Chris Cooks

Quick & Perfect Honey BBQ Chicken | Chris Cooks

July 9, 2023

We believe we should all love where we live.

We’re a couple of homebodies, working to uncover the home our home wants to be. And we’re so happy to have you here. 

Portfolio

Projects

Design

We're Chris + Julia

read more

What we're                   right now

Loving

browse the shop

Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here. 

We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen. 

Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.

browse all

browse all

browse all

02

01

03

Popular Posts

1.

2.

3.

Top Categories

There are 101 BBQ chicken recipes out there. For me, the best recipe is the simplest. Really, it’s about the right cut of chicken, a good sauce, and waiting to add the sauce until the end or after cooking. Let’s get into it.

Serving Platter | Silver Bowl | Wooden Spoons | Glass Jar | Lantern Pendant | Black Gloves

If you’re wanting to wow your family and friends with flavorful BBQ chicken, don’t you dare use chicken breasts. Instead, go ahead and grab some boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are a fattier cut of meat, which means more flavor. Also, *trigger warning*, it’s simply more moist than chicken breast. You might not like the word, but you might be insane if you prefer dry chicken breast over juicy thighs.

Silver Bowl | Glass Jar | Black Gloves

I’ve been making my own BBQ sauce for years. It takes minimal effort, and it’s always better than any store-bought condiment with all the additives and crap that’s not great to ingest. Now, my recipe isn’t sugar-free, but I opt for using local honey, coconut sugar, and date syrup as natural sweeteners rather than processed. You can keep it in the fridge for weeks, but my guess is you’ll probably use it up a lot quicker.

Serving Platter

But my biggest tip if you want to make the best BBQ chicken is to first cook the chicken, and then add the sauce. In my experience, when you first marinate the chicken in sauce and THEN cook, the sauce caramelizes even more and starts burning before the chicken can thoroughly cook. Don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it.

And if you do try it, be sure to let me know in the comment section. Happy BBQ-ing.

Quick & Perfect BBQ Chicken

You can get real fancy with your BBQ chicken, but really it's about the right cut of chicken, a good sauce, and waiting to add the sauce until the end or after cooking. Don't overthink it.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat the grill to high.
  • In a bowl, toss the chicken with the oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brush a small amount of avocado oil onto your grill grate and grill the chicken until cooked through.
  • Place all the chicken in a bowl and toss with the bbq sauce. Enjoy immediately.

Cleanish Honey BBQ Sauce

Definitely not sugar free, but only natural sweeteners used and man alive it's good.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a pot and whisk together. Put on a burner over medium heat, bring to a bubble, reduce to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature 30 minutes before putting in a container (lidded jar, squeeze bottle etc) and in the fridge. Keeps for weeks but my guess is you'll go through it pretty quick.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

What do you think?

  1. Molly says:

    BBQ chicken is my favorite food and has been since childhood. I agree with making your own sauce and adding it after cooking. I want to try your sauce – thanks for the recipe!

  2. Katie says:

    THANK YOU for telling the world to stop using chicken breasts. Chicken thighs are so much better!

  3. Barbara Langer says:

    Yummmy.

  4. Sunny says:

    Chris, looking forward to making the BBQ sauce.

    I sometimes par boil my chicken before finishing on the grill. Very moist when done. Also I do the same and add BBQ sauce at the end for the same reason you list.

all the latest

We believe we should all love where we live.

We’re a couple of homebodies, working to uncover the home our home wants to be. And we’re so happy to have you here. 

HI! We're Chris + Julia

read more

Load More

Reader Faves

SHop all

What We're                     Right Now

What We're                 Right Now

Looking for our favorite things? A place to shop our home room by room, or just catch up on what Julia's wearing / loving right now? Browse the CLJ shop. 

Loving

looking for inspiration? 

A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]

Can We Send You Our Love Letter?

Another way for us to stay in touch! Joining our weekly newsletter gives you access to exclusive content, never-before-seen photos, your questions answered, and our favorite DIYs. Sign up below!

Follow Along on Instagram

Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations

@chrislovesjulia