicken is great consolation though … and I have all the ingredients! Neat!!
Deborah says
I have a barbecue, but I still want to make this because it looks so good!!
loneacorn says
Is there a way we can make baked chicken if we neither have a barbecue nor an oven. As I am one of those but i love barbecued or roasted chicken. In know you must be surprised. But i will be glad, if you could suggest something.
Michelle says
Muneeba: Great minds own alike. 🙂 Please let me know how you get on.
loneacorn: What a tricky question! What I would have done is: Brown the chicken pieces in a bit of oil in a flame-proof casserole dish. Then add the sauce and let the whole lot simmer slowly at a low temperature – at least an hour, stirring to make sure the meat is covered with the yummy sauce. Alternative, you chicken breasts and stir fry with the sauce. The sauce is the star of the dish!
Deborah: You can still prepare this on the barbecue. Just keep basting with the sauce.
browniegirl says
YUMYUM!!! What a fab meal, I mightve said consolation meal but it looks soooo good I thought better of it hehe….I had such a good laugh while reading this. Well done xxx
Carmen says
I don’t have one either because we only have a tiny yard. This chicken looks yummy though and will definitly be trying the recipe. 😀
Ivy says
Your chicken is baked to perfection. Although I have one, it’s on a small balcony and I rarely use it as the whole apartments smells after barbecuing 🙂
Pragya says
Shall try tonight, looks drop dead gorgeous!
Pragya says
It was absolutely perfect, thanks a bunch for the recipe and Lonecorn thanks for the browning idea. I did not use the oven just tried your method and it was fantastic! Michelle please do an easy chicken roast too!
Pragya says
It was absolutely perfect, thanks a bunch for the recipe and Lonecorn thanks for the browning idea. I did not use the oven just tried your method and it was fantastic! Michelle please do an easy chicken roast too!
Sam says
I have a barbecue but it hardly ever gets used, every time I plan to it rains! Maybe next time I’ll have this chicken on standby, it looks fantastic!
nina says
You know that most South Africans braai in a half drum and I am not willing to have that in my garden. We have an indoor braai and we have a Weber. I like the indoor braai, because we can braai in winter, but the Weber does not do it for me!!! I’ll save up with you!!!
dot says
Thanks for posting this! It was really helpful when I was doing my own oven bbq chicken experiments!
(I included props back here: http://foodwhirl.com/whats-for-dinner/oven-barbequed-drumsticks)
nurun says
i have both oven and out door grill but i prefer to use the oven because of the hardship in cleaning the mess post bbq.i will surely try your recipe it looks yummy.Thanks for sharing..
nurun says
i have both oven and out door grill but i prefer to use the oven because of the hardship in cleaning the mess post bbq.i will surely try your recipe it looks yummy.Thanks for sharing..
Brandi S. says
This was amazing! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! It had a wonderful smoky flavor even though it was cooed in the oven. I used chicken breasts instead but it was still perfect!
jmollice says
THIS IS A VERY DELICIOUS RECIPE. MY FAMILY LOVED. AND SO DID I AND NOT KEEN ON BBQ CHICKEN. IALSO BROWNED FIRST AND ADDED SOME SOY SAUCE AND APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. THANKS LOVED THE RECIPE
Rosanna says
This is another very delicious recipe!!! And so simple and easy to make. We had great weather yesterday so we grilled outside. We had grilled potatoes too, perfect match with some Sauerkraut and greens! Thank you Michelle for this deliciousness. Cannot wait to try your other recipes.
michelle says
That’s fantastic news, Rosanna. Thanks so much for letting me know. Happy cooking!
★★★★★
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Definitely need to share this with my husband, he would LOVE this! The BBQ sauce sounds delish, and so easy to make too.
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs says
OMG. This is SO good. My biggest complaint with BBQ dishes is the lack of sauce but this has PLENTY. Even for me 🙂
Rachel says
I tried out this recipe..It came really well. Very juicy and tender chicken. Thanks for sharing
★★★★
Kate says
I love having barbecues and I bet this sauce would be delicious on sweetcorn.
cheryl hadfield says
We have a bbq but mostly go to my inlaws for bbqs , my ather in law is the king of bbq food, his speciality is chicken marinated in sweet chilli
Tracey Belcher says
I love BBQ chicken but I often add Texan beans or fried beans with it too – I also love BBQ burnt ends
Demi Morton says
Needed a simple quick non-spicy bbq sauce for my simplistic non-fussy 14 yr old son. This sauce is AWESOME. I nearly “tasted” all of the sauce before I dressed the chicken! It’s so simple yet SO GOOD! Being from South Eastern USA our regional sauce is Ketchup/Vinegar/Mustard base and lots of black and cayenne pepper. I resisted the urge to add Apple Cider Vinegar but this sauce is perfect as is for my son’s tastebuds
★★★★★
michelle says
Thanks Demi! I’m glad you enjoyed the sauce!
Stacey says
Does it say to preheat the oven to 220 degrees that seems awfully low for cooking chicken just want to make sure that is correct thx
michelle says
Hi Stacey, thanks for your comment. My chicken was perfectly fine with 220. The one thing I have is dry chicken – so this temperature helps preserve the juices and cooks the chicken thoroughly. Hope that helps 🙂
Rachel says
220 degrees Celsius equals 425 degrees Fahrenheit (US)
Jessica says
She means 425 F. You need to read the whole thing.
Scott Hester says
Had this for the 2nd time tonight. The key is to marinate. I didn’t the 1st time. Even though the first go around was good, I enjoyed the recipe alot more this time. I also added a little honey with the sauce. Thank you.
★★★★★
Al says
I have been making this for a few years, we bake boneless chicken breast in lots of sauce and serve it over white rice..
We just recently started using all these ingredients to the crockpot and cooking all day…. you have to use a lot of sauce
★★★★★
manoj says
Roasted chicken outdoor
★★★★★
Janice Shider says
Wonderful tasting BBQ Chicken, Family enjoyed. Great recipe, will make again. Certainly is well worth trying. Thanks!!!