Owl Creek Farm » Recipes » Main Dishes » Oven Barbecue Chicken
Close-up of several grilled chicken pieces with a glistening, caramelized glaze on a dark, textured grill surface, masterfully prepared by Owl Creek Farm.

Oven Barbecue Chicken

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An easy techinique for BBQ'd chicken when you can't, or don't want to, deal with the outside grill. Easy cleanup with a little extra prep!
Close-up of several grilled chicken pieces with a glistening, caramelized glaze on a dark, textured grill surface, masterfully prepared by Owl Creek Farm.

This Oven Barbecue Chicken gives the aroma of barbecue chicken drifting through your home, it’s is like stepping into a happy summer afternoon—warm, comforting, and full of promise, any time of year. Soon you’ll be gathering at the table – indoors or out – every plate laden with tender, sauce-glazed pieces that strike the perfect harmony between tangy sweetness and smoky char. If you’ve got a hyperactive smoke alarm, you might get some protesting from it in the background, but trust me, that’s just the sound of your dinner telling you it’s going to be fantastic. Open a window, let that smoky-sweet scent escape into the neighborhood, and prepare to make a new household favorite.

I admit that calling this a “recipe” might be stretching things a bit. At its core, all you need here are two essentials—your chicken and a good barbecue sauce. With these, you’re set for a fuss-free meal that tastes like it took far more planning and effort than it actually does. Store-bought barbecue sauce works wonderfully. In fact, I wholeheartedly recommend it because it’s inexpensive, widely available, and consistently delicious. We’re big fans of Sweet Baby Ray’s and Bull’s Eye at our house, and we go through so much sauce that making a homemade batch large enough to keep pace would be an uphill battle.

What makes this Oven Barbecue Chicken approach special is the technique. By roasting the chicken at a higher heat with frequent turning and brushing, that sauce bakes right onto the skin, turning delightfully sticky and thick. You end up with crisp edges and succulent meat inside, a contrast that makes every bite something to savor. Though you might see recipes that suggest using chicken breasts, that’s not the best cut for this method. The high-heat, sticky-sauce approach tends to favor pieces like thighs or drumsticks, which stay moist and juicy throughout the process. Breasts might dry out or lack the flavor punch you’re looking for here.

Once you’ve perfected your barbecue chicken, consider what to serve alongside it. This technique pairs beautifully with the classic sides like macaroni salad, my Potato Salad Recipe, and/or my Coleslaw Recipe. Personally, I can’t think of a more satisfying summertime dinner—or, honestly, a comfort meal any time of year—than a plate piled high with saucy chicken and creamy sides. My macaroni salad is still in the tinkering phase, but I promise once I finalize the perfect version, I’ll share it. In the meantime, your favorite store-bought sides (Costco sometimes has a 3/4 cheese Macaroni Salad that is surprisingly good!) or homemade staples will do the trick.

This easy-as-can-be technique is about to transform your kitchen into a backyard cookout—no grill required. It might not look fancy enough to earn a page in a gourmet cookbook, but what you’ll get is a meal that’s comfortingly familiar, undeniably delicious, and wonderfully hassle-free. And in the world of home cooking, that’s something worth savoring.

Close-up of several grilled chicken pieces with a glistening, caramelized glaze on a dark, textured grill surface, masterfully prepared by Owl Creek Farm.

Oven Barbecue (BBQ) Chicken

Amy @ owlcreek.ca
An easy techinique for BBQ'd chicken when you can't, or don't want to, deal with the outside grill. Easy cleanup with a little extra prep!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people
Calories 615 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Barbecue (BBQ) Sauce preferred brand or flavour
  • 8 Chicken Legs (or 4 hindquarters: see notes)
  • 8 Chicken Thighs (or 4 hindquarters: see notes)

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 375°f
  • To lessen the amount of cleanup, either use disposable aluminum baking sheets, or wrap your baking sheets in aluminum foil.
  • Over the foil, line with parchment paper to prevent any sticking. Cut the parchment so it's about an inch smaller than the pan on all sides to prevent edges from burning.

Prepare and Cook the Chicken

  • Rinse chicken pieces, if desired, and pat dry with clean paper towels.
  • Place the chicken on parchment paper in prepared pans, skin side down, avoid any pieces touching each other or the sides.
  • Brush top only with preferred barbecue sauce.
  • Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes at 375°f
  • Using mitts or pot holders, remove chicken from the oven to the stovetop or trivets.
  • Turn oven to 400°f
  • Brush each piece lightly with barbecue sauce.
  • Using tongs, carefully turn each piece over. Brush liberally with barbecue sauce. Place back in oven and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Brush liberally with barbecue sauce.
  • Place back in oven and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and brush the top of the chicken lightly with barbecue sauce.
  • Turn over, and brush liberally with sauce.
  • Repeat this 2-4 more times until the barbecue sauce coating the chicken is thick and getting crispy, almost to the point of blackening, to your preference. Exact timing will also depend on your oven and the barbecue sauce.
  • Serve immediately, and with lots of napkins handy!

Notes

Chicken Hindquarters vs Legs and Thighs - We've written the recipe like this for the nutrition calculation, which doesn't have a hindquarter option. Use hindquarters for best results. However, you can use separate legs and thighs, but be aware cooking times may change, check the meat more often.

Nutrition

Calories: 615kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 40gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 231mgSodium: 748mgPotassium: 618mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 327IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 2mg
Keyword barbecue, bbq sauce, chicken, hindquarters, legs, thighs

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We guarantee that all of our recipes are authentic recipes; they're developed, cooked or prepared, and enjoyed in our home. We are not professional, or even mediocre, photographers, and occasionally create AI images when photos don't turn out. None of the recipes on this website are created or modified using AI, and they never will be.

Amy
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