Grilled Sriracha Barbecue Chicken

Fourth of July. Tyler's family probably had a big cookout with forty people and a flag cake and sparklers and someone's uncle arguing about fireworks regulations. I'm imagining this because I don't know Tyler yet — won't for six years — but I know families like that exist because I can hear them through the walls of every place I've ever lived. The families with enough people to fill a yard. The families where someone always brings too much potato salad and it's a whole joke, a running joke, a joke with history.

Our Fourth was three people and a grill. James set up the charcoal in the backyard at four o'clock because James believes you cannot rush charcoal and charcoal cannot rush you, and this is the foundation of his entire philosophy. Gloria made her barbecue sauce from scratch — ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, a spoonful of mustard, garlic powder, a little hot sauce. She simmers it low for twenty minutes until it thickens and the smell fills the whole yard. I've watched her make it three times now and she never measures, which means the recipe card for the sauce just says "some of everything, cook it down, taste it." This is not helpful as a recipe. It is extremely helpful as a life instruction.

James grilled chicken thighs — bone-in, skin-on — brushed with Gloria's sauce in the last ten minutes so the sugar doesn't burn. We had potato salad that Gloria made that morning, the kind with mustard and pickles and hard-boiled eggs, no mayonnaise because Gloria doesn't trust mayonnaise in July, which is wisdom. We ate on the back porch on paper plates. The fireworks from the Prattville city show were visible over the tree line — just the tops, blooming above the pines like slow-motion flowers.

I don't have strong feelings about the Fourth. Holidays in foster care are someone else's holiday that you're attending, and after a while you stop expecting them to feel like yours. But sitting on that porch, eating chicken with sauce on my fingers, watching fireworks I didn't have to pay for or drive to — it felt close. Close to something. Close to the thing that people mean when they say home, which I'm still learning to say without quotation marks around it.

After the fireworks James fell asleep in his chair and Gloria and I cleaned up and she said, "Next year you'll have your own place. You'll come here anyway." I said, "I know." She said, "Good." And that was our whole conversation about the future, and it was enough.

That chicken Gloria made is the reason I went home the next day and started experimenting—I needed to understand what was in it, or at least get close enough that I could make something like it in my own kitchen, whenever I finally have one. There’s something about a sauce that’s both sweet and has some heat to it that felt right for a night like that: warm, a little complicated, better than you expected. After a few tries, this Grilled Sriracha Barbecue Chicken is what I landed on.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 pieces)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
For the Sriracha BBQ Sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha (more to taste)
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

Make the sauce. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, sriracha, mustard, garlic powder, and onion powder in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir to combine and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Taste and adjust heat with more sriracha if desired. Set aside.
Prep the chicken. Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Rub all over with olive oil, then season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
Heat the grill. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium-high heat (about 400°F). Oil the grates lightly.
Grill skin-side down first. Place chicken skin-side down over direct heat. Grill uncovered for 5–6 minutes until skin is golden and releases easily from the grates. Flip and move to indirect heat.
Cook through. Cover the grill and cook over indirect heat for 20–25 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165°F at the thickest part.
Sauce and finish. In the last 8–10 minutes of cooking, brush chicken generously with the barbecue sauce. Flip once, brush the other side, and cook until the sauce caramelizes and clings to the skin. Do not add sauce too early — the sugar will burn.
Rest and serve. Transfer to a platter, brush with one final layer of sauce, and let rest 5 minutes before serving. Pass extra sauce at the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Sriracha Barbecue Chicken — Close to Something Like Home