Perfect Barbecue Roasted Chicken: Your Go-To Recipe for Flavorful Meals & Easy Leftovers

Imagine a whole roasted chicken, perfectly golden, succulent, and infused with that irresistible barbecue flavor. This isn’t just a dream – it’s easily achievable with our delicious Barbecue Roasted Chicken recipe! Ideal for a satisfying family dinner, this dish is also a masterstroke for meal planning, providing fantastic planned leftovers that can transform into entirely new, exciting meals throughout the week. Whether you shred the tender meat for Barbecue Chicken Pizza, pile it high on barbecue sandwiches, or incorporate it into hearty soups and casseroles, you’ll find endless ways to enjoy it. For those who love efficiency, consider roasting two chickens at once to double your delicious leftovers and save even more time later!

If you’re looking for an easy, flavorful, and incredibly versatile chicken dinner, you’ve come to the right place. This roasted barbecue chicken recipe takes a classic comfort food and elevates it with a simple yet potent barbecue twist, ensuring a juicy interior and a beautifully caramelized, savory exterior. It’s a crowd-pleaser for all ages and surprisingly straightforward to prepare, making it ideal for both weeknight dinners and special occasions.

What makes this recipe truly special is its minimal ingredient list coupled with maximum flavor. With just a few staple items, you can create a meal that tastes like it took hours of effort. Plus, the built-in advantage of having delicious leftover chicken means less cooking later in the week and more time to enjoy your favorite activities. Let’s dive into how you can bring this mouth-watering Barbecue Roasted Chicken to your table.

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Effortless Cooking: Understanding the Time Commitment

One of the many benefits of this Barbecue Roasted Chicken is its manageable time commitment. You’ll need approximately 15 minutes for active preparation, which includes crafting your flavorful sauce, loosening the chicken’s skin, and thoroughly coating it. This hands-on time is minimal, making it perfect for busy schedules. The majority of the process is passive roasting, with the chicken baking for about 90 minutes. This means from start to finish, you’re looking at an estimated 1 hour and 45 minutes to achieve a perfectly cooked, tender, and juicy bird. While the chicken roasts, you’ll have ample time to prepare your favorite side dishes, catch up on tasks, or simply relax.

The beauty of roasting a whole chicken is that it cooks evenly and creates its own flavorful juices, leading to incredibly moist meat. This recipe leverages that natural process, enhanced by the aromatic garlic and the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, to deliver a truly memorable meal without demanding constant attention in the kitchen.

Why This Barbecue Roasted Chicken is a Must-Try

This roasted chicken recipe stands out for several compelling reasons:

• Unbeatable Flavor: The combination of savory chicken, pungent garlic, and a rich barbecue sauce creates a complex and deeply satisfying taste. Roasting helps to caramelize the sauce on the skin, forming a delicious crust.
• Incredibly Juicy: By coating the chicken both under and over the skin, the moisture is locked in, resulting in exceptionally tender and juicy meat with every bite.
• Effortless Preparation: With just four main ingredients and simple steps, this recipe is accessible even for novice cooks. The oven does most of the heavy lifting!
• Meal Prep Dream: As highlighted, the generous yield from a 5 lb chicken makes it perfect for future meals, saving you time and effort on subsequent cooking days.
• Versatile & Customizable: Easily adapt the flavor by choosing different types of barbecue sauce – smoky, spicy, sweet, or tangy – to suit your preference.
• Budget-Friendly: Buying a whole chicken and utilizing the leftovers is often more economical than purchasing pre-cut chicken pieces or convenience foods.

Essential Preparation Steps for a Delicious Roast

Getting your chicken ready is key to achieving that perfect barbecue flavor and tender texture. Here’s a breakdown of the initial steps:

1. Loosening the Skin: The Secret to Deep Flavor

The first crucial step is to gently loosen the skin from the chicken on all sides. This might seem a bit unusual, but it’s essential for infusing the meat with flavor directly. Use your fingers to carefully separate the skin from the breast, thighs, and drumsticks. Be gentle to avoid tearing the skin, as it helps keep the chicken moist during roasting.

2. Flavor Infusion: Barbecue Sauce and Garlic Under the Skin

Once the skin is loosened, apply half of your barbecue sauce and all of the minced garlic directly between the skin and the meat. Distribute this mixture as evenly as possible. This technique ensures that the chicken meat absorbs the delicious flavors as it cooks, rather than just flavoring the skin. The garlic will impart a wonderful aroma and taste, while the barbecue sauce will keep the meat moist and tender. You can use your hands (gloves recommended!) to really get the marinade everywhere.

3. Securing the Chicken: Tying the Legs

Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen twine. This simple step serves a couple of purposes: it helps the chicken cook more evenly by keeping the legs and thighs tucked in, and it creates a more compact, aesthetically pleasing roast. Place the chicken breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan. The rack is important as it allows air to circulate around the entire chicken, promoting even cooking and crispy skin.

4. A Touch of Oil: For Golden Crispy Skin

Drizzle a small amount of oil over the top of the chicken before baking. This helps the skin crisp up beautifully and achieve that appealing golden-brown color. Olive oil, avocado oil, or any neutral cooking oil will work perfectly.

Baking Instructions and Final Glaze

Now that your chicken is prepped, it’s time for the oven to work its magic. Bake the chicken in a preheated oven at 375°F (190°C) for approximately 1 hour to 1 ½ hours. The exact cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken and your oven, so it’s essential to cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the thigh, without touching the bone. A meat thermometer is your best friend here, ensuring both safety and perfectly cooked poultry.

During the last 15 minutes of baking, remove the chicken from the oven and brush the remaining barbecue sauce generously over the entire surface. This final glaze will caramelize in the remaining heat, adding another layer of flavor and creating a beautiful, sticky finish. Return the chicken to the oven to finish cooking, allowing the sauce to bake on. Once done, let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, ensuring every slice is incredibly moist.

Recipe Details

For your convenience, here is the full printable recipe card with all the precise measurements and steps:

Recipe

Barbecue Roasted Chicken

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This delicious roasted barbecue chicken makes a wonderful meal and is perfect for planned leftovers. Shred leftover chicken and use on Barbecue Chicken Pizza or in barbecue sandwiches (double up and cook two roasters for more leftovers).

AuthorAuthor: Mary Ann

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American, Gluten-free

Servings 10 servings

Calories 575

Ingredients

  

• 5 lb. whole chicken
• 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• oil as needed

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Instructions

• Loosen skin from the chicken on all sides. Coat chicken between the skin and meat with half of the barbecue sauce and all the garlic, distributing as evenly as possible.
• Tie legs together and place breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Drizzle a small amount of oil over the top.
• Bake at 375°F for about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours or until chicken is cooked through. During the last 15 minutes brush remaining barbecue sauce over the chicken.

Notes

Shredded or chopped cooked chicken makes a great shortcut for future meals, so whenever I roast a chicken I freeze the leftover chicken for use in things like pizza topping, barbecue sandwiches, or to use in soups and casseroles.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 575 calCarbohydrates: 17 gProtein: 42 gFat: 35 gSodium: 599 mgSugar: 14 g

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