I pride myself on being able to throw together a decent meal with whatever I can find in my fridge or pantry – without having to run to the store. I have three kids so going to the store isn’t the easiest option. As long as you have chicken and barbecue sauce, you can add any spice to this recipe. Why? Because barbecue chicken is a crowd pleaser. Even for picky eaters who don’t like barbecue sauce (just omit the sauce). It’s great as a weeknight meal or main dish for company!

Remember, you can barbecue all year round. I tend to crave barbecue in the summer months but I still throw down on a mild winters day. Here’s how I season my chicken:

Spicy BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

• 10-12 drumsticks and or thighs
• 1/4 cup of olive oil or grapeseed oil (or whatever you have)
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  
• 1/2 of a medium onion, diced
  
• 1/2 tsp of salt (I use pink Himalayan)
  
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
  
• 1 tsp of paprika
  
• A few sprigs of thyme
  
• *1-2 tsp of hot chilli powder or hot chillies or cayenne pepper (anything spicy!)
  
• Handful of chopped cilantro or parsley
  
• 1 1/2 cups of your favourite barbecue sauce. I like mixing honey garlic with either chicken and rib or maple chipotle. Sometimes I mix them all! 

If you don’t have thyme, don’t worry! Or if you like cumin a lot, then add some cumin to the mix. The thing about barbecue chicken is you can season it any way you like. *Oh and omit the spicy ingredients if it’s not your thing.

Food pairing tip: If you have veggies – throw them on the grill too. Just drizzle some butter or EVOO on your veggies and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Portobello mushrooms, sweet peppers, asparagus and corn are good options for grilling. 

Instructions

1. I always start with rinsing my chicken in a vinegar and water mix. You can also use lemon or lime in your rinse. This is just to make sure your meat is as germ-free as possible. 
2. After you wash your raw chicken thoroughly and pat it dry – mix all the ingredients with the chicken and let it sit for 30 minutes before throwing it on the grill. 
3. Also, as part of your prep be sure to clean your grill grates, then heat them up (medium heat) and oil them before adding your meat. I don’t always oil the grates because the chicken itself has oil on it which makes it less sticky to the grates but I should.  
4. Once the meat hits the grill, I turn the chicken around every few minutes to lock in the juice. Side thought: I’m so hungry right now. :/
5. I usually grill my chicken for almost an hour, adding barbecue sauce in the last 10 minutes. I’m always worried about undercooking chicken. Feel free to cut into one of the chicken pieces to check the color of meat. Pink means it needs to cook longer. The inside temp should reach 165 F.
6. During the last ten minutes of cooking, generously brush eat chicken leg or thigh with barbecue sauce and turn every 1-2 minutes to avoid burn spots.
7. It’s tough to keep track when you have a lot of chicken on the grill. The last time I entertained I barbecued 53 drumsticks (in the rain)!! I know, I’m crazy. But I had a lot of people to feed and grilling is the way to go as it leaves very little to wash in the end. 😉
8. Wait! there’s another recipe…

When I barbecue, I almost always make carrot rice. It’s super duper easy – especially if you have a rice cooker.

Carrot Rice

Ingredients

• 4 cups of cooked white or brown rice
  
• 3 carrots, peeled then shredded
  
• 6 shoots of green onion, with bulbs
  
• 1 garlic clove, chopped or crushed
  
• 2 tbsp of olive or grapeseed oil
  
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook rice
2. Peel and shred 3 decent sized carrots and set aside
3. Finely chop the green onions and set aside with shredded carrots.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet (enough to hold the 4 cups of rice you’ll have to add
5. Sauté the garlic, carrots and green onions in the oil
6. Sprinkle salt and pepper, to taste
7. Once the carrots are soft, add the rice and mix evenly

That’s it. Easy, right?? And it tastes sooo good. Even if you’re not a big carrot fan. Enjoy!

Hungry for more? Check out our other recipes here.