Welcome to the table!

This table is a place where all people are welcome, flavor is first, eating with your fingers is considered customary, and proper table manners can take a back seat.

We don’t even mind if you put your elbows on the table as long as you are enjoying your meal (and Granny doesn’t see you doing it)! A place where BBQ chicken is seasoned to perfection, sauces are overflowing and living is easy. This is a glimpse of what it is like to share a meal of BBQ chicken right out of Jimmy’s oven.

Have a seat and stay awhile and you just might learn a thing or two that you didn’t know about how to make BBQ chicken in the oven taste good, about the type and cuts of chicken for baking, how to choose you BBQ seasonings and sauces and some of our favorite BBQ chicken recipes for the oven.

How to Make Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken Taste Good

How do you like your baked chicken? Crispy? Flavorful? Tender? Simple?

For crispy baked chicken, make sure to bake it with the skin on and coat the skin in butter or olive oil. Cook it at about 400 degrees uncovered. This will allow the color to turn a golden brown with a crispy texture.

For tender baked chicken, we also recommend cooking it with the skin on. This helps to seal in the moisture and trap the juices inside. Marinating the raw chicken in a good sauce like Jimmy’s Sauce prior to baking is another way to make your baked chicken tender.

Of course, everyone loves baked chicken that is full of flavor. Choosing premium spice packs, rubs and other ingredients will add to the flavor of baked chicken.

If you are looking for a simple way to bake chicken, you can get by with as little as three ingredients: chicken, a seasoning rub, and olive oil.

How to Bake Different Cuts of Chicken

What is the difference between a broiler chicken, fryer chicken and a roaster chicken? Well, they are all whole chickens and they can sometimes be used interchangeably but allow me to decode the mystery for you.

• A broiler is a young chicken and weighs around 2 ½ pounds.
• A fryer is also a young chicken and weighs between 2 and ½ and 3 ½ pounds.
• A roaster chicken weights 3 ½ pounds to 5 pounds and is between 7 and 8 months old.

The cooking time and temperature will depend on the weight of the chicken. You may think the name designates the cooking method but they can truly all be baked. If your recipe doesn’t call for a whole chicken, it can probably be narrowed down to one of these four cuts-the wing, the breast, the thigh, and the drum stick.

Chicken breasts are the most common and versatile cut of the chicken for baking. They can be used as the main meal with sides like vegetables and potatoes, tossed on top of a salad or used in a sandwich.

Drumsticks and wings are less expensive cuts of the chicken and taste best when baked in marinade or delicious sauce. They are also easy to eat with your fingers because you can just pick them up, dip them, and enjoy.

Chicken thighs are considered to have a little more flavor due to the higher fat content.

How to Choose a Sauce or Seasoning for Your BBQ Chicken

If you are looking for sauces and seasonings for BBQ baked chicken, there are a variety of ways to add flavor. Start with an all-purpose seasoning mix for chicken that contains the basics like salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder-

Jimmy’s General Seasoning Salt is a good all-purpose seasoning to keep in your pantry. You can use this as a base and add to it for different flavors. If you want sticky and sweet, blend in a little brown sugar or molasses and ketchup.

Looking for a little tang? Mix in some mustard and horseradish. For a little more spice, add in smoked paprika and some red pepper flakes.

Jimmy’s also makes a delicious all-purpose cooking sauce (it's technically called "steak sauce," but we use it on all our meats!) that is great for a marinade, which enhances the texture and flavor, and also for a dipping sauce.

Our Favorite Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken Recipe

Our favorite oven-baked BBQ chicken recipe is Roasted BBQ Chicken Thighs. Cover tops of chicken thighs with a little Jimmy’s Sauce prior to preheating your oven. Coat your roasting pan in olive oil and place the chicken thighs with the skin side down on the roasting pan.

Roast the thighs on 400F for 15 to 20 minutes and then gently brush with BBQ sauce before flipping.

Cook another 5-6 minutes, brush with sauce, and flip, again. Once the sauce starts to get a little darker and the thighs are cooked through, pull them out of the oven and allow them to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

What to Put on Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken

Ingredients for oven-baked BBQ chicken are pretty simple and will depend on whether you are looking to use a ready-made BBQ sauce or make your own sauce totally from scratch.

You can use Jimmy's Sauce to make a white sauce, a brown-sugar BBQ sauce, vinegar-based or a Carolina mustard sauce. For an Asian-style flavor, add in some peanut butter and soy sauce.

Once you have the sauce figured out, the rest is easy. Get some chicken and preheat your oven!

Instructions for Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken

Three of the most important things to remember when baking BBQ chicken are:

1. Marinate
2. Season
3. Bake with the skin on

If you follow these three simple instructions, you are well on your way to flavorful, juicy, decadent BBQ chicken.

Just remember: "MSB."

Marinate your chicken with a BBQ sauce for chicken like Jimmy’s Sauce. 

After marinating, season the chicken with a spice rub for chicken.

Lastly, bake the chicken with the skin on. The skin provides a protective barrier and the fat from the skin provides a delicious, natural flavor.