Roadside Chicken

I'm not sure how it got its name, but Roadside Chicken is one of the most delicious grilled chicken recipes I've made! The secret is in the marinade.

As I sit and and write out this post and look at this picture, I am reminded of how awesome this grilled chicken recipe is!  Wow, is about all I can say.  When I saw the post on my blog friend's Nicole's blog I bookmarked it. Like so many recipes I save in various ways, it got somewhat lost in the stack.  (I'm so guilty of this!)

But, a few weeks after I saw it on her blog, I again saw it pop up on my facebook feed through another source that was sharing the recipe.  Ah...social networking.  When I saw it the second time, I just knew it was going on the week's menu!

Thanks to the oil and sugar in the basting sauce (which is more like a tasty vinaigrette) the chicken chars beautifully on the grill.  Word of caution though, you do need to be careful to tame down any flare ups.  According to Prevention Magazine, the best way to snuff out flare ups is by quickly closing the lid of the grill.  You can also keep a spray bottle of water handy, if you need it.

I love that the chicken is marinated first.  The vinegar in the sauce helps tenderize the chicken and the salt and sugar do a sort of brine thing.  That gives the chicken extra flavor and keeps it moist.

You will most likely find everything you need for the marinate/basting sauce in your fridge or pantry.  I did make a separate basting sauce like Nicole called for in the original recipe, but if you marinade the chicken long enough, I think you might even be able to skip the basting step all together and still have delicious and lovely chicken. Just add the oil called for in the basting sauce right to the marinade if you do skip this step.

I ended up only using about a 1/4 cup of the extra sauce I made, and that was even with pouring some over some sliced tomatoes too.  (Which was also awesome!)  Nicole suggests using all dark meat (legs and thighs) for this recipe.  I made legs and two bone-in breasts.  I liked  both, but like Nicole, I preferred the legs.

I did start the breasts before the legs, to adapt to the increased cooking time they needed.  Because they required more time on the grill, they were more apt to cause flare ups and go a little darker on the char.  Remember for food safety, the government suggests cooking your poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. 

Roadside Chicken

adapted from Heat Oven to 350

*I'm not providing nutritional information for this recipe because it will vary according to whether you make chicken breasts or chicken legs and thighs. 

3-5 pounds bone-in, skin-on, chicken pieces (breasts, legs, thighs)  

For the marinade:

1 cup vinegar (white or cider)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 TBSP granulated sugar

1 TBSP kosher salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt

For the basting sauce:*

1 cup of vinegar (white or cider)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp granulated sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt

1.  In a small bowl or 2 cup glass measure or small canning jar.  Combine the ingredients for the marinade. (if you are not using the basting sauce, add the oil called for in the basting sauce to the marinade) Stir until sugar has dissolved.   Place chicken pieces into a gallon sized zipper plastic bag,  Pour the marinade on top of the chicken.  Place in fridge for 3 - 8 hours. 

2.  You can make the basting sauce at the same time you make the marinade and then just set aside until you are ready to cook the chicken.  I made my basting sauce in a small canning jar, combining all the ingredients and then just shaking it up to combine.  *You may also opt to not use the basting sauce at all, in which case you would just skip this step all together. I used a very small portion of the sauce up.  I used a silicone brush to baste the chicken with as it cooked. 

3.  Heat gas grill to medium/hot.   Add chicken pieces to hot grill and baste with basting sauce every 5 minutes, (turning each time) or so until chicken is done (internal temperature of 165 degrees F) and nicely browned on all sides. Watch for flare ups and close the lid immediately to help snuff them out if they occur. 

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This was honestly one of the best grilled chicken recipes I have ever made.  It is a great recipe if you need to serve a lot of people too!  Like I mentioned above, I liked the dark meat legs better than the breasts, but the breasts were tasty and juicy too.  

The name of the game these days for me, is as it has been all year, busy.  Another road trip on the horizon to help my daughter move back from Wisconsin before college starts up at the end of next month.  My youngest is getting his summer cut short by two weeks this year, due to a change in the school districts calendar this year.  Boooo to that!   My youngest is also scheduled to take his driver's exam next week (oh my!) and we have been feverishly hunting for a good, safe used car for him so he won't have to take the bus to school any longer.  Hubs and I are addicted to watching the "Breaking Bad" tv series from the beginning to the middle of season 5 (where the series will start back up in a few weeks)  It's super good, and I high recommend watching it if you haven't.  Like always, Allrecipe monthly assignments  are keeping me busy as well as a part time position working at my husbands business filling orders and managing the online store. 

I did receive some new Thomas product last week, that I am looking forward to sharing with you this week! 

So give this chicken recipe a try sometime!  I guarantee you will not be disappointed!