Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Recipe

This Oven Baked BBQ Chicken is made with a sweet-n-tangy spicy-n-sticky finger-licking-good barbecue sauce that is spruced up with hot pepper jelly. SO GOOD!

The second I saw this recipe by the Pioneer Woman, I knew I needed to make oven baked BBQ chicken. It's funny that we've been to about a dozen barbecues this summer, but we haven't had anything that is actually covered in delicious sweet tangy sticky finger-licking-good BBQ sauce in ages. It was time to change that.

This turned out amazing. And so easy. This oven baked BBQ chicken only has 5 ingredients. If you want, it can even be cut down to two ingredients - chicken and BBQ sauce. It's that simple. But I do recommend the extra few ingredients to get the ultimate sticky-sweet BBQ glaze on the chicken.

Related recipe: Instant Pot BBQ Pork Ribs

The awesome thing about this recipe is that you can play around with the flavors of the sauce. For example, the original recipe calls for regular BBQ sauce and apricot preserves. I used Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce and added hot pepper jelly. You can use many combinations of BBQ sauce flavors and jellies/jams to tweak the sauce to your liking.

My only regret? Not doubling this recipe. We ate 2 pieces each, and would have loved to have some more as leftovers the next day.

Leftovers reheat great, or the meat can be shredded to make this BBQ chicken grilled cheese. 

We ate the chicken with a simple side of steamed green beans and a tall glass of iced tea. Clearly, I am not ready to let go of summer yet. 🙂

You will also love these other BBQ recipes and chicken recipes:

• Instant Pot BBQ pulled pork
• Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken
• Honey mustard chicken thighs
• Creamy sun-dried tomato chicken
• Bourbon chicken 
• Mozzarella stuffed chicken breast
• Hawaiian chicken salad with pineapple
• Slow cooker honey chicken

If this chicken looks good to you (and how could it not??), don't forget to rate the recipe below and pin it for later!

Print Recipe

4.84 from 6 votes

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken

This Oven Baked BBQ Chicken is made with a sweet-n-tangy spicn-n-sticky finger-licking-good barbecue sauce that is spruced up with hot pepper jelly. SO GOOD!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Author: Kate

  Cook Mode: Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 8 skinless chicken thighs - (bone-in or boneless)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 cup BBQ sauce - (any kind!)
• ¼ cup hot pepper jelly
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400F.

   
• Spray a foil-covered baking dish with non-stick spray. Place chicken thighs smooth side up and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes. Don't worry, it's not supposed to look appetizing at this point.

   
• While the chicken is baking, prepare the BBQ sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the BBQ sauce, hot pepper jelly, and apple cider vinegar. Use a microplane grater to grate the garlic into the sauce. Cook while stirring over low heat for 10 minutes, until the sauce is heated through and the jelly is completely dissolved into the sauce.

  You are going to be brushing and basting half-cooked chicken with sauce, so I recommend dividing the sauce into two portions - the 'clean' sauce and the  sauce for brushing the chicken. You can add to the chicken-contaminated sauce from the clean sauce container as needed.

   
• Back to the chicken! After 15 minutes, remove the baking dish from the oven, and use tongs to carefully flip each chicken thigh. Brush each chicken thigh with BBQ sauce, then flip them back over. Brush the other side with sauce. Place the chicken back into the oven for 7 minutes.

   
• Brush each chicken thigh with more sauce. Back into the oven for 7 minutes.

   
• Remove the chicken from the oven. Turn up the heat to 450F. Brush each chicken thigh with sauce again, and place it back into the oven for 7 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool, and enjoy!

   

Nutrition

Calories: 447kcal (22%) | Carbohydrates: 44g (15%) | Protein: 44g (88%) | Fat: 10g (15%) | Saturated Fat: 2g (10%) | Cholesterol: 215mg (72%) | Sodium: 936mg (39%) | Potassium: 730mg (21%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 38g (42%) | Vitamin A: 215IU (4%) | Vitamin C: 0.9mg (1%) | Calcium: 47mg (5%) | Iron: 2.3mg (13%)

The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.

 If you haven't already, please like my page on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest for more delicious recipes!