I’ve got an entire meal cooked up for you today. Crispy skinned chicken thighs topped with my citrus spiked BBQ glaze and a charred corn salad. It’s well known that my favourite season is BBQ season because for me it lasts all year. You can find me cooking outside no matter how much snow is on the ground.
Don’t worry if you can’t cook outside today – I’ve got you covered with different cooking methods. Let’s get into this, we’ve got a bunch to cover and I’m walking you through all of it!
Think it’s hard to get that perfect grilled piece of bone-in, skin-on chicken? Not anymore, I’ve got you.
I know how frustrating it can be to get bone-in skin-on chicken pieces to BBQ or Blackstone perfectly. We all want that super crispy skin that’s perfectly browned but not burnt. And the meat inside to stay tender and juicy. Seem like a big ask? It’s not.
When I tell you that I have spent hours nailing this technique, I mean weeks worth of hours, possibly months. I really hope not months, but I’m not going to do the actual math because it will just upset me.
It paid off though and I can teach you how to get perfectly cooked bone-in, skin on chicken every time. It’s not hard at all, you just have to know what to do. This recipe uses chicken thighs, but these steps are the same no matter what type of chicken piece you use. It works for thighs, legs, quarters, and breasts, it’s all the same.
Here’s exactly how to get perfectly grilled chicken pieces that are juicy and tender with super crispy skin every time:
The first thing you want to do is trim off any excess fat. That extra fat is what’s going to cause 99% of your flair ups on the grill. You shouldn’t really have much, if any, on chicken drumsticks, but you will on thighs, quarters, and breasts. The fat is the larger white patches typically on the bottom of the pieces, and often kind of hanging off. Sometimes they’ll rip right off for you, and sometimes you need to use a knife or a pair of scissors.
One caveat to say that when cooking chicken on something like a Blackstone griddle, you’ve already removed the biggest hurdle: flare ups. In that case you don’t need to worry as much about trimming excess fat, though it helps for even cooking.
After that the motto is less is more, and patience is key.
To get that perfectly crispy skin here are a few things I want you to do, and not to do:
- Stay away from a marinade – all that extra moisture makes it a lot harder to get crispy skin. I promise, your meat will still be juicy without it.
- Don’t add seasoning onto the top of your skin. It will just burn while the skin is getting crispy and kill the flavour of it. Instead, separate the skin from the meat on one side and season the meat under the skin. To do this push a finger under the skin and sweep it across the meat to create a pocket. This will give more flavour to the meat itself, and save the skin. This is also a great place to add some herb butter instead of seasoning too.
- Don’t put any oil on the skin before putting it on the grill or griddle. Instead, lightly oil your grates or cooktop and just let the skin do it’s thing.
- Always start cooking the meat skin side down on high heat and leave it alone! You do half the cooking skin down, then once the skin’s a dark amber colour flip it over to finish. I’m serious, if you want it to stay crispy go past golden brown until it’s a dark amber.
- No BBQ sauce or glaze while it’s cooking. Once you’ve flipped the chicken over so the skin is facing up it’s tempting to slather on some BBQ sauce. Don’t do it. While the meat is over the heat and finishing cooking it will keep creating steam under the skin. If you put a sauce on there it will trap that steam making the skin soggy. Instead, once your chicken is fully cooked move it to a plate to rest, then brush it with the sauce. I usually brush it twice. Once right when it comes off the grill so that it sticks and thickens, and again 5 minutes later. The skin stays crispy this way, and the sauce or glaze doesn’t have a chance to burn.
- The only time you do things a little bit differently is with chicken drumsticks. They take a total of around 20 minutes to cook. You want to put them on the grill and give them a quarter turn every 5 minutes. This way every side of the skin gets nice and crispy, not just the top and bottom.
- One last thing – ALWAYS make sure your chicken is cooked all the way through. As confident as I am with my timing now, I still check every single piece with an instant read thermometer. It’s done when it reaches 165°F. Make sure the prob tip is in the centre of the thickest part of meat and not touching any bones.
What the hell is a BBQ Glaze? Secret time…
Alright, now you know how to make the perfect chicken pieces, lets make them shine with a BBQ glaze. This is another one of my secrets that aren’t really secrets because I’m happy to be sharing it with you.
Everyone has had a piece of meat slathered with a BBQ sauce at somebody’s summer cookout. They’re ok, often good, and once in a while even great. What they aren’t is special, and my family knows I sure do love being a little “extra”.
Years ago, like literally 12 years ago, I tested a sauce and fell in love. Problem was it wasn’t easy to find everywhere. I always make sure everyone can make my recipes, no matter where they live in the world. That incredible reach is a big part of the fun in being a blogger. So, I went to work creating my own twist that anyone could do, and I’ve been making it ever since. Look at me slathering on that glaze BEFORE the meat was done, and how burnt it is by the end. We’ve come a long way here, lol.
My BBQ glaze is something you can whip up in 5 minutes, with ingredients you keep in your house already. Ok, you may need to start stocking apricot jam. With a couple quick additions you customize it to match whatever meat it’s going on and tie everything together.
