Oven-Barbecue Chicken

Real grilled barbecue takes a grill, a fire, and an afternoon. This oven barbecue chicken takes 60 minutes and a baking dish. The trick is the two-stage cook: a quick sear in a dry skillet for browning and Maillard flavour, then a 45-minute bake under a tangy sauce that turns sticky and concentrated in the oven.

The sauce is built from pantry standards. Bottled chili sauce (the ketchup-style condiment, not Asian sweet chili) goes in with tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and a half teaspoon of dried oregano. That’s it. The chili sauce already contains the sugar, vinegar, and spice notes that make a barbecue glaze taste right.

Sliced onion tucked under and around the chicken sweetens as it cooks and adds another layer of flavour to the sauce. By the end of the bake the onions are tender and the sauce has thickened around them.

Kitchen Tips

• Pat the chicken dry with paper towels before searing. Wet chicken steams instead of browns, and skipping the brown step costs you the depth that makes this dish.
• Use bone-in chicken if you want extra flavour and a longer cooking margin for error. Boneless breasts work too but need closer to 35 minutes than 45 to avoid drying out.
• Don’t cover the dish. The point of uncovered baking is letting the sauce reduce and thicken into a glaze instead of staying loose like a stew.
• Spoon sauce over the chicken halfway through baking for a glossier, more flavour-coated finish.

Variations

• Use bottled barbecue sauce in place of the chili and tomato sauce mix for a more traditional smoky flavour.
• Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and a teaspoon of paprika to the sauce for more depth.
• Serve over rice or with mashed potatoes to catch all the sauce.