Ah the grill, one of my favorite and most over used cooking utensils that I utilize during the summer. Something about the beautiful char and flavor that the grill gives to meats is such a nice change from the typical roasting that I do. I find it quite difficult not to enjoy absolutely everything grilled. I have yet to grill something and not like it.
I was talking to my buddy Russell from Chasing Delicious and he was explained how he grilled pretty much everything in sight all the time. That’s what got me thinking about vast possibilities of all the great things that could be made even greater by grilling them. If only I could find a way to grill eggs because with me being a total egg lover I feel like that would be a revolution. After many epiphanies of all of the possibilities I thought back to the more simple recipes out there.
I know, how average. Barbecued chicken can seem like a really plain dish, but it depends on the recipe. What makes barbecued chicken great in my opinion has to do with 2 specific factors. The first factor being the barbecue sauce, which shouldn’t be too overpowering to the point where you only taste the barbecue sauce but it should be powerful enough that you can taste it but meanwhile it enhances the natural flavor of the chicken. Believe me when I say if you have pastured chicken like I do from my best friends at YonderWay Farm you don’t want to ever mask that gorgeous flavor of their chicken.
As a matter of fact I actually managed to create a barbecue sauce that requires no added sugar what so ever, including honey. Now technically the onions and tomato paste have naturally occurring sugars but they are incredibly miniscule and it’s being split amongst many pieces of chicken so it’s practically not even there. Ironically I actualy didn’t even spend tha tlong coming up with teh recipe for this, I just happened to be in a rush and started frantically putting in different ingredients. Then I plunged my finger into the thick and sweet scented amalgamation of ingredients and tasted it with low expectations.
Man, was I wrong. The flavor was exactly what I wanted to be, sweet, slightly smokey with a subtle kick of heat. Lucky for me I brought some of this fine chicken along for the ride to Cozumel. Yes that’s right I may have smuggled Pastured Barbecue chicken into Cozumel because I am that much of a control freak. Really it was for “emergency protein”, but hey, they let me keep it. They confiscated my hard boiled eggs though.
- 1 whole chicken cut up into 8 pieces
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon New Mexican red chile powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons macadamia nut oil
- if it's not sweet enough for your tastes you can add 3 drops liquid stevia or 1 teaspoon honey but it's sweet enough without it in my opinion
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat one side of a grill to high heat and the opposite side off and cover.
- Combine all ingredients for barbecue sauce in a blender and blend until very smooth.
- Before brushing the chicken pour out the portions of barbecue sauce you want to brush on as you may have leftover barbecue sauce that you can save and cook with later. Brush each piece of chicken all over with barbecue sauce but leaving enough leftover for a second brushing (you should have some left over)
- Once the grill is hot place each piece of chicken on the hot side of the grill skin side down for 6-10 mins and brush additional barbecue sauce on the part of the chicken facing up. Then flip and grill opposite side for another 8-10 mins doing yet another brushing this time on the skin side. Transfer the chicken to the cool side of the grill skin side down and close the lid and let cook for 15-20 mins.
- Transfer the chicken to a large platter ensuring they don't touch each other so they keep their crispy skin and allow to rest for 10 mins. (you can skip the resting period but I prefer to do it as it the chicken keeps it's moisture much better when you do so)
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This looks amazing Josh! I just pinned this sauce recipe. I tried one a while back but it ended up more like tomato soup than BBQ sauce.
Yumm! Have fun in Cozumel!
I just made this sauce. I doubled it and added about a quarter cup of honey to one half and kept the other half as you wrote it. The only change I made was to use hot chili olive oil instead of the macademia oil. Both versions are so excellent. I was craving sweet bbq chicken, hence the honey version. I may skip the broth next time so it is a bit thicker. However, the original version is so complex- all the different spices keep hitting you. I’m looking forward to grilling chicken with the original for a salad or tacos/burritos. We plan on using this recipe a lot this summer. Thanks!
This is my first time visiting your blog (how I never stumbled across it before, I don’t know). Anyways, as a health conscious 16 yr. old, your blog is very inspiring and upon discovering your blog I immediately had to make this chicken. It was so good, even my dad who is very hard to please liked it! I think it’s really cool that you are so devoted to being health conscious and to cooking. I have never met or heard of any other kids our age who are concerned about the food that people eat (my friends think I’m crazy whenever they see what I eat). I hope you continue this blog for a long time!
Hey Mikayla, good to find out there is another person around my age who cares about their health as well. I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog, and I don’t plan on going away anytime soon.
Can you substitue the macadamia nut oil with coconut oil?
It will taste slightly different but you can if you like, it might just glob up the second it hits the sauce though because it will be at a solid state compared to liquid like macadamia nut oil. I prefer to use something a little more high heat resistant if I’m grilling.
Just discovered this recipe & your blog via the Huffington Post. Do you think walnut oil would be a reasonable substitute for the macadamia oil. Not sure I have room in my pantry for another oil!
now I really know how to make a perfect barbeque chicken thanks for the insight
now I know how to make a perfect barbeque chicken ill try this one out thanks again.
thanks for the tip on bbq chicken it looks real good so ill try it
This was delicious! I used olive oil bc thats all I had. Might throw some more spice in there since I like a little more kick but it was so easy and the chicken cooked perfectly!