Oven BBQ Chicken

By Ali Slagle

Updated April 19, 2024

Oven BBQ Chicken
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
55 minutes
Rating
4(1,000)
Comments
Read comments

Lacquered with barbecue sauce, this juicy chicken swaps constant flipping on the grill for a mostly hands-off process using the oven and one smart trick: The dry-rubbed chicken roasts most of the way on top of barbecue sauce. The resulting sauce becomes thickened and glossy from the chicken’s rendered fat. It’s then spooned onto the chicken and roasted until sticky, caramelized and rich with flavor. Serve the extra sauce with dinner, for dipping chicken, or spooning directly into your mouth. (For boneless barbecue chicken, try this stovetop method.)

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1(18-ounce) jar barbecue sauce, or 2 cups homemade barbecue sauce
  • About 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken leg quarters or thighs, patted dry
  • 1tablespoon neutral oil (such as grapeseed)
  • 2teaspoons store-bought or homemade chili powder
  • 1teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • 1teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

672 calories; 41 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 28 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 1086 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Pour the barbecue sauce into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan or dish, or a large skillet, or another ovenproof vessel that fits the chicken snugly, then shake so the sauce disperses into an even layer.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the oil, chili powder, paprika and 1 teaspoon salt until coated. Arrange the chicken, skin side up, on top of the barbecue sauce. Roast until the chicken skin is crisp, 30 to 35 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Scrape the sides of the pan and stir the barbecue sauce to incorporate the caramelized bits into the sauce. Turn the chicken to coat in the sauce, arrange skin-side-up, then spoon sauce on top of the chicken. Roast until the chicken is sticky and charred in spots, 10 to 15 minutes more.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer chicken to plates. Stir the apple cider vinegar into the sauce remaining in the pan. Serve the chicken with the extra sauce.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,000 user ratings
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Comments

Mr. Chin

Who's cleaning this pan?

Wren

I’ve started cooking sheet pan chicken recipes like this with chicken on a slightly raised rack ( like a cooling rack). Fat drips below and chicken crisps. Once done you can pour sauce in a bowl and skim off the fat. You get all the flavor of drippings but much less fat.

Jane S

Made the BBQ sauce from scratch and it was very quick and easy to do and also very good. I really like the flavors in this dish, just think a little less oil in the BBQ sauce would be better and need to really blast the heat to thicken the sauce as mine was too thin.

Deb

Omg this is so good!!! And absurdly easy to make! I don’t have a grill, I don’t even have a broiler in my oven, so it’s really hard to get those delicious, sweet, blackened bits in most anything I cook. This recipe is on repeat from here on out.

MotherOfMany

This worked wonderfully. I love BBQ and it always burns or is soggy when cooking in the oven and this recipe fixed both problems. I did oil the pan ahead of time and clean up was minimal! Thank you!

Steph

We made as written, and it looked just like the picture! We used the sauce linked within the recipe, which was fab (we reduced the sugar by half in THAT recipe and will reduce more next time). The sauce gets sweeter while cooking, so keep that in mind when choosing/making the sauce. And that end sauce --- wowww. Yes, spoonable/drinkable! Thanks NYT!

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