Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs made with a tangy homemade, easy barbecue sauce. Super juicy, flavorful. The perfect chicken meal.

Why Make These Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs

These chicken thighs are SO flavorful and moist. You will love how easy they are to whip up and they are made with a superior, delicious homemade barbecue sauce. The sauce is a bit less sugar than most others and you get to control the flavors and clean ingredients.

Make a baked bbq chicken thigh bowl or eat them sliced up over a salad. You can do so much with this chicken, you will be hooked on it and blown away by the flavor. You can also use this BBQ sauce on my BBQ Chicken Flatbread.

If you want a meal with more kick to it with any leftover chicken, try my Blackened Chicken.

Ingredients Needed

Chicken Thighs. This particular recipe uses boneless, skinless thighs, you can certainly use breasts if you’s like I just find the thighs offer the most juicy yield when baked in the oven. Be sure to trim the fat.

Brown Sugar. You can use light or brown sugar, I typically use brown sugar. This is to make the barbecue sauce. To make it sugar free, use a sugar free brown sugar alternative.

Seasoning. Salt, garlic, chili, onion, smoked paprika, cracked black pepper. These are all for the barbecue sauce.

Hot Honey. Just a little bit to drizzle over the chicken before baking in the oven. Regular honey will also work, I find it gives the chicken a nice little crispy touch on the edges.

All other ingredients and measurements can be found on the recipe card below.

Optional Topping Ingredients

Sweet Potato Fries. I make my own, you can find my recipe here for Crispy Homemade Fries.

Quinoa. Use any grain of choice, I love quinoa because it adds extra protein.

Steps To Make This Recipe

Step One. Preheat oven to 425º. Prepare the barbecue sauce while the oven preheats. In a medium sauce pan, add all the BBQ sauce ingredients together. Set the stove on medium/low heat and bring the sauce to a simmer. be sure to whisk often and avoid burning the sauce. Keep it on low heat until the brown sugar dissolves completely.

Step Two. Add 2 Tbsp of water to the sauce and whisk, this is to just thin it out a bit. Place the thighs on metal wire racks and then put a baking dish underneath to collect the chicken juices and avoid a mess.

Step Three. Rub the thighs with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano. Pour half of the barbecue sauce into a bowl and brush thighs with a generous amount of barbecue sauce on both sides. Place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes.

Step Four. After 12 minutes, pull the chicken out and flip it, brush more barbecue sauce on it, drizzle the honey and cook for another 12-14 minutes.

Step Five. Next, place the oven on broil (high) and crisp up for about 3-5 minutes or until the chicken gets nice and crispy on the edges. Keep a close eye on the chicken to avoid burning, oven temps will vary greatly.

Step Six. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes. Serve with sides or over a grain bowl with toppings (like i did with the ingredients above in the photo).

Recipe FAQs

Recipe Pairings

This recipe is wonderful over a grain bowl, as pictures. You can also pair the chicken thighs with my Asian Cabbage Salad, Dill Pickle Pasta or BLT Pasta. Really this chicken would go well with anything you love to have a barbecue.

Make Ahead And Storage Tips

Make these thighs ahead of time, they make for a wonderful meal prepped meal. Thighs are so forgiving so they don’t get overcooked as easily as breasts do. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Other Chicken Recipes To Enjoy

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