Easy and Delicious Indoor Barbecue Chicken

This Indoor Barbecue Chicken recipe really knocked our socks off– from the juicy chicken to the quick homemade tangy barbecue sauce that was rich in flavor. Best of all, the prep work wasn’t über time-consuming. A quick spice rub (with no unusual ingredients) took a couple of minutes to mix together. The chicken is easily seared by placing into a screaming hot cast-iron skillet until roasted to perfection. As for the homemade barbecue sauce– wow! A ketchup-molasses sauce produced a beautiful rich color with a sweet and tangy flavor. The sauce is good enough to bottle for so many uses! This is almost a “one-pan” dinner because the sauce is made in the same pan, and once the chicken is coated with that delicious sauce you have barbecued chicken that is out of this world! This is a perfect week night meal to put together in less than an hour.

Spring is definitely in the air, and our surrounding hills are bright green and our garden flowers and fruit trees are happy little campers. Our Weber grill is still covered, waiting for warmer temperatures where we can sit outside and enjoy grilled dinners. Oh, how we love love our barbecue!

I am soooooo happy that I spotted this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, “Cook it in Cast Iron” by Cook’s Country. I had a package of bone-in chicken breasts and chicken thighs just waiting for me to figure out what to make with it. I just love it when I have every single ingredient in a recipe! The recipe sounded simple enough to do on a work night, so I dug out my cast iron pan, rolled up my sleeves and started making dinner.

So, here’s the rub. Literally! Chili powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, cumin and vegetable oil. I cut the chicken breast in half, so that it would cook at the same time of the smaller chicken thighs.

The chicken gets level of flavor boost by coating it with the spicy mixture. So, now it’s time to get the chicken in the oven. But, wait! Let’s talk about the cast-iron skillet. I’ve collected a few traditional cast-iron skillets and absolutely adore cooking (and baking) with them– now that I understand how to season and take care of them. It’s really not rocket science!

I also own a Le Creuset Braiser (really, it’s a skillet without a handle). I know, I know… they are quite expensive! I bought mine at a Le Creuset Outlet Store for about 40% less than full price (cough, cough) a few years ago. I use it a LOT– and so I chose my porcelain cast iron pan simply because I try not to cook tomato based recipes in black cast-iron. Why? It’s believed that it could give an off-taste. So, Le Creuset, you win for today!

So, while I was prepping the chicken, my cast-iron pan was heating up in the oven to 500F. The seasoned chicken was placed, skin side down, into the super hot skillet to give a beautiful brown and crispy sear to the skin. I turned down the oven to 450F and roasted it until the breast reached 160F and the thighs reached 175F– flipping the chicken halfway through the process (about 25-30 minutes).

Gorgeous, yeah?! If you don’t own a meat thermometer, please invest in one! I’ve owned my Thermapen for years and it’s so accurate that overcooked meats are a thing of the past! The chicken has reached the perfect temperature, so I removed it and covered it with foil.

Now for that sauce… once I removed the chicken, there really wasn’t a lot of fat left behind. I only needed about one tablespoon and that’s about what was left.

There’s lots of “fond” and that is flavor! Into the hot pan, I added a diced onion until softened.

I really, really love a ketchup based barbecue sauce! I like the tangy-sweet flavor it imparts (and I buy organic ketchup, for the record). Yes, I keep molasses on hand, so that goes in, along with Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard are whisked together and cooked until thickened and reduced to about one cup (2-5 minutes).

Okay, then, chicken– you’re going back into the pan and about to get a sauce jacuzzi!

That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Coat those bad boys with that incredibly delicious sauce!

I kept tasting the sauce and got really excited about how incredibly good it was! I would make the sauce, just by itself, for future barbecue dishes! Honestly, this dinner was on the table in less than one hour!

TASTING NOTES: Bam! The chicken breast was so juicy and cooked perfectly! I went back for additional sauce to dip each bite into. You might wonder if you can make this with drumsticks. Yes, indeed. Can you use boneless, skinless chicken? Well, maybe. My experience is that bone-in chicken doesn’t have a tendency to become dry. Plus the browned skin gives to much flavor for the sauce. Whatever floats your boat– go for it! What more can I say except that this is a recipe that will definitely have a repeat performance. Love, love, love! But, once our Weber gets fired up in the summer, I have plenty of recipes that are equally good– just a little more work, but totally worth it!