Grilled BBQ Chicken
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Charred edges, a sticky-tangy glaze, and smoky barbecue flavor all the way through—this grilled BBQ chicken is a go-to for summer cookouts.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
We have a running joke about chicken in my family. Whenever I say we’re having chicken for dinner, my husband says, “Chicken again?” and then rattles off a seemingly endless list of chicken dinners his mother used to make: chicken parm, chicken cutlets, chicken schnitzel, chicken pot pie, and so on. The kids immediately pile on, groaning about all my chicken dinners. Luckily, these BBQ chicken breasts always win everyone over. They’re smoky, saucy, and loaded with barbecue flavor. I guarantee clean plates all around—proof there’s always room for one more chicken dinner!
“I made this chicken twice in the past week and received raves both times. Easy peasy and definitely crowd-pleasing!”
What You’ll Need To Make BBQ Chicken
- Chicken: You can use chicken tenderloins or boneless breasts. If using chicken breasts, it’s important to pound them to an even ½-inch thickness before marinating. This both tenderizes the breasts and ensures they cook evenly. (Pounding is not necessary if using tenderloins, as tenderloins are naturally very tender.)
- Marinade: Vegetable oil, garlic, salt, light brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.
- BBQ sauce: You can use a good quality store-bought sauce or make your own. My homemade BBQ sauce is quick and easy.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, garlic, salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Unlike many BBQ chicken marinades, this one skips acidic ingredients like vinegar or citrus, which can make lean chicken breasts dry and a bit leathery.
Step 2: Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken to the bowl and toss with tongs until evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
Pro tip: Marinating in spices rather than BBQ sauce is the secret to deep BBQ flavor — spices penetrate the meat and season it throughout, while sauce sits on the surface and its high sugar content can burn before the chicken is cooked through.
Step 3: Grill the first side. Preheat the grill to high and oil the grates. Grill the chicken, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes.
Pro tip: If you’d prefer to use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, preheat the grill to medium (350 to 375°F), oil the grates, and place the chicken, skin-side up, on the cooler side of the grill. Cook covered for 35 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally to prevent flare-ups. If the skin isn’t crispy yet, move it, skin-side down, to the hotter side for a few minutes — just keep a close eye on it.
Step 4: Flip and sauce. Flip the chicken and brush with some of the barbecue sauce. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
Step 5: Serve. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve with the remaining barbecue sauce alongside. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Grilled BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1¾ lbs chicken tenderloins or boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon (packed) light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- About 1 cup store-bought barbecue sauce or homemade BBQ sauce
Instructions
For the Chicken
- If using boneless skinless chicken breasts, place the chicken breasts one at a time in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag; using a meat mallet, pound the breasts to an even ½-in (13-mm) thickness. (Skip this step if using tenderloins.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, garlic, salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne. Place the chicken in the bowl and, using tongs, toss until the chicken is evenly coated with the marinade. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the grill to high and oil the grates. Grill the chicken, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the chicken, and then brush with some of the barbecue sauce. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. (Note that tenderloins will cook faster than breasts.)
- Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve with the remaining barbecue sauce alongside.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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What an amazing recipe. I had everything except brown sugar so substituted with granulated sugar and a bit of maple syrup. Used sweet baby Ray’s bbq sauce and some shredded cheese on top. (For the kiddos) loved the heat from the ingredients but it wasn’t “hot”
I normally don’t write reviews but this recipe was absolutely delicious! I had not been able to get my bbq chicken the way I wanted it until this recipe! Absolutely, mouth watering! Best recipe I’ve tried and I’ve tried many…. I didn’t have the full six hours to marinate it, so I did 4 and it still turned out perfectly! Thank you!
Your recipe prep should include the marinading time – or put in another section for resting or marinading time. It has been disappointing to read several of your recipes only to find none that I can make tonight, seeing as dinner is in an hour and a half. Will try one another night when I am prepping the day before.
I’m sorry you had that experience! For future reference, under the prep and cook time lines in the recipe box, there is a total time line. If the recipe requires marinating, chilling, etc., it’s indicated there.
Another delicious recipe! Loved the smoky, sweet, & tangy flavors. I added this chicken to a barbecue chicken salad including black beans, jicama, roasted corn, and onion strings. For the dressing, I mixed your buttermilk ranch dressing recipe and your sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Out of this world! This will become a regular!
Hi Jenn! This is one of our all-time faves (we love EVERYTHING we’ve tried from you!) This will be my first time cooking it in the oven as it is way too cold and rainy to go outside to use the grill. I see your instructions to other people on broiling and my question is: do I need to do anything to the sheet pan…foil? grease it? Also do I pre-heat? I grill outside on a super-hot setting and I’m not sure if my oven’s grill gets hot enough to keep the wonderful tenderloins moist. It’s a gas stove, BTW.
Hi Maryalice, thanks for your nice words about the recipes-so glad you like them! You can broil this in the oven as I’ve shared with other readers. I would put it on a sheet pan covered with foil for easy cleanup. No cooking spray needed. And, yes, preheat your broiler for a few minutes before putting the chicken in. Alternatively, you can use a use a grill pan. Heat it over medium-high heat until hot. Add the marinated chicken breasts and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side without touching, until the chicken develops nice grill marks. Using tongs, flip the chicken over and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, or until cooked through. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the alternate instructions! I was looking in the recipe notes for this. My poor grill bit the dust yesterday and I had this recipe prepped for today!
I’ve tried 4,762 chicken recipes and tips on how to cook moist chicken. AT LAST, Success with this one!
Thank you!
🙂
I’m glad the 4,763rd one worked!
LOL, 4,763. My husband and I thought this recipe was just wonderful. I couldn’t believe how perfect the heat was. I was a little afraid with all the heated spices it would be to spicy for hubby, but it was great and he loved it. I don’t know if anybody ever tells you this, but what a blessing it is that great people like you start blogs and share so many of your recipes. It must be so time consuming to list them all and so attractively on your site. I just wanted to thank you for sharing. I salute you and all the other food bloggers for your tireless efforts to make the world happy and share your fantastic recipes.
💗
Hello, this looks delicious. I’m planning on making it with drums … will 6 hours marinating be enough and will it still be favourful?
Thanks!
Sure Natacha, 6 hours is enough — hope you enjoy!
This recipe, like all of the recipes from you that I’ve made, was splendid! We used skinless boneless breasts because thats what we had on hand. I was worried they would be dry, but they were incredibly moist and so flavourful. We used Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ sauce, but I’m looking forward to trying with your homemade sauce. We served with leftover mushroom and beef consomme rice, a kale salad, and diced cucumbers. We’re having leftovers tonight as chicken burgers. Adding this to our menu rotation.
Great recipe, as always. What do you think about using this to marinate pork blade steaks?
Sure, I think it would work nicely (and glad you liked it)!
Great, simple recipe to accompany a summertime salad. Made this one yesterday and fed a crowd by tripling the ingredients. I used tenderloins. I prepared your A Better Macaroni Salad in the morning, along with some deviled eggs, and appreciated the short cook time for the chicken. It freed me up to spend more time with my family. They all enjoyed the meal including my younger, picky son who normally doesn’t eat chicken. He said, “It’s good. I’ll eat it again.” Thanks for sharing this one, Jenn!