BBQ Chicken Marinade: a kitchen method

BBQ chicken marinade on chicken thighs that have been grilled and are on a platter.

This BBQ chicken marinade is a blend of ketchup, brown sugar, oil and plenty of spices. It’s the reliable way to add rich, smoky flavor to chicken breast and chicken thighs.

Barbecue chicken is a summer time staple, along with other warm weather classics like grilled corn on the cob and watermelon salad. BBQ chicken marinade is the reliable way to infuse all that flavor into ordinary chicken to turn it into something special.

You simply can’t go wrong with grilled chicken. It’s straightforward to make, relatively inexpensive, and universally adored. This BBQ chicken marinade combines plenty of different savory spices to create the finest chicken you’ll ever eat!

BBQ Chicken Marinade Ingredients

Bowls of ingredients including ketchup, vegetable oil, spices and seasonings.

This recipe is made with ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, dry mustard powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and vegetable oil.

How Do You Make BBQ Chicken Marinade?

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl or resealable bag. Whisk the ingredients together until fully combined. Put your chicken in the bowl or bag, then cover the bowl or seal the bag. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, but 6-8 hours is really ideal. Grill, oven bake or broil your chicken as desired, then serve and enjoy.

Step by step process shots showing how to make BBQ chicken marinade.

Tips For The Reliable Marinade

This marinade can be prepared up to 3 days before you plan to use it, and will coat two pounds of chicken. Store the marinade in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
You can freeze the marinade for up to 2 months. Store the marinade in a resealable freezer bag. Thaw the marinade in the fridge overnight before you use it.
I feel that BBQ chicken marinade works finest with thinner, boneless cuts of chicken. I recommend using thin cut breasts, chicken tenders or boneless skinless thighs. The bone-in cuts take a lot longer to cook, which makes it more likely that the marinade could burn before the chicken is done.
If you’d like to cook bone-in pieces of chicken, I recommend you check out my BBQ chicken recipe which uses a different technique for bone-in meat to prevent it from possibly getting overly browned.
Serve your chicken with a variety of side dishes such as snicker apple salad, dirty rice or asparagus salad.

Quick Tip

It is very important to grill your chicken over medium heat, or bake at a moderate temperature. This marinade contains sugar, which can burn if it is exposed to high heat for an extended period of time.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use BBQ sauce as a marinade?

You can use BBQ sauce as a marinade, although I recommend mixing in some oil to keep the chicken from drying out on the grill. This recipe is essentially a kitchen-made BBQ sauce mixed with a little oil.

Do you rinse off marinade before grilling?

I do not recommend rinsing marinade off of meat before you cook it. You want a thin layer of marinade left on the meat so it can caramelize on the grill.

How long should you BBQ chicken?

Thin cut chicken breasts will need to cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side. Chicken tenders will also take about 5-6 minutes per side. Boneless skinless chicken thighs will take longer, closer to 10-12 minutes per side.

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Thighs coated in BBQ chicken marinade grilled and served with mashed potatoes and peppers.

Flavor Variations

This marinade is fabulous as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.

Spicy: Add 1 tablespoon of hot sauce or 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the marinade.
Garlic Lover’s: Stir in 2 teaspoons of fresh minced garlic.
Seasonings: You can add other seasonings such as soy sauce, ground cumin, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, or Dijon mustard.

My family loves this BBQ chicken marinade so much that I find myself making it all year round. It’s just that tasty! Looking for more great marinade recipes? Don’t miss my teriyaki marinade or steak fajita marinade.

More Grilled Chicken Recipes

Grilled Chicken Tenders

15 mins

Grilled Chicken Salad

35 mins

Chicken Caprese

20 mins

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

30 mins

Grilled Chicken Wings

1 hr 30 mins

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Add as Google preferred source Authorthe Makdob kitchen BBQ chicken marinade on chicken thighs that have been grilled and are on a platter.

This BBQ chicken marinade is a blend of ketchup, brown sugar, oil and plenty of spices. It's the reliable way to add rich, smoky flavor to chicken breast and chicken thighs. Time Prep Time10 minutes
Marinating Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes

Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Serves 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl or resealable bag. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly.
Add two pounds of chicken to the bag or bowl. Cover the bowl or seal the bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the marinade. Grill, broil or bake over medium heat as desired.

Notes

I feel that BBQ chicken marinade works finest with thinner, boneless cuts of chicken. I recommend using thin cut breasts, chicken tenders or boneless skinless thighs. The bone-in cuts take a lot longer to cook, which makes it more likely that the marinade could burn before the chicken is done.
It’s important to cook the chicken over medium heat so it doesn’t burn from the sugar in the marinade.