BBQ Chicken Thighs With Bite-Through Skin
BBQ chicken thighs scream Summer cookouts. And while delicious, getting that bite-through skin with BBQ sauce remains an elusive dream. No more.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
What’s great about this recipe is that now you can add BBQ chicken to your repertoire of fabulous smoked, BBQ, and grilling recipes.
Furthermore, you can take a relatively inexpensive protein and elevate it to mouth-watering nirvana that family and friends alike will not forget anytime soon. And you can get it on their plate within the hour as well.
Affordable, quick, delicious, and impressive. This is the dream of all backyard BBQ’ers.
Ingredients Needed
Nothing too difficult here. Just the chicken thighs, some barbecue sauce, and a few spices for a light rub are all you need to nail this recipe.
- A favorite BBQ sauce (try our homemade bourbon chipotle barbecue sauce – it rocks!)
- Chicken thighs – we use bone-in, skin-on.
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
How To Make BBQ Chicken Thighs
Step 1 – Prepare the rub and trim the thighs
Combine the salt and pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl or ramekin. Mix well so all the spices are well mixed. Remove the chicken thighs from the packaging. Trim any excess fat and skin from the thigh.
THE SECRET TO BITE-THROUGH BBQ CHICKEN THIGHS
Using a meat tenderizer makes several pinprick holes in the skin. This allows the skin to tear much more easily, giving you that clean bite. Furthermore, it allows more of the fat underneath the skin to render and drain. Super easy to do and a total game-changer for your BBQ chicken.
Step 2 – Prepare the chicken thighs
Using a meat tenderizer, pierce the skin of all the thighs. Lay out the chicken thighs on a baking sheet. Dust the chicken thighs with the rub on one side. Then turn them over and dust the other side.
Pull the skin taut so it’s even and tucked in as best as possible. Allow them to rest for an hour before cooking.
Step 3 – Barbecue the chicken
Set your smoker or grill to 425 degrees. Put the chicken thighs, skin-side up, into the grill or smoker when it reaches temperature.
Cook at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes, or until the thighs reach about 160 degrees F. The cooking time may vary slightly depending on your setup. Use an instant read thermometer (close to the bone) to check the internal temperature. There is no need to flip the chicken.
OPTIONAL
When the chicken is cooking, toss some wood on the fire. I put on some oak or hickory. Pecan or apple would be good as well. The small amount of smoke that gets on the chicken adds a very pleasant layer of flavor.
When the chicken thighs reach 160 degrees F, they are ready for the barbecue sauce. You should see that the thighs have nice, crispy skin.
Step 4 – Sauce the chicken thighs
Remove from the heat, apply your BBQ sauce to all sides of the chicken thighs, and return to the grill.
Continue to cook for approximately 10 minutes for the sauce to tack up. Check the internal temperature. When it hits 180 degrees, they’re ready.
I will optionally coat the chicken again with barbecue sauce and put them back in for 10 minutes if I am going all out on the barbecue experience.
Step 5 – Remove, rest, and serve
Remove the chicken thighs from the grill (or smoker) and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Using a meat tenderizer to make those holes in the skin is the secret to this bite-through BBQ chicken recipe. Once you try this, you will never go back, and you will find that cooking up chicken with the skin on may become a regular thing.
Serve this delicious bbq chicken thighs with your favorite barbecue sides. We are fairly partial to some grilled corn on the cob with all of our barbecue dishes.
Promise, this barbecued chicken is a winner. It certainly beats chicken in the oven every time!
Tips
Use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. This method is designed for bone-in chicken thighs with the skin attached. The skin protects the meat during cooking and gives you the opportunity to achieve that bite-through chicken skin texture.
Don’t skip the meat tenderizer step. Piercing the skin allows more of the fat underneath to render out while cooking. It’s the easiest way I’ve found to get crispy BBQ chicken thighs without dealing with rubbery skin.
