Published 8/10/2023 It doesn’t get better than grilled chicken made with a bbq sauce chicken marinade. It’s my go-to summer marinade for chicken. Ours is simple and made with pantry staples such as spices, minced garlic, and your favorite bbq sauce. Combine the ingredients for your bbq chicken marinade and then transfer it into a container or gallon-size bag. Submerge your chicken into the marinade and let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
What You Need for this BBQ Chicken Marinade
BBQ sauce: Any kind will do! Grab your favorite BBQ sauce or whatever you have on hand in the fridge. Olive oil: The perfect amount of olive oil will help keep this chicken moist and delicious during the marinating and cooking process. Smoked paprika: Smoked paprika gives this marinade a delicious smokey flavor. Chili powder: Give your BBQ marinade a little savory kick! Garlic cloves: Don’t skimp on the garlic, friends! We keep a tube of minced garlic in the fridge at all times. Salt and pepper: So simple, but adds such great flavor!
How Long to Marinate BBQ Chicken?
We recommend marinating your chicken for at least 30 minutes. We’ve found the sweet spot for flavor infusion to be around 2 hours, but you can also let it sit overnight in this marinade.
Ingredient Swaps
Garlic cloves: Don’t have fresh garlic on hand? Use minced garlic or sub half the amount of garlic powder. Smoked paprika: Regular paprika will work or omit for less of a smokey flavor. Olive oil: Prefer avocado oil or vegetable oil? Most oils will work in this marinade.
Ways to Cook BBQ Chicken
Oven: Follow our easy baked chicken tutorial for directions on how to bake the most perfect marinated chicken! Grill: Use our Grilled BBQ Chicken recipe as a source Instant Pot: Plop your chicken and marinade right into your Instant Pot and in no time, you’ve got dinner! Slow Cooker: Easily whip up our Crock Pot BBQ pulled chicken recipe for the most tender BBQ shredded chicken recipe! Sous Vide: Want super tender chicken? Use your sous vide to get perfect marinated chicken every time.
Freezer Instructions
One of our favorite things to do with marinated chicken is to prep and freeze them for later. For example, you can make 3 or 4 batches of this BBQ chicken marinade and freeze it for another time. Here’s how to do it:
6 Baked Chicken Breast Recipes
You are going to love these 6 oven baked chicken breast recipes. Check out how to bake chicken breast perfectly every time and get 6 delicious flavor variations!
Chicken Marinade Recipes
Italian Chicken Marinade Teriyaki Chicken Marinade Greek Chicken Marinade 6 Easy Chicken Marinades Fajita Chicken Marinade
How long does frozen chicken last? Your frozen BBQ chicken will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Ways to Use BBQ Chicken Marinade
BBQ chicken is delicious grilled, baked, or pan-seared. We love serving it next to steamed broccoli, roasted potatoes, or grilled Brussels sprouts. Other Cuts of Meat: Use this marinade to flavor other cuts of chicken (like these BBQ chicken thighs!) or even other meat such as pork! Dipping Sauce: We love BBQ dipping sauces for oven baked potato wedges and sweet potato french fries!
