By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 12, 2026
Serves 4
550 cal · 98 min
Barbecued Chicken
Recipe GLPR07f4c266079bdf
This smoky and tangy barbecued chicken features a homemade sauce built on tomato paste, warm spices, and a balance of sweet molasses and bright citrus. The chicken is seasoned with a spice rub, grilled until lightly charred, then basted with the rich barbecue sauce as it finishes cooking through on the grill. Perfect for a backyard meal.
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup fresh orange juice
⅓ cup light brown sugar
⅓ cup mild-flavored molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons mustard powder
Kosher salt, to taste
1 (3½–4 pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces with breasts halved
2 tablespoons 4-3-2-1 Spice Rub
Directions
Warm the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes until it darkens and takes on a brick-red color. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Stir constantly and cook for about 1 minute until the spices become fragrant.
Pour in the apple cider vinegar, fresh orange juice, light brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder. Add 3 cups of water and stir well. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the sauce reduces by about half, which will take 50–60 minutes. Season the sauce with kosher salt to taste. (The barbecue sauce can be made up to 1 week ahead and refrigerated.)
Prepare your grill for medium heat. Pat the chicken pieces dry and rub them evenly with the 4-3-2-1 Spice Rub, making sure all surfaces are well coated.
Place the seasoned chicken on the grill and cook for 15–20 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally, until they develop light charring on the exterior.
Continue grilling the chicken, turning the pieces frequently and brushing them generously with the barbecue sauce, for an additional 8–10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Check the internal temperature by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of a thigh; it should register 165°F.
Transfer the finished barbecued chicken to a serving platter and serve immediately with any remaining sauce on the side.
Comments
This is a straightforward Carolina-style barbecued chicken that checks most boxes for a Charlotte home cook. Every ingredient is standard grocery-store stock at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Kroger, or Walmart—no special trips needed. The 98 minutes is honest: you're looking at 10 minutes prep for the rub and sauce, then roughly 60–75 minutes on the grill or oven depending on heat and chicken size, plus resting. Cost per serving lands around $2.50–$3.00 if you buy mid-range chicken breasts or thighs, driven entirely by the protein. The spice blend (paprika, cayenne, mustard powder, garlic and onion powder) is a solid dry-rub base, and the wet component of tomato paste, vinegar, and molasses reads authentically regional—not fussy, scales easily to a family of six, and reheats decently if you keep it on the acidic side rather than drying it out. The main limitation is that it's a same-night showstopper dish with less appeal as a cold leftover, and the recipe doesn't break new ground for a reader who has grilled chicken before.
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