Citrus Spiked BBQ Glaze, easy as 1-2-3
I love doing this instead of a straight up BBQ sauce with chicken and pork. I usually use apricot jam, it’s got a nice mild flavour and really highlights what you add to it. You can swap it out with just about any other kind though. I’ve used raspberry, orange marmalade, black current, and a four fruit medley. Experiment and see what you come up with.
Here’s the basic recipe for a BBQ glaze. You’ll find the one for the citrus spiked version I used on this chicken below. Directions are super easy. Put all the ingredients in a small pot over medium-high heat and stir until the jam has melted and the mixture is uniform. Then take it off the heat and brush onto your meat once it’s finished cooking.
- 1/2 cup apricot jam (or any other kind you like)
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce (any kind you like and use regularly)
- 1 tablespoon honey (this gives the glaze a nice shine)
- 1 teaspoon seasoning to match. If you’ve used a rub on your meat, add it to the glaze. If you’ve just seasoned the meat with a variety of spices, add a sprinkle of each of them to this.
- A dash of any other herbs, spices, zests, or juices that you’re using in your main dish or side dish to help tie everything together. Go slow, add a little, taste, then add more if it needs it.
- If you want to give it a kick with a little heat you can do it one of two ways. First, you can add in some cayenne pepper for a bigger hit of spice. If you’d rather give it a sweet and spicy vibe, decrease your jam to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of sweet chilli sauce.
Charred Corn Salad with Spring Veggies
When I tell you that I did not know what to call this, I really did not know. Is it a side dish? Yes. Could it also be scooped up with a tortilla chip? Yes. Is it a salad? I didn’t think so, but when I tried searching online for anything similar to know what to call this, anything with corn and other vegetables that wasn’t labelled as a dip was called a salad.
What I’m saying is I don’t think it’s a salad, but I don’t know what else to call it. I can tell you that it’s delicious, easy, and designed to highlight whatever vegetables are in season. Why? Because groceries are expensive enough, so switch it up with whatever’s on sale this week.,
It really couldn’t be easier to make easier. Dice up a bunch of veggies so everything is roughly the same size as a corn kernel and toss it onto your Blackstone griddle (or broil it in the oven, don’t worry I gotcha). After 10 minutes when everything is lightly charred and perfectly cooked hit it with a bit of seasoning. It’s great served hot and room temperature. One minute, I’ve got some in the fridge so let me go try it cold because I’m hungry.
Oh man, I actually liked it even better today and cold than I did last night when I made it. And I really liked it last night!
Full disclosure, this is the first time I’ve cooked with Mis’ Rubin’s White Magic Seasoning. While I worked really hard to develop these recipes to compliment that mix as part of a contest I entered, I have to say I’m blown away by how much flavour is shining through a day later. I get way more of the citrus notes today in this salad then I did yesterday. Another bonus – I can confirm this recipe can absolutely be made a day ahead and brought to a party!
Chicken Thighs with a Citrus Spiked BBQ Glaze and Charred Corn Salad Recipes
I know this was a really long post, but I hope you found a lot of the information really useful. I’ll break each of these recipes out into their own post over the next couple of weeks. I wanted to share them all together to show how you can pull a single flavour like this seasoning through multiple dishes really easily.
If you make any of these recipes, or just follow my tips above for cooking chicken pieces or making a BBQ glaze, I would love it if you could come back and let me know. All of your comments, tips, and advice are so helpful not just to me, but to everyone else who reads these posts as well.
Chicken Thighs with a Citrus Spiked BBQ Glaze
Juicy chicken thighs with a super crispy skin that gets coated at the very end with a homemade citrus spiked BBQ glaze. It's start to finish in 30 minutes and you can cook them on the Blackstone, BBQ, or just in a skillet.
Ingredients
Chicken Thighs
- 10 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
- Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning (see notes for substitution)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Canola or vegetable oil
Citrus Spiked BBQ Glaze (see notes for sweet and spicy version)
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce, whatever kind you like
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tsp Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning (see notes for substitution)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat your Blackstone griddle on high while you prepare your chicken thighs. See notes to find cooking instructions for the BBQ or skillet.
- To make it easier, lay your chicken thighs out on a baking sheet. Start by separating the skin from the meat of the thigh at one end. You can do this by slipping one finger under the skin and moving it around underneath to create a pocket. Try to only have one side of the skin separated, enough that you can season the meat underneath. Keeping the other edges of the skin attached helps to keep it on the chicken, and from shrinking while it cooks.
- Season the meat under the skin, and on the bottom of the chicken thighs with Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning and freshly cracked black pepper. See notes for substitutions.
- Take your thighs out to your preheated Blackstone griddle. Put a thin layer of oil over the cooking area, and then put your chicken thighs on, skin side down. Leave them for roughly 10 minutes. You can check after 8 minutes to make sure they aren't burning. You want to leave them like this under the skin is very crisp and a golden amber colour.
