Juicy and tender sticky grilled chicken pieces are slathered with the best and most delicious peach glaze. Sweet, savory and a bit spicy, this barbecue grilled chicken recipe is a great dish to serve at your next outdoor cookout or BBQ!
We love grilling chicken outdoors during the summer months or indoors on a grill pan. Some of our favorite grilled recipes are this amazingly flavorful Grilled Chicken Breast and this easy Tequila Lime Chicken recipe.
Sticky Grilled Chicken with Peach Glaze
Say goodbye to plain and boring chicken and hello to this mouthwatering easy sticky grilled chicken. Bone-in chicken thighs, chicken legs and chicken breasts turn out perfectly juicy and flavorful every time.
This chicken recipe can be cooked fully on the grill using a 2-zone method of direct and indirect heat, or it can be cooked partially on the grill and finished in the oven. Both ways produce finger-licking sweet and sticky barbecued grilled chicken with crispy charred skin that is simple and easy to make.
Grilling Bone-In Chicken with Sweet Glaze or BBQ Sauce
Grilling bone-in chicken legs, thighs, breast and wings is an easy task that requires patience. Preventing dry-out, burnt BBQ chicken is quite easy if you follow a few simple steps.
- Sweet glazes and BBQ sauces are not marinades and should not be used at the beginning of grilling. Any sauce containing sugar can burn easily on the grill.
- To prevent burnt bone-in grilled barbecued chicken, set up 2 cooking zones on the grill. This is simple, lit one area and keep the other area unlit. The combination of direct and indirect heat is key to success. Grilling under indirect heat (unlit area) guarantees properly cooked chicken that is juicy and tender while direct heat gives you nice crispy skin, a bit of a char flavor and beautiful golden brown chicken pieces.
- If you prefer you can use a 2-method cooking process instead. Start by cooking the chicken on the grill and finish the cooking process in the oven. This works well in restaurant kitchens and is a great way to get perfectly grilled chicken if you are not quite the grill master just yet (or if patience is not one of your many virtues!)
Sticky Grilled Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken: Use bone-in, skin-on chicken legs, thighs, breasts and/or wings.
- Peach Preserves: This is the key ingredient for making the glaze. You can use apricot preserves or orange marmalade also.
- Garlic: I use fresh garlic minced or grated.
- Oil: You should not skip the oil. I use olive oil but canola or vegetable oil can be used also.
- Soy Sauce: Soy sauce adds umami and a bit of saltiness to the glaze.
- Dijon Mustard: You can use whole grain mustard as well.
- Seasonings: Salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper. You can omit the cayenne if preferred or add additional if you love a little heat!
- Peaches: I absolutely love grilled fruit so I am always excited about grilled peaches. During off season, you can omit them.
What Kind Of Chicken Is Best For Grilling
This recipe uses bone-in and skin-on chicken legs, chicken thighs and chicken breast. Chicken leg quarters also work very well in this recipe.
You can buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. In that case I usually buy large chickens which seem to keep their moisture a bit better than the smaller ones.
If you don’t like skin on chicken, I recommend removing it after the chicken is grilled and cooked through. The skin protects the meat from drying out, keeping it succulent and juicy.
How To Grill Chicken (Bone-In) with Peach Glaze
- Make the Peach Glaze: Combine the glaze ingredients and set aside.
- Season the Chicken: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels then, brush or drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat the Grill: Clean and oil the grill grate. Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat and turn off the burners on one side of the grill to create 2-heat zones. A direct heat zone and an indirect heat zone. Instructions for charcoal grill can be found in the recipe card below.
- Sear the Chicken: Place the chicken on the grill skin side down and cook undisturbed for about 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure the chicken doesn’t char.
- Flip the Chicken: Flip the chicken and lightly brush the top with glaze. Continue to cook covered for about 4 minutes.
- Transfer Chicken to the Cool Grill Area: Move the chicken pieces to the unlit side of the grill, skin side up and generously brush with the glaze. Cover and cook for about 4-5 minutes.
- Glaze then Rest the Meat: Flip (the chicken will be skin side down) and brush with glaze. Cook covered for about 4-5 minutes. Flip again, brush with glaze and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the grill and allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Grill Peaches and Serve: Meanwhile, place the peach halves on the grill cut side down, grill for 2 minutes. Flip and brush with the reserved glaze. Grill until the peaches are soft (about 3 more minutes). Remove from the grill and serve with the chicken.
How Long Does It Take To Cook BBQ Chicken On The Grill
Grilling bone-in chicken takes a bit longer than cooking boneless Grilled Chicken Breast. Exact times will vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces but a good estimate is between 25 and 30 minutes total. Here’s the breakdown for your reference:
- Grilling on zone 1 (lit burners): 4 to 5 minutes per side. During this time, the chicken gets a nice sear.
- Grilling on zone 2 (unlit area): About 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. During this time, the chicken cooks slowly while getting the “glaze treatment” – this is when you baste the chicken with the sweet glaze or BBQ sauce. The chicken gets flipped and basted about every 4 to 5 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
How Do You Keep Chicken From Drying Out On The Grill?
