Description
Oven Baked BBQ Chicken with a quick homemade barbecue sauce combines tender, juicy bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces baked to perfection with a tangy, sweet, and slightly spicy sauce. Finished under the broiler for a caramelized top, this crowd-pleasing dish is easy to prepare and perfect for family dinners or casual gatherings.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Sauce
- 1 cup ketchup or Australian/UK tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
- 1 cup water
Chicken
- 1.5 kg / 3 lb chicken thighs (bone in, skin on), drumsticks or wings
- Fresh parsley, chives or finely chopped green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F) to ensure it’s hot enough for baking the chicken thoroughly.
- Prepare the Sauce: In a ceramic or glass baking dish, combine all the sauce ingredients—ketchup, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, mustard powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper—and stir in the water until well mixed.
- Add the Chicken: Place the chicken pieces into the sauce in the baking dish, turning them to coat evenly. Arrange the chicken skin side down for baking.
- Bake Initial Phase: Bake the chicken in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, allowing the flavors to penetrate and the chicken to begin cooking.
- Turn and Baste: Remove the dish from the oven, turn the chicken pieces over, and spoon some of the sauce over them to keep them moist and flavorful.
- Bake Further: Return the chicken to the oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes, ensuring it cooks thoroughly and the sauce thickens around the chicken.
- Skim Excess Fat: Optionally, tilt the pan carefully and spoon or drain off any excess fat that accumulates in the dish to keep the sauce cleaner and lighter.
- Broil to Caramelize: Switch your oven to the broil or grill setting on high. Generously spoon more sauce over the chicken, then place the dish under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to caramelize the sauce and crisp the skin. Watch closely as this can happen quickly.
- Garnish and Serve: Remove the chicken from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley, chives, or green onions before serving. Enjoy with your favorite side dishes like mashed potatoes or green bean salad.
Notes
- For the sauce, ketchup can be substituted with Australian or UK-style tomato sauce, which is less sweet than American ketchup.
- If apple cider vinegar is unavailable, white wine, sherry, or champagne vinegar can be used. Alternatively, 2 tablespoons of regular white vinegar is acceptable.
- Onion powder can be swapped out for garlic powder or one finely minced garlic clove according to taste.
- This recipe works best with bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces like thighs, drumsticks, or wings. Using breast or boneless thighs will require adjusting baking times and sauce application to keep the chicken moist.
- Use a ceramic or glass baking dish for best results; if using metal pans, line with foil and parchment paper to ease cleanup.
- Sauce thickness can vary based on chicken juiciness and oven accuracy. Adjust by adding a splash of water if too thick or returning the pan briefly to the oven if too thin.
- The barbecue sauce recipe is adapted from the Neely’s recipe featured on Food Network.
- Nutrition estimates assume 3 tablespoons of excess fat are removed and all sauce is consumed.
