Oven Barbecue Chicken Thighs
I saw this barbecue chicken thighs recipe on The Pioneer Woman and immediately knew that I had to check it out.
The thighs looked like everything I love about a piece of BBQ chicken – minus the headache of grilling outdoors. They’re perfectly cooked through because you can control the temperature by using an oven cooking method and that’s important since a chicken thigh can take a long time to finish. When cooking on the grill, the skin is often charred and a chicken thigh resembles a burnt hockey puck by the time it’s done. Not so with this method, the BBQ sauce is sticky and perfectly charred with just the right amount of crispiness around the edges.
I love the flavor of the peach preserves together with my favorite BBQ sauce (KC Masterpiece) and the extra garlic and dash of hot sauce takes it over the top.
I’ve also thrown some bone-in chicken breasts on my baking sheet along with the thighs when making this for guests who weren’t crazy about dark meat. They were good too but you may have to cut the cooking time if using breasts (depending on size) since they have a tendency to get dry if over cooked by even a few minutes.
I’ve cut her recipe down to serve 4-6 people since her version is written for a much larger crowd. I’ve also added more peach preserves and garlic than her original recipe calls for and both are delicious but this just has a little more bite to it!
- 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (I use KC Masterpiece or Sweet Baby Rays)
- 1/3 cup peach preserves
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- tabasco sauce - several dashes
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- Olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 425. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up. Drizzle olive oil on the baking sheet and use a pastry brush to coat the surface thoroughly.
- Dry the thighs, salt & pepper both sides and place skin side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make your sauce by whisking the BBQ sauce, peach preserves, garlic and hot sauce together in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pull the thighs out and coat both sides with the BBQ sauce. Flip the sides to skin side up and return to oven for 15 minutes.
- Pull the thighs out again, put more sauce on and turn them over and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
- At this point the thighs should be nice and brown, done all the way through. I like to pull them out, brush on a final coat of sauce and let them go for another 5-10 minutes if necessary or just until they are nice and crispy around the edges.
Miriam Maxey
October 3, 2020
I use Sweet Baby Rays and apricot preserves and it turns out so awesome.
Emily Sowada
May 6, 2019
I was on the internet looking for an easy, fast, delicious recipe for BBQ chicken.. man did this exceed expectations!! Instead of the peach, I used jack Daniels. Omg I’m definitely keeping this recipe!
Chris
July 7, 2019
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Carla
March 18, 2019
I’m cooking these tonite. Had no preserves so pureed some peaches in there syrup. Laid last couple peaches in with the chicken to cook. Hubby loves peaches.
Chris
April 15, 2019
Sounds delicious!
Dana
March 11, 2019
Bravo!! Best bbq chicken recipe I have made. Only change was I added some whiskey to bbq sauce. Thank you for this recipe!!!
Chris
April 15, 2019
I’m sure it was great, I think I’ve seen a similar recipe with Jack Daniels added to the sauce!
Mike Faciane
August 25, 2018
Hi Chris , I was looking at recipes for making bbq thighs in the oven and when I came across the pic of your chicken, I knew right then that yours was the 1 I wanted cuz that’s the way I like my chicken to look. It was perfect . I didn’t have peach preserves so used peach chutney and Stubbs BBQ sauce. So glad I picked yours cuz they were scrumptious. Me and my wife absolutely loved them . BTW this is the first time I have ever commented about any recipe but after eatin them thighs I just had to. Thank you for a delicious meal.
Chris
August 25, 2018
Thank you Mike! The peach chutney sounds amazing and I love Stubbs BBQ!😍
Laura
June 28, 2018
S💞 GOOD!!!
My family requests I make this for birthday dinners!
Chris
July 2, 2018
I just made them last night, aren’t they delicious?!? So glad you enjoy them too!
Carol
October 28, 2017
We loved it!!! I didnt peach preserve so at the end I added some blackberry jam to the barbecue sauce and brushed it on just before plating. Have a slightly weakness to the sauce but a little burn at the end. We were licking our fingers. Chicken was nice and tender yet well done.
Sherry
October 14, 2017
came out gr88
Thank u🙏🏽🙏🏽
Robert B. Brumfield
October 11, 2017
I was looking for a recipe that gives you a crispy skin as well as a tender meat on the inside…..looks like this is it. Going to give it a try as soon as the chicken thaws out !
Mark Crisco
January 9, 2017
The picture of the chicken drew me in.It looked like what my Mom made 50 years ago.I’m cooking this for my wife tonight,Thanks!
Chris
March 15, 2017
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, it’s one of my regulars and I think we probably have these BBQ thighs at least every other week..they are just so delicious!