Although I’ve always adored learning about, cooking, and eating food from my favorite Food Network shows (my parents often woke up to me watching Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis when I was a very young child), I didn’t maximize my cooking potential or practice until I moved into my own apartment in college. I learned how to budget for groceries, meal plan for the week since I was always working at night and on weekends, and cook appropriately portioned dinners for one (I always wanted lots of leftovers!). One of my go-to dinners was this extremely quick and easy crispy bbq chicken which, thanks to the lovely and marvelous HEB, was an entirely affordable weeknight option (shoyu chicken was my other favorite!). I love cutting my chicken into bite-sized pieces so they cook quickly and are juicy and covered in sauce. I still make my crispy bbq chicken (in a larger batch now) and I love it every time I do!
Ingredients:
- Three large chicken thighs
- Trader Joe’s BBQ 101 Seasoning Blend (apparently discontinued but includes brown sugar, smoked paprika, dried roasted garlic, dried red chili pepper, salt, dried onion, black pepper) to taste
- 1/2 cup of Sweet Baby Ray’s original barbecue sauce
Instructions:
- Pat chicken thighs with a paper towel until completely dry
- Cube chicken into roughly 1.5 inch pieces (doesn’t have to be perfect)
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high until sizzling
- Pour chicken pieces into pan and thoroughly cook on all sides until almost finished
- While chicken is cooking, robustly season to taste with BBQ 101 seasoning
- Ensure chicken is covered in seasoning before adding barbecue sauce
- Lower heat to medium-low and allow barbecue sauce to thicken and coat each chicken piece
- Chicken should be sticky, crispy bbq pieces when finished
- Serve with baked potatoes, roasted garlic potatoes, or my favorite: white rice and lots of roasted veggies like asparagus and bell peppers!
