Baked BBQ Chicken

Baked BBQ Chicken is an easy dinner that needs only 2 ingredients!

Juicy chicken is baked to perfection, glazed in your favorite BBQ sauce.

You’ll learn how to bake a cut-up chicken with all the different parts and how to bake each part separately.

And depending on the BBQ sauce you use, this baked BBQ chicken can also be gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, Paleo and Whole30 friendly!

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Why this recipe works

Proper barbecued chicken made on a grill is a specialty that cannot be perfectly reproduced in the oven, but when it’s this easy to make, you’ll be baking up BBQ chicken every chance you get!

All you need to know are two very important things:

1. how long to bake your chicken
2. for the best flavor, the chicken needs at least two separate coats of sauce while it bakes

Once you’ve got those basic points down, the rest is a snap!

 

What you need

Ingredients:

1. A whole 3-4 pound chicken, cut up into 8 parts (or your favorite chicken parts; see cooking times below)
2. Your favorite BBQ sauce (I personally love to use my Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce – it’s a little sweet, a little tangy and can be as spicy as you like)
3. cooking spray for the baking sheet rack (so the chicken doesn’t stick); I like to use avocado oil spray for its neutral flavor and high smoke point
4. fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper (optional)

Equipment:

1. a baking sheet with a rack insert
2. a silicone brush
3. cooking spray
4. cooking tongs
5. aluminum foil
6. an instant read thermometer or oven probe thermometer (highly recommended to make sure you never over- or under-bake chicken ever again)

How to prepare Baked BBQ Chicken

Step 1: Heat the oven to 375°.

Step 2: Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil, set the rack inside the pan and spray the rack with cooking spray.

Step 3: Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and place them on the rack skin-side up.

Step 4: Add about 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce to a small bowl. Since the brush will be touching raw chicken at this point while also dipping into the sauce, you want to make sure to keep this sauce separate from the rest.

Step 5: Brush an even layer of sauce onto the skin side of all the pieces. Discard any leftover sauce in the bowl.

Step 6: Bake per the cooking times below.

Step 7: When the pieces have 15 minutes left to bake, pull them out and apply one more layer of sauce.

Step 8: Bake for another 15 minutes. Once they’re done, you can decide if you want to broil the chicken for a few minutes to make the skin crispier. Depending on how much sugar is in your BBQ sauce, you’ll want to keep an eye on the chicken as it broils to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Step 9: Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with any remaining sauce.

Note: Some sauces have more sugar than others. If your sauce has a lot of sugar, the top of the chicken pieces might start to brown too quickly before they’re cooked all the way through. If they start to get really brown before they’re close to the end of their cooking time, cover the tray loosely with aluminum foil. This will protect the tops while letting them continue to cook through.

 

Cooking times for Baked BBQ Chicken

As a general rule, use the following guideline for how long to bake your chicken at 375º:

• A whole chicken cut up into 8 parts – This will consist of 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks and 2 wings, all bone-in and with skin. Bake for 25 minutes, brush with sauce and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165° (make sure the thermometer is not touching the bone). But know that bone-in chicken breasts can take a lot longer than the other pieces so you might need to remove the other pieces from the oven and let the breasts bake for another 5-15 minutes.
• Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts – 45-60 minutes total
• Boneless chicken breasts – 25-35 minutes total
• Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – 30-45 minutes total
• Boneless chicken thighs – 25-35 minutes total
• Chicken drumsticks – 30-45 minutes total
• Chicken wings – 25-40 minutes

How to store Baked BBQ Chicken

Once baked, the chicken can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in a low oven and then broil for a few minutes.

The chicken can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat as above.

 

What to serve with Baked BBQ Chicken

The great thing about this recipe is that it goes with so many sides. Treat it like a classic cookout with coleslaw and potato salad or use any of your other favorite sides with chicken:

1. coleslaw
2. potato salad
3. sautéed or stir-fried vegetables
4. cornbread (like this Paleo/gluten-free cornbread)
5. baked sweet potatoes
6. macaroni and cheese
7. stewed collard greens
8. creamed greens (like this creamed kale)
9. corn
10. biscuits (like these Paleo/gluten-free biscuits)

 

Other recipes you might like:

1. Oven BBQ Pork Chops
2. Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce
3. Tequila Pineapple BBQ Sauce
4. Whole30 BBQ Sauce
5. Sheet Pan Chicken, Potatoes and Peas

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