- While the chicken is cooking, make your glaze. Put all of the ingredients into a small pot and mix together over medium-high heat until the jam has melted down and everything is combined, then remove from the heat. If you have a small stainless steel or cast iron pan you can place it directly onto the Blackstone griddle to cook.
- Once the skin on your chicken thighs is a deep amber colour, flip them over to finish cooking, roughly another 10 minutes. They are ready to eat when an instant read thermometer reaches 165°F. Make sure when you're checking the temperature that the tip of the prob is in the center of the meatiest part, and not touching any bones.
- Remove to a serving dish to cool, and immediately brush on the citrus spiked BBQ glaze. Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, brushing once more with the glaze during this time.
Notes
Substitutions
Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning is a great multi-purpose seasoning to use on chicken, pork, fish, and vegetables. If you don't have any on hand, here's a quick spice mix that will give you a similar flavour, though it will be missing some of the citrus notes:
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Sweet & Spicy Citrus Spiked BBQ Glaze
- 1/4 cup apricot jam
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce, whatever kind you like
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tsp Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning (see notes for substitution)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Other Cooking Methods
BBQ
Cooking the chicken thighs on the BBQ is very similar to on the Blackstone griddle, you just want to watch for flair ups. To help with this we'll trim the fat, and cook them a little longer at a slightly lower temperature.
- Preheat your grill on medium-high.
- Before seasoning your chicken thighs, remove any large pieces of fat that you see. This will help a lot with reducing flare ups. Finish preparing and seasoning as directed above.
- Use a piece of paper towel soaked with oil and a pair of tongs to oil your grill grates just before adding your chicken thighs to them, skin side down.
- Cook them, skin side down, until the skin is very crispy and a deep amber colour. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes.
- Flip the thighs over and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature is 165°F. Continue as described above.
Skillet
Cooking the chicken thighs in a stainless steel or cast iron skillet is very similar to on the Blackstone griddle. I just want you to keep a few things in mind:
- Only pre-heat your skillet to medium-high. A higher temperature then that can lead to burt skin before the chicken thighs are half way done cooking. Check on it after 5 minutes, and turn the heat up or down if needed.
- Add just enough oil to the skillet to give it a glassy look, you aren't pan frying these and if you add too much oil you'll be dealing with a lot of dangerous splatter.
- Prepare to cook the chicken thighs between 10 and 15 minutes on each side as we're doing so over a slightly lower temperature compared to the griddle. They're finished cooking when they have an internal temperature of 165°F.
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Charred Corn & Spring Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 6 fresh cobs of corn, husks removed and kernels cut off to use
- 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
- 2 medium sweet red bell peppers, finely diced
- 10 asparagus spears, thinly sliced into rounds
- 6 slices of bacon, thinly sliced
- Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning (see notes for substitution)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Canola or vegetable oil
Instructions
- After prepping all of your vegetables, put them together in one big bowl. This includes the corn kernels, onion, peppers, and asparagus.
- Preheat your outdoor griddle on high. See notes for additional cooking methods.
- Add a thin layer of oil to your griddle just before starting.
- Put your bacon to one side of the griddle, frying until crisp. You may need to remove to a plate if it finishes before your vegetables.
- Once your bacon is about halfway finished cooking, add your vegetables onto the griddle and spread out into as thin a layer as possible. Let cook without moving for a few of minutes to get them slightly charred.
- Mix / toss the vegetables on the griddle, then spread out into a thin layer again. Repeat until it finishes cooking. They're ready to eat when the asparagus and corn have darkened in colour and are slightly softened.
- Add the bacon into the vegetable mixture.
- Season to taste with freshly cracked black pepper and Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning (see notes for substitution).
- Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
A Note On Ingredients
This is a really versatile recipe that can be used with any vegetables that are in season to make it easier to source and more affordable. For some more ideas, try adding cabbage, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, celery, leeks, the list is only bound by what you like and can think of.
The key is making sure everything is diced so that pieces are roughly the same size. It's also important to keep in mind that cooking time will depend on your hardiest vegetable, so things like a diced carrot will take longer to soften than a mushroom. As an example, if you were cooking those two together, cut your carrots into thin slices.
Substitutions
Mis' Rubin's White Magic Seasoning is a great multi-purpose seasoning to use on chicken, pork, fish, and vegetables. If you don't have any on hand, here's a quick spice mix that will give you a similar flavour, though it will be missing some of the citrus notes:
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Oven Instructions
If you don't have a Blackstone griddle the easiest way to cook this is by broiling it in your oven.
- Prepare the vegetables the same as described above, minus the bacon which you'll need to fry ahead of time in a pan.
- Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet (you may want to use two).
- Toss all of the diced vegetables together in a bowl, and then pour them out onto the oiled baking sheet.
- Put the pan(s) into your oven with the broiler set to low.
- Keep your eye on them, and give them a stir after 4 or 5 minutes. Repeat as needed.
- They're finished when the asparagus and corn have darkened in colour and softened slightly. There will also be spots of the vegetables that have lightly charred from the broiler.
- Add on the cooked bacon and serve warm or room temperature.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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