I totally would like to say “with patience” but that may not be a satisfactory answer to most (I know I don’t like that answer) so here are a few things you can do to keep chicken from getting dry and chewy:
- Grill bone-in chicken with the skin on. Bones add flavor and moisture. If you prefer to buy boneless chicken, make sure it has the skin on. The fatty skin protects the meat from drying out while lots of flavor. By the way, chicken skin is an unsaturated fat (the healthy kind of fat). Add to that the fact that the skin will lose some of it’s fat while it cooks (lots of fat, especially if it gets crispy) and you’ll be more willing to eat it.
- Use 2-heat zones. After a quick sear over the flames, continue grilling the chicken over indirect heat. This process takes a bit longer but the results will be worth your time (and honestly you only have to flip the chicken a couple of times. That takes very little effort – especially if you have a beverage in hand!). When cooking chicken with a glaze or barbecue sauce, indirect heat is of most importance as direct high heat can burn the sweet sauce.
- Salt – salt seals in the chicken’s moisture. This is the reason why brines work. Whether they are wet brines or dry brines. For this particular recipe, I don’t brine the chicken because we are using bone-in and skin-on chicken and we are grilling it over 2-heat zones of direct and indirect heat.
- Don’t over cook it! Check the chicken’s internal temperature with a meat thermometer. According to FDA guidelines, chicken can be consumed when it reaches an internal temperature of 165° F. This means that you can remove the chicken from the grill when it reaches an internal temperature of about 155° F. The temperature will rise about 10° during the resting period before you slice it or serve it.
- Clean and oil your grill grates: Trying to rip chicken stuck to the grill grate is not fun and also tends to burn the chicken depleting it from it’s moisture.
Do You Grill Chicken With The Lid On Or Off
Is this a trick question? Yes, yes it is and you will find all sorts of answers on Google. This is what I usually do, if the meat is thinner than 3/4 – inch it usually grills so fast that there is never time to lower the lid.
When I have 2-heat zones set up (one lit and one unlit), I always close the lid on the unlit area to keep the heat trapped inside and because the grilling time is longer there than under the open fire.
Can I Make The Peach Glaze In Advance?
Yes, you can combine the glaze ingredients and keep it stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Peach Glazed Grilled Chicken Recipe Tips
- Make sure your grill grates are clean and well oiled to prevent the chicken from sticking.
- Create 2-heat zones. After a quick sear over the flames, continue grilling the chicken over indirect heat to prevent the chicken from drying out.
- Cooking bone-in chicken on the grill is a process. Don’t rush it.
- Below in the printable recipe card, I provide instructions for cooking the chicken on the grill from start to finish and a second option which starts with cooking the chicken on the grill and finishes the cooking in the oven.
Are you wondering what to serve with this Barbecue Grilled Chicken? Here are a few side dish ideas:
- Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
- Lentil Salad
- Cauliflower Gratin
- Creamed Corn in the Instant Pot
- Southwest Sweet Potato Salad
Grilled Chicken with Sticky Peach Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 cup peach preserves
- 2 cloves of garlic minced or grated
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for brushing
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 bone-in and skin-on chicken pieces drumsticks, thighs, breasts
- 4 ripe peaches pitted and cut in half optional
Instructions
Make the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, combine the peach preserves, garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper and mix well. Set aside.
- If you are serving the chicken with peach halves, reserve 2 tablespoons of the glaze.
Grilling Method:
- Trim any excess fat from the chicken as necessary. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels then, rub or brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside while you heat up the grill.
- Clean and oil the grill grates.
- Preheat an outdoor gas grill to medium-high heat and turn off the burners on one side of the grill to create 2 zones. A direct heat zone and an indirect heat zone.
- For Charcoal Grill: Clean and oil the grates. Light a chimney with enough charcoal to cover half of the grill (I fill a charcoal chimney ¾ full). When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out the coals on one side of the grill, leaving the other side empty. This creates 2-zones, a zone of direct heat and a zone for indirect heat. Set the clean and oiled cooking grate in place, cover the grill, and allow to preheat for about 5 minutes.
- Place the chicken on the grill skin side down and cook undisturbed for about 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure the chicken doesn’t char.
- Flip the chicken and lightly brush the top with glaze. Continue to cook covered for about 4 minutes.
- Move the chicken pieces to the unlit side of grill, skin side up and generously brush with the glaze. Cover and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Flip (the chicken will be skin side down) and brush with glaze. Cook covered for about 4-5 minutes. Flip again, brush with glaze and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the grill and allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Meanwhile, place the peach halves on the grill cut side down, grill for 2 minutes. Flip and brush with the reserved glaze. Grill until the peaches are soft (about 3 more minutes). Remove from the grill and serve with the chicken.
Combined Grill and Oven Method:
- Follow step 1 from grilling method.
- Preheat the grill to medium hot and preheat the oven to 350 F
- Place the chicken on the grill skin side down and cook undisturbed for about 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure the chicken doesn’t char.
- Flip the chicken and lightly brush the top with glaze. Continue to cook covered for about 4 minutes.
- Flip the chicken, brush with the glaze and cook for an additional 2 – 3 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the grill and place it in an oven safe dish. Generously brush more glaze onto the chicken. Place in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- While the chicken bakes, grill the peaches (step 7 from above). Serve.
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