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    Home » Kitchen Laughter Recipes Blog » Poultry » Chicken

    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce Recipe for Grilled Chicken

    Published: Jun 18, 2018 · Modified: Jun 21, 2023 by Jason C · This post may contain affiliate links ·

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    Who doesn’t love a mouthwatering barbecue, especially when it includes a Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce dripping over our grilled chicken.  With a great taste and a 30 minute marinade, this recipe goes down as the bomb for us!

    adding more spicy bbq sauce to grilled chicken
    Make this Amazing Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce for Chicken!
    Contents hide
    1 📌 Ingredients
    2 🔥 Grilling Instructions
    3 Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce for Grilled Chicken

    This recipe mixes the sweet sauce with just a hint of spice to deliver a surprisingly complex taste. The sauce only takes a few minutes to put together, so unless you are up against a huge time crunch, go ahead and make your own. It beats opening a jar filled with preservatives!

    Jason and I love to spend our weekends grilling, not just for ourselves but for friends and family as well. We love gauging their expressions and reactions to recipes to see if they should go on the blog or not. Thanks to those faithful friends that step up to the plate and allow us to try out our creations on you!

    When I think of BBQ Chicken, I think of our nation celebrating on the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day. I think of yummy potato salad, dripping watermelon juices running down my hand, sun shining bright in the sky, the smell of a grilled meats. You get the picture. I think that is why we can’t seem to have enough grilled chicken recipes – BBQ chicken, in particular.

    📌 Ingredients

    Grab a few homemade BBQ sauce recipes and they usually all start with vinegar, brown sugar and ketchup. Yep, those are your staples right there. Pretty simple. Creating the magic is with all of the additional ingredients. For us, it is adding lemon juice and just a smidge of ground red pepper to add the zing.

    If you want to customize your own sauce, think out of the box…add a finger of bourbon for some sweetness, your favorite craft brew for some earthy undertones or maybe even add bacon – Everything goes with bacon, right?

    My mom always added molasses, I have a friend who swears by Worcestershire Sauce. Sautéed onions will take a few extra minutes but we all know how delicious they are! What creative ingredients do you add?

    🔥 Grilling Instructions

    Step One: Add the ingredients for the Sweet and Spicy BBQ Marinade in a Ziploc bag, but keep ½ cup reserved for later use.  

    30 Minute Marinade for Easy Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken
    30 Minute Sweet and Spicy Marinade on Grilled Chicken

    Step Two: Add the chicken breasts to the Ziploc bag and work the marinade over the chicken.

    This recipe only requires a 30 minute marinade!

    Step Three: As with most of our BBQ chicken recipes, set up the grill for direct heat.  Set the temperature to 375 degrees, remove the chicken breasts from the BBQ sauce marinade and add them to the grill.

    Note: It only takes about seven minutes per side for the chicken to be fully cooked, but check the temperature using your wireless meat thermometer to make sure it reaches 165 degrees.
    Perfect Sear Marks and Juicy Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast for Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Recipe
    Grill About Seven Minutes Per Side

    Step Four: Brush on the reserved BBQ sauce before you remove the chicken from the grill.

    Closeup of the Green Onions on the Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Recipe
    Top with Freshly Cut Green Onions

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    Grilled Parmesan Sweet Potatoes – Slice those sweet potatoes, add them to a cast iron skillet and grill them with fresh parmesan for a truly amazing side dish.

    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce Dripping Down the Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce for Grilled Chicken

    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce is easy to make, fun to customize and works perfectly as both a marinade and a brushing sauce for any cut of chicken. Make a bit extra and store it in glass jars in your fridge for your next BBQ.
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    Print Pin
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Marinade Time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6 people
    Calories: 276kcal
    Author: Jason

    Ingredients

    • 4-6 Chicken Breasts

    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce

    • 1 cup Vinegar
    • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
    • 1/2 cup Ketchup
    • 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
    • 1 tsp Black Pepper ground
    • 1/2 tsp Salt
    • 1/2 tsp Red Pepper ground

    Instructions

    Make the Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce

    • Add all of the ingredients except for the chicken to a small saucepan
    • Bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
    • Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Allow it to completely cool.

    Marinade the Chicken

    • Use 1/2 of the sauce to marinade the chicken in a Ziploc bag for one hour prior to grilling.

    Grilling the Sweet and Spicy Chicken

    • Using direct heat, bring grill up to temperature of 375 degrees and cook each side 5-7 minutes. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
      Perfect Sear Marks and Juicy Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast for Sweet and Spicy BBQ Chicken Recipe
    • During the last few minutes, brush on the sauce and keep flipping to create a thick coating.
      Reserved Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce poured over the Grilled Chicken Breasts

    Nutrition

    Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 391mg | Potassium: 661mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 161IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @kitchenlaughter or tag #kitchenlaughter!
    Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce Recipe for Grilled Chicken
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