These bbq boneless chicken thighs are a great weeknight dinner option using a simple and fast marinade. With just 4 ingredients, including either store-bought or homemade bbq sauce, they’re perfect for grilling up in no time. The marinade coats the chicken evenly, ensuring juicy and flavorful results. Simply marinate, grill, and enjoy a delicious meal that’s both easy and satisfying.
BBQ grilled chicken is a classic grilling recipe, whether it’s a weeknight dinner or you’re hosting family and friends for a cookout.
Don’t get me wrong – I love all sorts of grilled chicken (as does my family). Some of our favorites being these simple grilled chicken boneless chicken thighs and these chili lime marinated chicken thighs.
But if you’re wanting a classic bbq flavor, this grilled chicken recipe is the way to go.
This recipe uses bbq sauce plus oil and kosher salt to make a simple bbq chicken marinade that gives you juicy, flavorful chicken every time (and yes, I really did get juicy chicken every time I tested it).
If you want details about how this recipe was tested you can read below, but if you need a TLDR – I tested it with many different bbq sauces and it worked for them all. So if you’ve got a bbq sauce you love chances are it will work as a marinade with this recipe.
Read on to see how easy it is, as well as to get tips and good-to-know info when making these boneless skinless bbq chicken thighs.
Grab these 4 ingredients
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
- Chicken thighs: this recipe calls for boneless skineless thighs, which will cook up faster than bone-in ones.
- BBQ sauce: you can either make the sauce yourself or buy one at the store. I’ve tested this recipe with several different bbq sauces, both store-bought and homemade, and it’s tasted good with all of them. My favorite might be might be my maple bbq sauce though (which is what’s shown in the picture above).
- Oil: any mild, higher-heat oil will do. I like to use avocado oil.
- Kosher salt: this recipe calls for Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which is my preferred salt. It is less salty by volume than other salts which means it leaves a little more room for error when salting your food. If you are using a different type of salt (kosher or otherwise), you’ll want to use this salt conversion chart from Epicurious to determine how much salt to use.
Using homemade vs store-bought bbq sauce
This bbq chicken recipe was tested with several types of bbq sauces, both store-bought and homemade. It works with all of the kinds I tested, and I would venture to say many others.
Despite the ease of using a pre-made bottle of bbq sauce, my preference is to use homemade BBQ sauce. I’m listing out the ones my family liked the best below, but really any of the ones on my site would work and still taste good.
How to make bbq chicken thighs on a gas grill
There are three basic steps to this recipe:
- make the marinade,
- marinate the chicken, and
- grill the chicken.
Make the barbecue chicken marinade
Marinate the chicken thighs
Grill the bbq chicken thighs
Keeping your chicken thighs from drying out
Concerned about dry chicken? You don’t have to be. I’ll let you in on a secret…
Internal temperature.
Yup, that’s it. The secret to juicy chicken is to grill it to the right internal temperature – before it gets too hot and dries out.
For both chicken breast and chicken thighs, that internal temperature is 165 degrees F. Thighs are more forgiving than breasts and if you cook them to a little higher temper they’ll still retain moisture, but breasts shouldn’t be cooked higher than 165 degrees F.
To do this, you’ll want to get a really accurate and speedy meat thermometer. The one I always recommended is the Thermapen by Thermoworks (affiliate links). We have had one for years and absolutely love it – we actually own two now.
To read more, check out this post I wrote on how to use a meat thermometer for grilling.
What to eat with grilled barbecue chicken thighs
My family loves to eat these boneless bbq chicken thighs with some salad, other veggies, and/or potato sides. Specific side dishes we’ve had with grilled chicken thighs are:
- Coleslaw: a classic side for bbq chicken, my family loves this apple broccoli slaw.
- Potatoes: grilled potato wedges, especially grilled sweet potato wedges, or roasted potatoes are all delicious.
- Veggies: lots of options here, including grilled zucchini, grilled onions, and sauteed green beans.
If you need more side dish ideas, check out this post for sides for grilled chicken.
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4-Ingredient Grilled BBQ Boneless Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- A sealable plastic bag (or shallow dish)
- Grilling tongs
- A basting brush
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs roughly 4 thighs
- ¾ cup bbq sauce separated (½ c for marinade, ¼ c for coating chicken while grilling – enough for about ½ tbsp per thigh)
- ¼ cup mild oil avocado oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt Diamond Crystal brand
Instructions
- Start by making the marinade. Pour ½ cup of bbq sauce into a liquid measuring cup, then pour the oil on top (can also pour both into a larger bowl). Measure out the kosher salt with a measuring spoon and add it in with the sauce and oil. Use a whisk to briskly stir everything together until the oil, salt, and sauce combine. Set aside momentarily.
- Place the boneless skinless chicken thighs in a quart or gallon-sized resealable bag, or a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken, making sure to coat the chicken evenly. Press out any air from the bag and seal it. if using a shallow dish, mix the chicken thighs in with the marinade in the dish then place a lid or plastic wrap on the dish.
- Lay the bag of chicken flat in the refrigerator and let marinate for 1 to 2 hours, flipping the bag halfway through (or flipping the chicken if marinating in a dish). Remove the chicken from the fridge during the last 15 minutes of marinating to let warm slightly.
- Preheat your grill to a medium heat (375-400F). Once it comes to temperature, remove the chicken thighs from the marinade with a pair of tongs and place them on the grill. Close lid and let the chicken grill for 6 minutes.
- When the 6 minutes are up, open the lid and use the tongs to flip each chicken thigh to the other side. Take the reserved ¼ cup of bbq sauce and use a basting brush to brush roughly ½ tbsp of sauce onto each chicken thigh after you’ve flipped it over (onto the cooked side). Close the lid and cook another 3 minutes.
- When the 3 minutes are up, check the internal temperature of the thighs. Remove from the grill once the internal temp of the chicken thighs reach 165F – smaller thighs may be done at this point, or some or all of the thighs may need another 2 to 5 minutes to cook, depending on thickness of the thighs. Once done cooking, remove them from the grill with a pair of tongs and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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