Pull the skin tight before cooking. After seasoning, tuck and smooth the skin over the thigh as evenly as possible. This helps the skin cook more uniformly and improves the final appearance.
Cook to temperature, not time. Every grill and smoker runs a little differently. Start checking the internal temperature around the 30-minute mark and sauce the thighs when they reach about 160 degrees F.
Use a thermometer close to the bone. Bone-in chicken thighs often take longer than expected. Always verify the internal temperature in the thickest part of the meat.
Cook thighs to 180 degrees F. While chicken is technically safe at 165 degrees F, chicken thighs become noticeably more tender when cooked to around 180 degrees F.
Add a little smoke flavor. Even when cooking at higher temperatures, a chunk of hickory, oak, or pecan wood adds another layer of flavor to these smoked BBQ chicken thighs.
Let the sauce tack up. Don’t rush the final step. Giving the barbecue sauce 10 minutes on the grill helps it set and creates that sticky backyard BBQ finish everyone loves. Optionally, do it twice for a super-sticky-tasty experience.
Variations
Make smoked BBQ chicken thighs. Add hickory, oak, pecan, apple, or cherry wood to your smoker for extra smoke flavor. This works especially well on pellet grills. You could even start low and slow for additional smoke time before blasting up the heat.
Use a different barbecue sauce. Sweet Kansas City-style sauces, tangy Carolina sauces, spicy chipotle sauces, or Alabama white sauce all work great with this recipe.
Turn up the heat. Add cayenne pepper, chipotle powder, or your favorite hot seasoning blend to the rub for spicy BBQ chicken thighs.
Try boneless chicken thighs. The same method works with boneless thighs, though the cooking time will be shorter.
Use a competition-style glaze. Mix a little honey, brown sugar, and butter into your barbecue sauce before glazing for a richer finish similar to competition BBQ chicken.
Make grilled chicken thighs instead. This recipe works just as well on a gas grill or charcoal grill using indirect heat.
Experiment with different seasonings. Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper, barbecue rubs, or simple salt and pepper all work well with this cooking method.
Finish with multiple layers of sauce. For extra sticky barbecue chicken thighs, apply a second coat of sauce during the last few minutes of cooking.
FAQs
Approximately 30 minutes at a grill temperature of 425 degrees F to cook the chicken thighs to 160 degrees F. internal temperature. Another 10 minutes for the BBQ sauce to set up.
Do not apply your BBQ sauce until the chicken is 160 degrees F. internal temperature. Apply the BBQ sauce and return to the grill for about 7-10 minutes to let the sauce set and the chicken reach an internal temperature of another 5 degrees F.
Use a meat tenderizer to create several small holes in the skin. This will allow some of the fat to escape. The skin will tear easily bite after bite.
Other Amazing Barbecue Recipes
BBQ Chicken Thighs With Bite-Through Skin Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken Thighs Bone-in, skin-on
- 16 tbsp Barbecue sauce Your favorite or ours.
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Instructions
- Combine the kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl and mix well.1 tsp Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp Black pepper, 1/2 tsp Onion powder, 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- Trim any excess fat and skin from the chicken thighs. Using a meat tenderizer, pierce the skin of each thigh several times.8 Chicken Thighs
- Season both sides of the chicken thighs with the rub. Pull the skin taut so it covers the meat as evenly as possible. Let the thighs rest for 1 hour before cooking.
- Preheat your smoker or grill to 425 degrees F.
- Place the chicken thighs skin-side up on the grill grates. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches about 160 degrees F. Use an instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone to verify the temperature.
- If desired, add a chunk of hickory, oak, pecan, apple, or cherry wood during the cook for a light layer of smoke flavor.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the grill and brush all sides generously with barbecue sauce.16 tbsp Barbecue sauce
- Return the thighs to the grill and continue cooking for approximately 10 minutes, or until the sauce has set and the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F.
- For extra sticky BBQ chicken thighs, apply a second coat of barbecue sauce and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.