Oven BBQ Chicken with Homemade Sweet and Smokey BBQ Sauce seems to be a thing of the past. I don’t understand the reason for such foolishness. A tasty, easy and uncomplicated dish should never fall out of favor. That’s my honest opinion.
School lunchrooms, back in the day, served their share of oven BBQ chicken. My Granny’s kitchen turned out boat loads of it. It makes fine eating. Sometimes it’s impractical to grill chicken outdoors; the weather’s bad, don’t have the time to stand over it, your back’s going out on you and the only place you’re comfortable is your recliner.
All are good reasons to cook your chicken indoors instead of out.
When I began cooking Oven BBQ Chicken, the sauce always ran off the chicken and puddled in the pan. That’s was before I got the secret from the expert.
Granny said, “Shug, you got to cook your chicken in a hot oven. You ain’t never gonna get your sauce to stay up on your chicken if you don’t.”
That seems simple enough. But, wait…here we go.
I said, “Granny, I cook at 350 degrees. That’s hot.”
To which Granny replied, “It ain’t hot enough.”
Which made me reply, “How hot does it need to be?”
Of course, her reply was, “Hot enough for the sauce to stay up on it.”
Oh, my heavens! What I would give for just one more kitchen dialog with my Granny. I never got frustrated with her but, rather, loved each and every similar conversation that we had. I would either figure it out on my own or consult cookbooks.
She wasn’t being glib with her answers. Common to the era, kitchen cooks thought other kitchen cooks had enough sense to figure out details on their own. That’s wasn’t the era of mind-boggling, minute detail swapping common to recipes today.
As usual, she was right. It does need to be cooked in a hot oven to make the sauce stay up on it. Granny was always right, even about things that had nothing to do with cooking.
If you’re looking for another sauce recipe, try this recipe for Homemade BBQ Sauce. The list of ingredients is a tad lengthy, but they’re all common items
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Homemade Sweet and Smokey BBQ Sauce
yield: 3/4 pint
If the sauce is too sweet for your liking, decease the amount of sugar or increase the amount of apple cider vinegar. Bacon drippings are essential for a smokey flavor. Don’t skimp!
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Melt bacon drippings in a pan. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until onions are soft.
Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree sauce.
Oven BBQ Chicken
yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cover baking pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. If the sauce on the chicken starts browning too quickly before the chicken is done, cover lightly with aluminum foil for the duration of cooking time. Any chicken piece can be substituted for legs. Adjust cooking time as necessary.
10 chicken legs
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce.
Salt and pepper chicken pieces and let them come to room temperature before cooking.
Brush each piece with BBQ sauce.
Cook in preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the thickest part.
Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Brush with additional sauce before serving. Have extra sauce on hand to pass around.
Oven BBQ Chicken with Homemade Sweet and Smokey BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- BBQ Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- BBQ Chicken:
- 10 chicken legs
- salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce.
Instructions
- BBQ Sauce:
- Melt bacon drippings in a pan. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until onions are soft.
- Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree sauce.
- BBQ Chicken:
- Salt and pepper chicken pieces and let them come to room temperature before cooking.
- Brush each piece with BBQ sauce.
- Cook in preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the thickest part.
- Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Brush with additional sauce before serving. Have extra sauce on hand to pass around.
Jean says
Hi Jackie…I guess that does make sense! I don’t remember either of my Grandmothers giving me cooking advice. You are lucky to have had such a grandmother. I don’t think that either of mine were fabulous cooks and both were different in the foods they served and the way they cooked it. It seemed that we ate it up tho! BBQ sauce is never too sweet nor too hot unless you drop the entire box of red pepper in it!
Jackie Garvin says
Jean,
I can’t relate to anything being too sweet but not everyone has my taste buds. I can tolerate some spiciness now. For the longest, I didn’t like any heat at all in my food. I think that has to do with the fact that your taste buds dull as you age.
Sandra Davis says
Jackie
I have the sauce made and in my frig marrying up. I can’t wait to fix it when I get home!
I was wondering what I would have for dinner tonight until I read your email this morning with this beautiful recipe.
I can’t wait for dinner , I’m having fettuccine Alfredo with it. Everyone should eat it up with no leftovers!!
Jackie Garvin says
I hope it works out for you and your sweet family, Sandra. I had enough sauce for two batches of chicken so we had it twice in one week.
Harriett says
Gotta make some. What an easy approach to BB Chicken.
Jackie Garvin says
I hope you love it, Harriet. I made it twice in one week. I’m whipping up a new batch of sauce today.
Mary says
I stopped making BBQ chicken in the oven because the sauce wouldn’t stay on the meat. Now, I know why and how to fix it……..you’re a gem!!!! Thanks for making it possible to have BBQ chicken in the oven again!
Jackie Garvin says
Mary,
Isn’t that something! You’ve just got to know how hot it hot. 🙂
heyjude195430Jude says
When I was growing up, we never had a grill. So oven barbequed chicken was the only “barbeque” we ate. We usually had it with “light” bread (white sandwich bread) and maybe baked beans. We loved it. I will have to make it for my Grandchildren for old times sake. Less the light bread, probably.
Jackie Garvin says
Jude,
Did you notice the light bread I had in the photo? I don’t eat it anymore but my husband sure does.
denise says
Love this and will make some up real soon. I have always been on the lookout for some good BBQ sauce–that would stay on the chicken. I think you started something here !
Jackie Garvin says
Denise,
The secret to keeping the sauce on the chicken has more to do with cooking at high temps than the kind of sauce used. However, I love how this sauce turned out. Don’t skimp on the bacon drippings! 🙂
heyjude195430Jude says
I did Jackie! My Mother loved white light bread because they didn’t have it growing up and she considered it a treat. She said they had plain old biscuits and cornbread! And Oh My Goodness, I now consider biscuits and cornbread a treat! Life is funny.
Jackie Garvin says
Yes, it certainly is! My father couldn’t sit down to a meal without light bread.
Maggie says
The chicken and BBQ sauce sound delicious! My most vivid memory of my PaPaw was his favorite lunch—light bread, butter beans and slices of raw onions with an ice cold glass of buttermilk! While I could eat biscuits all day long, I think he could eat a whole loaf of white bread every day by himself!
Jackie Garvin says
Maggie,
I love your PaPaw and I’ve never even met him. 🙂