Living in a city is great, but sometimes you just need a little peace and quiet. Because of this, Janette and I have started regularly camping at all the different National Parks in the Southwest.
While I love sleeping outside, I don’t want to “rough it” when it comes to food. We definitely had everyone in our campsite and all the bears in the Sequoias jealous with the aroma that filled the air while we were cooking this Campfire Whiskey BBQ Chicken.
The BBQ sauce can be made at home and stored in the fridge up to a week before your trip. I usually just store it in a large mason jar and throw it in our cooler when we’re headed to camp.
Campfire Whiskey BBQ Chicken Recipe
A slightly spicy bbq sauce pairs perfectly with the chicken in this smokey campfire dinner recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 90 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Sauce:
1 1/4 cups ketchup
1 tsp hot sauce (or more depending on personal heat preference)
2 tablespoons dark molasses
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whiskey (I used Macallan 12, whatever you have will do)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 large garlic clove, minced
Chicken:
6 chicken legs with thighs attached or small bone-in breast halves (3 3/4 lbs. total)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
At Home:
1. Make sauce: Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cover and simmer 45 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if sauce gets too thick to pour. Let cool, then transfer to a plastic container and chill up to 1 week.
2. Prepare chicken: In a large bowl, coat chicken in oil; pack in a resealable plastic bag and chill up to 2 days, or freeze.
In Camp:
3. Build a charcoal or wood fire in a grill and let burn to medium (350° to 450°; you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only 5 to 7 seconds).
4. Place cast iron skillet
over fire. Grill chicken in skillet until browned all over, about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Turn again, generously brush tops with some of BBQ sauce, and cook a few minutes; repeat turning and brushing 2 more times, until chicken is well-browned and cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes total.
5. Remove from skillet and top with additional BBQ sauce. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
- Calories: 463
Original Recipe: Kelly Liken
DANNY THOMAS says
You have style in cooking ..making me go crazy ..i,m a gyspy farrier on the road ..this is hard for me to do ..
Hannah says
The weather was so good this weekend that we went camping and tried this recipe. It was by far the best camp food I’ve ever had. The BBQ sauce was to die for!
greg says
This was the best BBQ sauce I’ve had, thank you for sharing your recipe.
FH says
Do you recommend skinless or skin on?
Jessica Pinney says
I like it with the skin on. Stays juicer and you get that little bit of crispiness from the skin.
brett says
How do you print the recipe?
Tina says
What a great idea adding a bit of whiskey! This looks amazing and I bet it was even better camping since everything tastes better when camping:)
Kellie says
Mccallan 12 is NOT a whiskey!!
It’s a scotch, COMPLETELY different flavor profiles.
Jessica Pinney says
Scotch, bourbon, and rye are types of whiskey. Whiskey is a broad category of liquor and can have lots of differences in color, taste, and smell. We think the smokiness of Macallan pairs exceptionally well with the other ingredients in this recipe.
Lorraine says
Made this tonight while camping.. two thumbs up yummy BBQ sauce
David Walrath says
so i can do this anytime – i put chicken in a bowl . poured sauce over it and let it set 24 hours . – let it come to room temp. & cooked it in a hot air fryer @ 340 degrees checking temp of chicken . when cooked through i put another coat of sauce overit and cooked until “ chared “ . this is REALLY GOOD ?
Chris says
Won’t be camping but going to do this tonight in the grill. Sounds delicious!
Gloria says
Well I am not a camper (just as my husband)….but I would visit your campfire if you served me this for dinner. This looks and sounds like a great chicken dinner to me. Love the sauce!!!
★★★★★
anne says
That looks so good. I love barbecue of any kind but homemade is the best!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
Wow! This chicken looks delicious!! I love that you used whiskey in your bbq sauce!! I don’t like camping, so I’ll be making your lovely recipe at home near all of my comfy things 🙂
★★★★★
shobee says
We love camping too, and this is a good idea for camping. I would pre boil the chicken ahead of time and drench the BBQ sauce. This will be good even for dinner.
Tammy says
Yesss <3 This looks and sounds so, so delicious! I'm loving the sound of that fabulous sauce 😀
Leslie Haasch says
I’m the same way – I don’t mind camping, but I’m not gonna slack on the quality of my meals!
Veronika's Kitchen says
Love BBQ chicken, especially if it is cooked on a campfire! I can imagine the mouthwatering aroma you have while cooking it!)
★★★★★
Amanda Mason says
I love that this has dijon mustard in it!! I bet this tastes amazing cooked in a cast iron skillet!! Looks delish and and I can see how it would be perfect for a camping trip as well as at home!!
★★★★★
Nicoletta Sugarlovespices says
Us as well. Camping is fun, but when it comes to food, we want it good like we would make it at home. This whiskey bbq chicken recipe is fantastic, both at home and in the outdoors!
Amanda says
This looks finger lickin’ good! I love that sauce.
★★★★★
Judy Purcell says
It’s always good to find new bbq sauce recipes to keep grilling season is going strong. i like the addition of whiskey in there.
★★★★★
Kitty says
You had me at whiskey! I love a homemade barbecue sauce but I also love making food over an open fire!
Annette says
Looks delicious! How do you clean your cast iron skillet after cooking the chicken at the campground?
Angelle E Childers says
Just made this for dinner, SO DELICIOUS! Will definitely make it again!