This recipe was born from necessity.
Need an explanation? It was necessary for me to make dinner for one of my sweet friends from work who just had a baby, and I promised BBQ chicken. I needed to deliver BBQ chicken. I wanted to.
The problem was that the store didn’t have a full chicken to cut up OR one that was already cut up. The only thing it had was boneless skinless (i.e. flavorless) chicken breasts! Really, what store only stocks those? I had full plans to make something similar to my mom’s oven-baked BBQ chicken. Let’s be serious though, it wouldn’t have turned out like hers anyway. I swear if my mom touches anything food it turns into foodie gold. Every.time.
I want to be like her!
So I did the next best thing: I lightly breaded the chicken breasts, browned them on both sides, slathered them in a BBQ sauce concoction and baked ’em off. Honestly I was a little worried because without the fat from the skin and the juiciness that comes with having bone-in chicken pieces there isn’t a lot of flavor and the juiciness can just fall by the wayside.
Thank goodness I was wrong with this one!
OVEN BAKED BBQ CHICKEN BREASTS
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (although you could do it with the bone-in, this recipe was made for chicken breasts that don’t have the bones)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s, but use your favorite!)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp mustard
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 chicken bouillon cube (if you have it available), crushed
- 1/2 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350. In a large plastic bag combine the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and mix to combine. Toss the chicken breasts in the flour mixture to coat. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is nice and hot add the chicken breasts. Sear on each side about 3 minutes or so; you want the outsides to be nice and brown but you don’t have to cook the breasts all the way through. Place in a large oven-safe dish coated with nonstick spray. In a bowl combine the sauce, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, bouillon cube and hot water. Whisk until smooth. Pour over the chicken breasts. Move the chicken breasts around a little so that the sauce gets under the chicken as well. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes on 350. Remove the foil and let bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for about 5-10 minutes, and then serve hot! 
I love that the flour adds thickness to the sauce. I love that it’s a little fried and a little oven-baked. And I love that the sauce is sweet and helps keep the chicken tender and succulent! Win!
Been looking for this recipe forever! Absolutely love it!!! Might be a dumb question, but can’t remember if I used light or dark brown sugar last time!
I like ’em both – but maybe do the light brown first? That’s what I would do if I had the choice between the two!
This sounds delicious! Will it taste nearly as good without the boullion cube?
I think it would still be delicious without it – I just always jump at the opportunity to add more flavor when I can 🙂
Love this! I honestly have never made it with the flour coating/frying though. I time saving step, plus I don’t fry anything in general. I just pan sear naked chicken breasts and then follow your instructions from there. Always turns out moist, tender, and flavorful. Thank you!!
I made this a few weeks ago and it was so good!!!! I am making it again tonight and serving it with shells and cheese, corn on the cob, and Texas toast. 🙂 thank you for this!!
Thanks so much Cori! I’m so glad you liked it!
Love love love!! The chicken was so moist!! My kids cleaned their plates and wanted more. Definately making this a monthly meal 🙂
Thanks so much Wendi! You have no idea how happy it makes me that your family loved this one!!!
These turn out soggy. Cant fry something and then soak it in sauce in the oven. Sorry but this turned out gross
Hey Hilary! I really appreciate your feedback on this; I should have specified that they weren’t meant to be crispy or crunchy, but rather that the coating does get softer with the sauce. I think it would be fun to re-work them so that the coating does maintain a more crisp texture! Thanks again for coming back and letting me know your thoughts!
I’m not really a fan of barbecued chicken breasts – boneless or Bone-in. However, I prepared these chicken breasts this evening. Absolutely delicious! Moist, tender, and flavorful. Told my Dear Mom about the recipe. She plans to make them soon. I certainly will be making these again.
Fantastic! That’s what I love to hear 😉
amazing. i made it for the first time last week as the recipe states and then added to it tonight it is so good. thanks for this.:)
Thank you for sharing this recepie! It is so good and the chicken comes out juicy and flavorful!
I just made this for my husband and he said, “Put this one in the playbook!” I make a lot of slow-cooker recipes because we work opposite shifts, but I like to cook for him on the days that I’m off from work. This was easy and tastes delicious! For a fast side, I made Stove-Top stuffing (he’s not big on veggies) and he’s taking left-overs for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the quick, easy dinner!
Beth
aw, that’s so great! i love hearing a recipe success story 🙂 so glad you guys liked it!
Gonna try this for sure
This looks delicious! Chicken smothered in BBQ sauce is always a winner 🙂
I love me some BBQ chicken 🙂 this looks great!
Mmmm my family would love this! bookmarking, along with 1348927 of your other recipes 😀
Mmm! Barbeque chicken!! Can you say perfect summer / fall meal? I guess I would eat it in winter / spring, too, though. 🙂
I love how easy this dish is!! Look great 🙂
husband pleaser, for sure!