Barbeque Chicken on a Gas Grill

Crispy skin smothered in sticky barbeque sauce…I personally don’t think nature has made a better wrapper for juicy white meat chicken.  Sure, grilled boneless chicken breasts are healthier and cook quicker, but I love to get my fingers dirty and pick the meat off the bones of barbeque chicken.  Grilling this type of chicken doesn’t get much easier either.  You don’t need a smoker or set aside all day to create some great barbeque chicken.  All you have to do is set your gas grill up for indirect heat, lightly season your split chicken breasts, slap them on the grill and then check back about 35 minutes later to add your sauce.  Why not add the barbeque sauce earlier in the process?  Well, that sauce has a lot of sugar in it.  If you add it to the grill process too early, you’ll basically encapsulate your chicken in a burnt shell of sugar and that’s no good.   To add more flavor to your gas grill, we also suggest putting together a smoke pouch.  This all sounds pretty easy, right?  It really is, let’s take a look at the steps:

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5 from 8 votes

Barbeque Chicken on a Gas Grill

Chicken with a crispy skin smothered in sticky barbeque sauce...I personally don't think nature has made a better wrapper for juicy white meat chicken. 

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Main Course

Servings: 4

Calories: 435kcal

Ingredients

• 4 split chicken breasts on the ribs with skin
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
• Smoke Pouch optional, though recommended

Instructions

• Preheat the grill for indirect heat.  If you have a 3 or 4 burner set up, leave the middle burner(s) off and light the others to high (we may adjust these later, some grills get hotter than others).
• While the grill is heating up, rub the chicken breasts with some Kosher salt and black pepper.  It's best to leave the chicken breasts out for 30 minutes or so before grilling, if you have time, so that the chicken cooks through evenly.  We are talking ROOM temperature here people, not outside in the humidity, inside on the counter!
• If using a smoke pouch, go ahead and prepare the pouch and place it on the grill.
• Once the grill is heated (if using a smoke pouch, wait until the smoke starts to appear), place the chicken breasts on the grill with the bones facing down.
• Close the grill and sit back, check out a game or just dream about barbeque chicken for about 35 minutes and don't open the lid!
• After about 35 minutes, open the lid and brush your favorite barbeque sauce onto the top of the chicken.
  
• Close the lid and cook for another 10 minutes or so.  Make sure you check your chicken after about 5 minutes. Barbecue sauce has a lot of sugar and sugar burns, so we need to be careful not to burn the sauce at this point.
• 10 minutes should be plenty of time to heat up that delicious barbeque and form a little bit of a glaze on the chicken.  Go ahead and remove the chicken from the grill and place on a platter to enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 2011mg | Potassium: 564mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

If you do happen to burn your barbeque chicken, the good news is that you can always peel off the skin, smother it with more sauce and you should be able to salvage a delicious meal.  Of course, some of us like our skin a little charred and crispy, but that’s up to your personal tastes.  The bottom line is that barbecue chicken is pretty forgiving and very low maintenance grilling.  Speaking of low maintenance, throw some grilled corn on the cob on with those chicken breasts.  You don’t need to wory about either burning, so just let them go.  How many more reasons do you need to go out and make some finger licking good, shirt staining barbeque chicken breasts?  Get grilling!