Perfectly tender Broiled Chicken Thighs, marinated and then glazed with this homemade barbecue sauce made for a great weeknight meal. Learning how to broil chicken makes it easy to get a delicious dinner on the table fast.
Broiled Chicken Thighs
We rarely grill on weeknights, so the broiler was my tool for this meal. (My apologies in advance to Larry, Chris and Jenn. I already know that you are appalled. I promise to use my grill more frequently this year!)
I love using my broiler for quick and easy dinners. It takes almost no time at all and I am free to finish up the rest of the meal in the kitchen while it is cooking. Served with a tossed garden salad and some smashed potatoes, this is a favorite meal for everyone in the family.
How to Broil Chicken
Making broiled chicken is a breeze and you’ll love the flavor. Aside from marinating the meat, you can have great tasting broiled chicken on the table with less than 20 minutes of active cooking time.
To impart the best flavor into your chicken thighs, let the chicken pieces marinate in the barbecue sauce in a ziploc bag or large airtight container. Leave it for at least 6 hours, turning the pieces every couple of hours to be sure the sauce is distributed well.
If you toss the chicken in the sauce in the morning, it’ll be marinated and ready to cook by dinner time! Then it takes almost no time at all in the oven to get the chicken cooked through and ready to eat.
Place the chicken in the oven under the broiler setting for 5 to 6 minutes on the first side. Remove the chicken from the oven, flip and broil for another 5 minutes on the second side. Then, pour a little reserved barbecue sauce over the chicken before broiling for a final 2 minutes.
The chicken is done when the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.
Homemade Barbecue Sauces
When we’re craving barbecued chicken on a weeknight, oven broiled chicken usually winds up on our menu. We love it with just about any homemade barbecue sauce.
If you like some heat with your chicken, try this recipe with my Homemade Spicy Barbecue Sauce or this Sweet and Spicy Homemade Barbecue Sauce. This Tangy Peach Barbecue Sauce comes with a fruity flair that pairs beautifully with chicken. We also love the vinegar forward flavor of Tangy Memphis BBQ Sauce.
The spicy maple flavor in this Sriracha Bourbon Barbecue Sauce is to die for, too. For an Asian spin, check out one of my all-time favorite sauces, Korean Barbecue Sauce.
Whenever I make a batch of barbecue sauce, I try to make enough to stick in the freezer for later. When the barbecue sauce is ready to go, making a full barbecued chicken meal is as easy as can be. If you don’t have any homemade barbecue sauce handy, a bottle of your favorite store-bought sauce works just as well!
I’m all in favor of any short cuts that make getting dinner on the table even easier! Whether you make these broiled chicken thighs with homemade or bottled sauce, I know you’ll love it as much as we do.
Barbecued Chicken
For more heavenly chicken recipes, you’ll also want to give Carolina Style Barbecue Chicken and these Beer and Brown Sugar Chicken Skewers a shot. This Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken is another favorite weeknight meal.
Oven Broiled Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
Easy and delicious, these Broiled Chicken Thighs make a perfect weeknight meal. Served with a side of Baked Beans, Potato Salad or Coleslaw, it’s bound to become one of your family’s favorite dinners.
Oven Broiled Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 boneless chicken thighs
- 3 cups homemade barbecue sauce ( or your favorite store bought sauce)
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups barbecue sauce over the chicken in an airtight container or a large ziploc bag. Let it rest in the refrigerator (turning it every few hours) for at least 6 hours. I usually toss my chicken in with the sauce in the morning and it is ready to go for dinner.
- If you think of it, remove the chicken from the refrigerator at least half an hour before cooking. You can still cook it straight from the refrigerator though, if you forget.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to Broil and line a large baking sheet with foil. Spread the chicken pieces out across it. Discard the remaining marinade liquid.
- Broil the chicken for 5-6 minutes on the first side and then remove from the oven and turn the pieces over. Broil another 5 minutes or so, just until the chicken is almost done. If your pieces are thicker, they will take a little longer.
- Turn the pieces again (if desired) and coat well with the remaining 1 cup of barbecue sauce. Broil for another 2 minutes or so, until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear. Enjoy!
Nutrition
{originally published 3/27/12 – recipe notes and photos updated 12/5/19}
Joanne says
I was wondering what you did with that bbq sauce! Sounds like a great weeknight meal!
Becki's Whole Life says
I can honestly say I clearly do not use my broiler enough. I have never broiled meat before, but this sounds delish. I bet the sauce gets nice and caramelized using this method.
Tricia @ saving room for dessert says
This chicken looks finger licking good! Juicy, tender, sweet and hot. I'm ready for dinner now.
