Orange Barbecue Grilled Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you put barbecue sauce on chicken before or after grilling? ›

Barbecue sauce typically contains sugar that will brown faster than the meat. This can make it difficult to tell when the chicken is done. To ensure you don't pull the chicken off too soon, add the BBQ sauce when you're nearly done cooking the meat.

Cook your chicken breast on the grill for 6-8 minutes on one side. Flip your chicken. After 6-8 minutes open your grill lid and flip your chicken breast with tongs. A great tip is to only flip your chicken breast once so that it stays nice and juicy (and creates delicious grill marks!)

Applying a rub can also be useful, much like working with a thicker sauce. However, given that meat will always release juice as it cooks, increasing moisture and triggering BBQ sauce to slip and slide, we recommend sticking with the brûlée method. Generally, a kitchen torch is the tool of choice.

Let the chicken come to room temperature (if refrigerated). Grill chicken directly on the grill grates at 475 degrees F for 8 to 13 minutes, flipping halfway through (that's 4 to 5 minutes on the first side and 4 to 8 minutes on the other side).

Focus on searing the meat and then cooking it until it reaches a safe inside temperature at the thickest part. Sauces are best applied near the end of cooking to prevent burning. Only baste it with sauce during the final five minutes of cooking. The taste will blow you away without any burned mess on your grill.

Grill the chicken, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the chicken, and then brush with some of the barbecue sauce. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. (Note that tenderloins will cook faster than breasts.)

Olive oil helps to brown the outside of the chicken, bringing it to a beautiful golden color, while still maintaining the meat's internal moistness. This is especially important when grilling, as chicken can quickly become dried out when cooked directly over the grill's heat.

The key steps to really juicy grilled chicken are kitchen essentials — lessons that even the most seasoned griller should revisit each year. Pound the chicken thin for more even cooking, brine or marinade for flavor and color, and grill over direct heat for grill marks, but finish over low heat to keep them juicy.

So how do you avoid burning barbecue sauce? For starters, be gentle with it. Don't let your barbecue sauce remain on heat for more than 30 minutes. Remember, sauce should accent the flavor, the tenderness and the moisture of the meat.

How do you add bottled BBQ sauce? ›

Spices: With big bold flavors, the subtly of spices in bottled sauces tends to get lost. Adding garlic or onion powder are standard flavors for barbecue, but get a little creative and try out different chile powders, peppers, cumin, or dried herbs to add body to the sauce.

Add a few glugs of Frank's RedHot or Louisiana-style Crystal. Or any other spicy condiment, really: swirl in some sambal oelek, gochujang, or harissa. Play with the smoky notes found in a can of adobo sauce, or the citrus flavors in Cuban mojo. Another source of smoky flavor: smoked paprika.

How do you grill chicken breast without drying it out? Brining is the secret to juicy grilled chicken breasts. It requires a bit of extra time, but the soak in the a brine helps to tenderize the meat, which makes it less tough once it's grilled. Also, a brine is a great way to add flavor if you want.

Place chicken breasts on plate and pat dry with clean paper towel. Sprinkle both sides with a generous amount of the salt and pepper mix. Heat grill to medium heat (approximately 400 degrees F). Place chicken on direct heat (direct flame) and cook at medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side.

After about 9 minutes on the grill, insert the digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken to check the internal temperature. Grill until the chicken breasts reach an internal temp of 165°F.

Some cooks may coat the protein with the barbecue sauce before even putting on the hot grill. Others may wait until the meat starts to cook, but not long enough, basting too soon into the cooking process. This will not end well, and it's all due to a specific ingredient in barbecue sauce.

Only brush thicker barbecue sauces onto your food in the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking and never serve guests sauce that was used to baste or glaze. The last application of sauce should be at least 5 minutes before you remove food from the grill.

It is recommended to brown the chicken first before adding it to the sauce. Browning the chicken adds flavor and helps it retain moisture during the cooking process. You can pan-sear the chicken in a little oil until it develops a golden brown crust before transferring it to the sauce.

To accomplish this, simply use a BBQ basting brush to apply the sauce toward the end of the cook (aim to have it on for about 10 minutes). Don't be afraid to add a few extra coats of sauce as the clock winds down if you like a really sticky outer layer.