Tender baked BBQ chicken thighs slathered with a flavorful barbecue sauce and baked in the oven until juicy and crispy.
These BBQ-baked chicken thighs are AMAZING! Incredibly juicy and tender on the inside, slightly charred, caramelized, crispy yet sticky on the outside, sweet and spicy… And utterly addictive!
There's no need to grill outside when the weather doesn't allow it. This budget-friendly recipe for BBQ chicken thighs uses just three main ingredients. You don't need any extra spice mixtures; salt and pepper are enough, and your favorite barbecue sauce will add plenty of flavor.
The recipe is super easy, with only two steps, so there's no need to simmer the sauce on the stove. You’ll have tender, juicy, sticky, crispy, caramelized, and delicious oven-baked BBQ chicken thighs.
Check out more thighs-in-the-oven recipes: Basic Chicken Thighs, Baked Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Baked Honey Chicken Thighs, Teriyaki Chicken Thighs in the Oven, Baked Mango Chicken, or Baked Thighs in Honey Mustard Sauce.
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Recipe ingredients
Skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs: You can also make the recipe with drumsticks or a mixture of thighs and drumsticks. You can also use quarters and increase the first part of the baking time slightly to ensure that the larger pieces are cooked through.
- If using boneless pieces of meat, reduce the cooking time slightly: cook for 15 minutes first, brush with sauce, and bake for another 10 minutes. Check to see if the meat is cooked through.
- You can also use skinless thighs, chicken legs (drumsticks), chicken wings, or breasts. Always adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Sauce: Your favorite kind of BBQ sauce. I had a somewhat spicy and not too smoky sort and I loved it. Use it to make Air Fryer Bbq Chicken or BBQ Turkey Wings.
Sriracha or another hot sauce: I loved it; it makes the food really hot and spicy. I used about 1 ½ tablespoons, and the thighs were quite spicy. If you would like less heat, reduce the amount of hot sauce. Or leave it out altogether.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to bake BBQ thighs in the oven?
- Preheat the oven to 230°C/ 450° F. The oven temperature needs to be high to quickly crisp and brown the thighs. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper (See Tips) and place a baking rack on top.
- Season: Dry the chicken legs with paper towels, coat them with oil, and rub them well with salt and pepper (1).
- Bake: Place them on the rack skin-side up. Bake them for 20 minutes until almost cooked through; the skin will be crispy and lightly browned (2,3).
- Glaze: In the meantime, mix the sauces in a small bowl. Brush the thighs thoroughly on both sides, skin-side first, flip and brush generously underneath, flip again, and brush them again on the skin side. Use a pastry brush (4).
- Bake for another 10 minutes or until the glaze is shiny, slightly charred, and caramelized and the meat pieces are cooked through.
- Optional broiling: If you think that the skin is not charred enough, place the tray under the broil for 2 or 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them the whole time so they don’t get too dark. As you can see in the pictures, two of my thighs (those near the backside of the oven) got a bit too dark (5).
Tips
It’s preferable to use aluminum foil when baking something at high temperature; not all parchment paper brands are up to that. And it’s even more recommendable to use foil if you decide to broil the thighs at the end.
Check doneness: The best way to check is with an instant-read thermometer; the safe internal temperature is 74°C/ 165°F (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new link). Otherwise, cut a thigh at the thickest part near the bone. The meat should be completely white; there should be no traces of red or pink.
Using a wire rack is optional but recommendable. It lifts the pieces of meat from the sheet pan, allowing the air to circulate. However, if you don’t have it, it’s okay; a rimmed baking sheet will do just fine, but the food will still be delicious.
Store and reheat
The easy oven-baked BBQ chicken thighs are best served immediately.
However, you can refrigerate them in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze them for 3-4 months. Defrost them in the fridge.
Reheat them in the oven before serving. When reheating, it’s preferable to cover them with a piece of foil so that the glazed skin doesn’t get too dark.
How to serve them?
Place some napkins on the table and dig in; a fork and knife are pretty unnecessary here.
Recipe
Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Wire rack optional
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¾ cup BBQ sauce about 180 g, Note 1
- 1 ½ tablespoon Sriracha or another hot sauce, Notes 2, 3
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 230°C/ 450° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place a baking rack on top (Note 4).
- Season: Coat the thighs with the oil and rub them well with salt and pepper.8 chicken thighs +2 tablespoons olive oil + 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Bake: Place them on the rack skin-side up and bake them for 20 minutes until almost cooked through; the skin will be crispy and golden brown.
- BBQ glaze: In the meantime, mix BBQ sauce and Sriracha (hot sauce) in a small bowl. Brush the thighs on both sides, skin-side first, flip and brush generously underneath, flip again and brush them again on the skin side. Use tongs to flip and a pastry brush to glaze.¾ cup BBQ sauce / 180 g + 1 ½ tablespoon Sriracha
- Bake for another 10 minutes or until the glaze is shiny, slightly charred, and caramelized and the meat pieces are cooked through. Check doneness; the safe internal temperature for chicken is 74°C/165°F
- Optional broiling: If you think that the skin is not charred enough, place the tray under the broil for 2 or 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them so that they don’t get too dark.
Notes
- Sauce: Use your favorite BBQ sauce to ensure that the thighs taste the way you love them.
- Use Sriracha or hot sauce to taste, and consider the hotness of the BBQ sauce as well; some are hot, and some are not.
- Heat: ¾ cup of medium hot BBQ sauce and 1 ½ tablespoons Sriracha make for quite hot chicken thighs.
- Rack: The recipe works without the baking rack, too.
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