Chicken baked bbq, so typed so you can find this page(!), is my answer to having bbq on a weeknight. And, thankfully it is easy bbq chicken! In fact, there are only three steps, and you can make these as easy as you’d like.
First, the cut chicken is brined or marinated. A teriyaki or fajita marinade is great, but considering the price (ingredients add up!) I use a brine. Next, the chicken is sprinkled with your favorite chicken dry rub and is baked in a hot oven. Finally, in the recipe barbecue sauce is brushed on after cooking. By brushing the warm sauce on, or tossing it (see below) there is no chance of scorching the chicken under heat.
Simple.
And, if you start with a whole chicken and cut it yourself- very budget friendly. In fact, as you can see in the picture below, you can cut the chicken into 12 pieces, by quartering the breast and including two back pieces.
Many people do not like the back, but its high ratio of skin and nuggets of tender meat, make it one of my favorites. However, it does need long cooking to render a lot of the fat.
Baked BBQ Chicken: Recipe
For the brine:
- 1/3 cup of your favorite dry rub
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 Qt. water
Mix all of the ingredients for the barbque chicken brine until dissolved.
Submerge the chicken and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the chicken from the marinade 1 hour before cooking and pat dry. Now toss the chicken pieces in 2 Tb olive oil.
Sprinkle lightly with your chicken dry rub. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
(Note: The rub you use will dictate more specifically how much you use in the brine and how much you rub on the chicken. Let you own taste be your guide)
Put legs, thighs and backs (if using) in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Add the white pieces, the breasts and wings. Bake for another 30 minutes.
Warm up your favorite store bought or homemade bbq sauce
Remove the chicken to a bowl. ( Note: The chicken will be very juicy, and tender at this point, including the skin. If you like your skin a bit more crispy, leave the chicken in the oven and turn up the heat to 500 degrees. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Or, turn the setting to broil and cook to desired crispiness.)
Now to make the chicken into actual chicken baked bbq:
Pour your warm sauce over and toss. (Or brush with sauce.)
