This Baked Barbecue Chicken recipe has it’s own homemade barbecue sauce! Homemade barbecue sauce has no competition from the bottled brands when made with all the savory ingredients in this recipe.
Brown sugar, ground mustard, apple cider vinegar and ketchup for the base of a thick and tangy sauce that is perfect for the skinless chicken thighs we feature in this recipe.
You may want to triple and quadruple the recipe just to have some on hand.
Great barbecue starts with a great BBQ sauce. This homemade sauce is among the best!
- 12 chicken thighs skin removed, bone in
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup beer - your choice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
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Preheat the oven to 500F.
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In a small saucepan, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, beer, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, fresh lemon juice, chili powder and mustard.
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Bring the pan to a boil then lower the heat and simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Season the chicken thighs with the kosher salt and black pepper. Put them in a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour the prepared sauce over them.
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Make sure the thighs are evenly coated with the mixture.
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Seal the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 300F and bake for 1 more hour.
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Remove the foil cover during the last 15 minutes of cooking to thicken the sauce and lightly brown the tops of the thighs.
Food For Thought – A few changes will take this sauce from basic to exceptional.
Add 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Add about 1/4 cup water or more beer if it seems too thick.
Good To Know – This preparation works wonderfully with bone-in chicken breasts, leg and thigh quarters and whole split chickens.
You can use this with center cut pork chops with great success, but reduce the cooking time.
To get a little browning on top, remove the foil covering during the last 10 to 15 of baking.
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