Oven BBQ'd Chicken!!

Recently while grocery shopping I bought some chicken drumsticks on a really good sale and since then have been dreaming about BBQ.  However, I live in Oregon and per usual we were having mini monsoons all week, not really ideal for pulling out the BBQ grill.

So I cheated.. and I'm going to show you how to too!

*Side note, it's always awkward to me when when the same word comes twice in a row.  Sure it's spelled differently, and has a different context, but still... "to" and "too" right next to each other sounds like "tutu" and that just sounds ridiculous on a cooking post.  But I digress...

These are oven BBQ'd chicken drumsticks with a homemade BBQ sauce.  And they're to die for!!  Really! (For the printable recipe scroll to the bottom.)

You'll need brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and then 1/2 cup of butter melted (or substitute olive oil, canola oil, or PAM for a healthier option).  And of course chicken... the recipe makes enough for about 3 lbs or roughly 12 chicken drumsticks.

Start with the rub:

Start by adding 1 teaspoon of each of your dry ingredients into a shallow bowl.

 

 Mix it all together and rub it liberally over your drumsticks.

Then baste them lightly with the melted butter (or your olive oil, canola oil or PAM).

Line a baking sheet with foil and if you have one, place a wire cooling rack over top... if you don't have a wire rack... just using the baking sheet will work too.  Now pop those beautifully rubbed and basted chicken pieces into the oven at 400'F for about 45mins.

Note:  We're a smaller family so I halved the recipe when I made it.

"She's got legs, and she knows how to use them"... sometimes I sing to myself while I cook.

Mmmmmm.... now at this point you could baste them with regular BBQ sauce and pop them back under the broiler for a couple minutes, or even omit the sauce altogether and just eat them as is... I was tempted to as my tummy growled ferociously when I pulled these out of the oven.

BUT if you really want to rock your socks off... try this homemade BBQ sauce.  I made it while the drumsticks were baking.

For your sauce!

Onion, garlic, brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard and yes, I really used the Pepsi.  But any cola brand would work.

I started by grating 1/4 onion using the large size of my grater, you might want to do it right over the saucepan so you can get the juice as well.  This is the hardest part of the whole recipe... grating onion is a surefire way to cry.  If you're not worried about being laughed at... try wearing swimming goggles!!  Luckily it's only 1/4 of an onion and it grates really easy!!

To the onion I added two cloves of pressed garlic.

Next pour in 1 cup of your Cola.

1 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of liquid smoke

 

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of dijon mustard and a sprinkle (or 1/2 teaspoon) of black pepper.


Bring the whole mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and let it reduce for about 30 minutes.  It will thicken up and make your kitchen smell heavenly!

See how it reduced?  The smoke makes it hard to see, but it's a beautiful rich BBQ-ey color and the thickness of a regular BBQ sauce.

 

My sauce and my chicken were finished almost at the same time so it worked out nicely!

Preheat your oven to broil while you baste your drumsticks with the sauce.  Then pop them in for about 2 minutes.  Baste one more time, laying the sauce on even thicker and broil for another 2 minutes... (or until preferred charred state).

Then dish them on up.  I served mine with homemade potato wedges and a green salad.

I've never seen a plate of food disappear faster at my house.. no leftovers... no nothing ~ this was a runaway hit of a meal!!!

And my happy hubby cleaned up all the dishes - yep, sure sign of a successful dinner!

OVEN BBQ'D CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

3 lbs chicken drumsticks

FOR THE RUB:

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup butter, melted

FOR THE SAUCE:

1/4 cup onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 cup Cola (I used Pepsi)

1 cup ketchup

1/4 Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients for the rub together and liberally apply over chicken drumsticks.  Baste lightly with melted butter (or substitute olive oil, canola oil, PAM, etc).  Place on a wire rack over a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 400'F for 45 minutes.

While the chicken is baking combine your sauce ingredients together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat slightly to a simmer, and allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, about 30 minutes.

Once the chicken is done, remove them from the oven and preheat your oven to broil.  Baste the drumsticks lightly with the BBQ sauce and pop them under the broiler for a couple minutes until it starts to bubble and brown.  Remove chicken from oven and baste again, this time a little thicker.  Return it under the broiler for another couple minutes until your desired state of charred-ness.