Grilled BBQ Chicken
Grilled BBQ Chicken is an easy guide to grilling juicy, smoky barbecue chicken on a gas grill! Recipe includes cooking times for chicken breast, thighs, legs and wings because everyone has their favorite cut of chicken!
It isn’t summer without barbecued chicken, especially when it’s slathered with my sweet and smoky bourbon bbq sauce! This Grilled BBQ Chicken recipe is perfectly juicy and finger lickin’ good.
Just to clarify, this recipe isn’t the slow roasted and smoked bbq chicken that you’ll get at a barbecue joint. It’s simply grilled chicken basted with barbecue sauce.
This guide will show you how to cook tender, juicy bbq chicken on a gas grill, and includes the cooking times for every cut of chicken.
Using a whole chicken is the cost effective way to make it if you’re serving a crowd. You can check out my post on how to cut a whole chicken for more information.
This recipe will be the hit of all of your summer barbecues and potlucks, and is guaranteed to outshine even the best side dishes. 🙂
Don’t want to fire up the grill? Make my slow cooker bbq pulled chicken or air fryer BBQ chicken!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Grilled BBQ chicken is smoky, juicy and basted with a delicious homemade bbq sauce.
- This easy recipe includes cooking times for every cut of chicken to please everyone in the family.
- It’s the perfect meal for summer cookouts, holidays or weeknight dinners.
Recipe ingredients
This bbq chicken recipe is seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and is perfect with your favorite homemade or store bought bbq sauce.
It’s completely up to you which cuts of chicken to use. Cooking times for boneless and bone-in chicken breast, chicken thighs and legs are all included in the recipe.
- Chicken. Use a whole fryer, which you can break down yourself or have your butcher do it. See my post how to cut a whole chicken for all of my easy tips. You can also use a combination of your favorite cuts. When cooking chicken breast, I highly recommend using skin on bone-in chicken breast as it will stay much juicier than boneless skinless breasts.
- Seasoning. Simply season the chicken with salt and pepper or use my bbq chicken rub for added flavor.
- BBQ sauce. Use my bourbon bbq sauce or your favorite store bought brand.
How to make this recipe
Making bbq chicken on the grill is super simple following my easy instructions. The recipe includes cooking times for every cut of chicken to make everyone in the family happy!
Pro tip: Bone-in chicken breast is much more forgiving than boneless. The cooking time is longer, but it’s guaranteed to be juicy every time!
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and let stand for 30-60 minutes at room temperature.
- Grill over medium heat, flipping halfway through the cooking time (see the recipe card notes for cooking times for various cuts).
- Baste with bbq sauce during the last 10-15 minutes or so of cooking.
- Cook until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165 degrees.
Tips for success
- Use bone-in chicken as it’s less apt to dry out and the bones add a ton of flavor.
- If using skin-on chicken, a dry brine is a great way to get even juicier, more flavorful chicken! Simply salt the chicken all over 1-2 days in advance and leave uncovered in the fridge until your ready to barbecue. Do not add additional salt before cooking.
- Season the chicken with my bbq chicken rub for added flavor.
- Don’t brush on the barbecue sauce until the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time as it will burn.
- Cook chicken breast to 160 degrees and chicken thighs and legs to 175 degrees for the juiciest chicken. The chicken will reach the optimal temperature while it rests through carry over cooking.
- If at any point your chicken starts to burn or you encounter a flare-up, turn down the heat, or turn off one burner completely and cook the chicken over indirect heat until it’s done.
- Allow the chicken to rest 5-10 minutes before serving to allow the juices to redistribute.
Serving suggestions
Grilled BBQ chicken is great served up a number of ways!
- Slice or shred bbq chicken and serve as sandwiches or sliders topped with classic coleslaw.
- Serve for summer holidays with orzo pasta salad, grilled corn on the cob and broccoli slaw.
- Serve leftovers with a lower carb side such as kale slaw salad or butter lettuce salad.
Storage and reheating
- BBQ chicken will keep in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat in the microwave or oven until it reaches the desired temperature.
More grilling recipes you’ll love:
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
Grilled BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken (whole fryer cut into 8 pieces) or a combination of chicken breast, legs and thighs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup Bourbon bbq sauce or your favorite store bought brand
Instructions
- Salt and pepper the chicken generously or apply a dry rub, and place on the counter to bring to room temperature for 30 minutes to one hour before grilling.4 pounds chicken (whole fryer cut into 8 pieces), Salt and pepper
- Preheat the grill over high heat. Place the chicken on the grill and lower the temperature to medium. Grill the chicken according to the following cooking times, flipping every 10-15 minutes. Grilling times for each cut of chicken at a temperature of 350 degrees are as follows: bone-in chicken breast: 30-40 minutes depending on size, and boneless chicken breast takes 12-16 minutes, pounded to even thickness for more even cooking; chicken thighs: boneless chicken thighs take 12-15 minutes and bone-in take 20-25 minutes; chicken legs: 30-40 minutes; chicken wings: 10-15 minutes.
- Brush the chicken with the bbq sauce during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time.1 cup Bourbon bbq sauce
- Chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into the breast is 165 degrees, or thickest part of leg or thigh without touching the bone and registers 170 degrees.
- Remove chicken from heat and let rest covered loosely with foil for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Pro tip: Bone-in chicken breast is much more forgiving than boneless. The cooking time is longer, but it’s guaranteed to be juicy every time! Purchasing a whole chicken and breaking it down is the most cost effective. See my post how to cut a whole chicken for all of my easy tips.
- If using skin-on chicken, a dry brine is a great way to get even juicier, more flavorful chicken! Simply salt the chicken all over 1-2 days in advance and leave uncovered in the fridge until your ready to barbecue.
- If at any point your chicken starts to burn or you encounter a flare-up, turn down the heat, or turn off one burner completely and cook the chicken over indirect heat until it’s done.
- BBQ chicken will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**This recipe was originally published in July 2019. Step by step photos have been added and the text has been modified to include more recipe information.
2 Comments on “Grilled BBQ Chicken”
You know it’s so funny – I used to only eat boneless skinless chicken breast but now it’s the part I buy the least! Bone-in cuts ALL the way! This chicken looks SO GOOD.
I’m so glad we are benefitting from your thorough recipe testing! This chicken looks so saucy and juicy. I usually don’t grill much chicken because I’m afraid of drying it out. But your guide will be a big help! Can’t wait to put it to use 🙂