Jenn says
lol.. no need for apologies on my part, Mary! Some people just don't grill.. I accept that and never judge 🙂
Heck, that chicken looks so good, you could have told me you grilled it and I would not have batted an eye! YUM!
Bakeaholic Carrie says
I love anything with chicken thighs it's my favorite cut. And it's budget friendly! These look amazing… who needs a grill! These are perfect!
Cooking Lady says
This chicken looks so good nice and tender. Just like it was on the grill. Great post and great job
Blond Duck says
I'm so excited to try this and your homemade sauce. Definitely going on my menu for next week! I've done oven baked chicken and crock pot chicken, but it's never been quite right…have you tried grilling?
Big Dude says
It's pretty hard to beat smashed potatoes and chicken with homemade BBQ sauce – which sounds very good by the way. LOL that you felt the need to appologize – since I mostly use a gas grill, it's not much different than the broiler just on the bottom rather than top. The main thing is you whip up good grub however you choose to cook it. I think our oven may have a broiler 🙂
Katherine Martinelli says
I love using the broiler! This looks so good. I have to check out your homemade bbq sauce recipe!
Words Of Deliciousness says
I love the taste of meat made under the broiler. This chicken looks very tasty; the picture is making my mother water.
Suchi says
Looks yum…am so glad that the BBQ season is almost upon us 🙂
Zee says
Great post! This chicken looks delicious
The Harried Cook says
Wow! That look incredibly tasty!! Yum… Makes me want to dig in… And I love that they were oven-broiled! Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Chris says
never mind my questions from the prior post, ha ha.
I have no problem with this at all. Especially since you didn't call it barbecue chicken, you named it perfectly. Even the BBQ curmudgeons wouldn't take issue with this.
But for the first part of my life, "barbecue chicken" to me was done in a tomato sauce in the oven like this. And I still loved it.
Anonymous says
its March 2015, and seeing as how there is 4 inches of snow here on the ground, frigid cold its not obviously grilling season…and i needed a fast dinner idea for chicken…had the chicken and bbq sauce (going to use head and country) fired up the broil, layed some foil down, tossed them on there, and away we go!
Also had leftover mashed potatoes from other night, re-purposed with a little salt and butter, and then i made some packaged brocoli cheese rice, dinner done and ready in like what 30 min? and oh so tasty…this is a staple at my house especially in the colder months.
Kenneth says
I’m gonna make this tonight!!!
SCOTT says
To prevent the spread of bacteria, you shouldn’t use the leftover marinade sauce on the chicken. Once the chicken goes on the oven, discard the marinade. Instead, use fresh sauce or another glaze in the last 5 minutes.
Deanna says
My thoughts exactly.
JBudds the Butcher says
I 3rd that. I just erased mine but after contact with poultry use either cook it with or toss it out.
Ruth says
If you want a safe and yummy way to incorporate the “used” marinade, simply pour it in a sauce pan and bring to a full, vigorous boil for at least 20 seconds. Can also add a few teaspoons of corn starch (dissolved in water) for a thick, flavorful sauce. I use quality ingredients in my marinades and prefer to use every drop (:
Lori says
It does say to discard the remaining marinade and use fresh sauce to brush on more…
Khadeeja says
Did not say to put the broil on high or low
Mary says
Many ovens only have one option, but if you have a choice, broil on high. Enjoy!
Tati says
Thank you so much for this free recipe
Mary says
Can I use chic tenders
Mary says
Yes, this should work with chicken tenders. You’ll just need to watch closely the first time you make it to adjust the cooking time as needed.
Anita says
Broil on Hi or Low? Thanks
Mary Younkin says
Hi Anita. I broil this recipe on high. However, all ovens are different, so you’ll want to watch closely the first time you make the recipe.
Mary Renda says
I used this delicious recipe for chicken tenders. I added about 5 extra minutes on each side for Browning a little. Turned out great.
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the chicken, Mary.
Jason says
Are you kidding me? Scroll through all that “story” for “put BBQ sauce on chicken and broil”? This is why people hate recipe pages
Mary Younkin says
Hey Jason, while some people do appreciate all of the information, I can appreciate that others might not feel the need to read it all. That’s why there’s a lovely “jump to recipe” button at the top of every post. All the best!
Teri says
So eloquently put! Kudos to you for being nice. And thank you for the easy and yummy recipe!
Mary Younkin says
Thanks, Teri! Enjoy the ice cream!
DAN says
YOU DON,T IN THE BEGING THE TEMP OR TIME.Sorry don’t have time click on this or this just s simple question.
Mary Younkin says
Hey Dan, the chicken in this recipe is broiled. That is the temp. Did you scroll to the recipe card? The times are included as well.