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How to make grilled skin-on, bone-in Barbecued Chicken

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How to make grilled skin-on, bone-in Barbecued Chicken, the easy way!

 

A platter of barbecued chicken pieces garnished with parsley

Have you ever wanted to make grilled skin-on, bone-in Barbecued Chicken without burning the outside while the middle is still undercooked? This recipe can help!

For at least 6 months of the year, we grill a lot of chicken. It’s usually boneless, skinless thighs or breasts. But, every now and then, I want to sink my teeth into a saucy, crispy, juicy finger-licking-great piece of real-deal barbecued chicken.

Here’s the best part: it doesn’t have to be laborious and take hours to make while sweating over the grill non-stop. We’re sharing a very simple formula for success. If you don’t want to babysit the grill and don’t really have time, no worries. You can still enjoy amazing Barbecued Chicken!

 

 

A plate of grilled barbecued chicken thighs with sauce and parsley

This fool-proof method allows you to cook the chicken perfectly.

During the first 30 minutes, the chicken pieces are cooked over indirect heat, and you don’t even have to watch it!

This easy first step helps render the fat in the chicken skin without causing flare-ups and the resulting burnt, undercooked pieces of chicken. Rendering the fat also helps create crispy skin and juicy chicken, yum!

Since most of the fat is dripped onto the cooler side of the grill, you won’t have to hold the spray bottle of water on stand-by to extinguish flames and flareups. Cover the grill and set your timer, then after about 30-40 minutes on indirect heat (depending on the size of the pieces) move the chicken closer to the hot side of the grill.

Next, baste the chicken with an amazing sauce like our Easy Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe. Flip and baste the chicken every 5 minutes for about 20-25 minutes. This builds the awesome-sauce factor by layering flavor and caramelization.

 

A close up of grilled Barbecued Chicken Thighs with a rich red sauce and garnished with parsley

This grilling method produces crispy skin and juicy chicken.

Now all you need to do is lower the heat on the main burner, move the chicken over to the hot side of the grill and continue cooking, basting and flipping for another 10-15 minutes. The reward is phenomenal juicy pieces of barbecued chicken with crispy skin, and cooked-all-the-way through deliciousness.

 

Juicy BBQ chicken thighs slathered with a rich red sauce and garnished with parsley

What is the best kind of chicken pieces to use in this recipe?

Feel free to use any kind of chicken pieces you want, but for this post we used all chicken thighs. If using assorted pieces, you’ll have to adjust cooking time for the bigger, thicker breasts, etc.

If you have an instant read thermometer on hand, it will take out all the guesswork about whether or not the chicken is cooked through. Chicken breasts should register 165F, and dark meat like legs, thighs, and drumsticks should reach an internal temperature of 175F.

 

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A platter of barbecued chicken pieces slathered in BBQ sauce

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PRINT THE RECIPE!

5 from 4 votes

How to grill skin-on, bone-in Barbecued Chicken

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Yield: 4 servings
Course: Main Course
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
Juicy barbecued chicken with crispy skin, and cooked-all-the-way through deliciousness.

Ingredients

  • 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne or dry Sriracha powder, or other spicy blend
  • 3 cups barbecue sauce

Instructions

  • Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Cut away any extra large, long pieces of chicken skin or fat hanging from the thighs. Sprinkle each with the salt, pepper and seasoning.
  • Preheat a gas grill on high for 10 minutes. Turn one side off and leave the primary burner (and any secondary burners) on medium-high. Using tongs and folded paper towels dipped in vegetable oil, grease the grate over the side that was turned off.
  • Place the chicken pieces on the cool side of the grill, skin side down. Cover the grill and cook until chicken begins to brown, about 35-40 minutes. Move the chicken closer to the hot side of the grill in a single line if possible. Flip the chicken and baste with the BBQ sauce. Continue to grill, turning and basting every 5 minutes until the chicken becomes crusted, about 20-25 minutes.
  • Turn the burner(s) down to medium-low (or low if needed to prevent burning) and move the chicken to the hot side of the grill. Baste again and cook, turning frequently, for about 10-15 minutes more or until the internal temperature registers 175F . Discard any remaining sauce not used when basting.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Our gas grill has three sections with individual controls. I had two sections on while cooking the chicken.
Use your favorite chicken pieces and adjust grilling time as needed to reach 165F for chicken breasts and 175F for legs, thighs and drumsticks
Great slathered with our Easy Honey BBQ Sauce Recipe

 

Here’s a few more recipe you might also enjoy:

 

Honey Barbecue Sauce with a BBQ brush

Easy Honey BBQ Sauce – great as a marinade or for basting and slathering on grilled chicken, pork or beef.

 

Two grilled pork tenderloins brushed with BBQ sauce

Grilled BBQ Pork Tenderloin – marinated in our homemade sweet and spicy Honey BBQ Sauce then grilled to juicy perfection, this simple main course is a summer staple.

 

 

Grilled Greek Chicken recipe

 

Here’s a link to an instant-read thermometer that may help when cooking chicken on the grill – click on the photo for more information.

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31 Comments

  1. Mike says

    5 stars
    Great recipe! I’ve done this twice now and it yields chicken with beautiful caramelization and stickiness and is juicy on the inside. My challenge is getting that crispy skin though…it’s still coming out somewhat rubbery at the end given the moisture added from the BBQ sauce. Any tips on this? Should I just crank up the heat to high at the end of the process vs. doing it on medium or medium low, or would that likely burn the sauce & skin? Would appreciate any and all insight!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Mike, great question! In steps 2 and 3 try leaving the grill on a higher setting (high instead of medium-high). Also in step 4, grill on medium to medium-high. Before adding the additional BBQ sauce wait until the skin is a little more crispy. Also make sure you’re using a BBQ sauce that caramelizes well (one with plenty of sugar.) Hope this answers your question. Thanks for commenting!

      reply to this comment >

  2. DC says

    5 stars
    I love ANYTHING on the grill. And I make a lot of chicken so my husband is used to chicken on the grill. I made this tonight with chicken breasts. He took about 3 bites and said “this is the best chicken I’ve ever had”. I thought he was kidding at first……and then he said, “no, really!”. It was a little time-consuming but it was VERY good. Thanks! I’ll definitely make it again.

    reply to this comment >

  3. Steve says

    5 stars
    An hour and 10 to cook two chicken breasts on the grill? Seriously? Well, I’m on lockdown, so I tried it, including all the babysitting and flipping for the final 40 minutes or so. So worth it. Kept the gas grill in the 400 to 425 range and the results were moist flavorful and generally tremendous. A little cumin in the sauce and that was a huge success as well. Thanks!

    reply to this comment >

  5. baltisraul says

    5 stars
    Perfect instructions. I have a leg rack so I can hang 14 legs and place the thighs around the edges and on top of the rack to do as many as 20 pieces. When internal temp reaches 158 to 160 move chicken over to hot coals with skin side down . Remove when internal temp reaches 163 to 165. You never have to watch a clock just listen to temp gauge ring and remove. Perfect every time with just the right amount of crisp skin.

    reply to this comment >

  8. Mimi says

    Beautiful. I love all of that stickiness, but I don’t like BBQ sauces that are too sweet, which is why I make my own. Unfortunately I’m limited to chicken breasts because my husband feels thighs are less healthy, which is true, but they’re so much more fun to eat!

    reply to this comment >