Butter BBQ Chicken
This Butter BBQ Chicken is oven baked chicken with a rich, tangy, and buttery barbecue sauce. It’s great for cooler weather since no outdoor cooking is required.
This is a recipe I’ve been meaning to post for several months now and really wanted to get it out to you before summer is over. But, you know, this buttery barbecued chicken would work any time of the year.

It doesn’t require outdoor cooking, and the ingredients are available at any time. I especially like it because it doesn’t require much watching. Just prepare your sauce, get your chicken ready, and let your oven do the work.
Ingredient Notes
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I do hope you’ll take the time to make the sauce for this recipe at least once. This tangy, buttery rich sauce is different from commercial barbecue sauces and so delicious!
- Shallots and green onions – Use both as they each have their own flavor profile and add their individual qualities to the sauce.
- Dry mustard – I typically use McCormick brand of dry mustard; Colman’s is also excellent.
- Fresh lemon thyme – I use this because it’s always growing in a pot on my deck. Regular (not lemon) thyme is perfectly fine.
- White wine vinegar – It makes a huge difference in the flavor of the sauce. White wine vinegar is more mellow than regular white vinegar.
- Tabasco – If you don’t like a little touch of spice, just leave it out.
- Lemons – The juice is used in the sauce, and slices are placed on top of the chicken. The slies are optional, but they make for a pretty presentation.
- Chicken – You’ll need a whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds) that has been butterflied. Ask your butcher to prepare the chicken or do it yourself following the directions in my Creole Style Smothered Chicken recipe.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How I Make Butter BBQ Chicken

- You start this recipe by preparing the sauce. Combine shallots, green onions, thyme, and water in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for a few minutes until the shallots and onions are tender.
- Then add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, and lemon juice. Continue cooking for a few more minutes.
- Let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes to develop its flavors.

- At this point, go ahead and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Bring the sauce back to a low temperature and stir in cold butter, Tabasco, salt, and pepper.
- Dry the chicken, put it in a foil-liked baking pan (makes cleaning up later much easier!), and sprinkle it all over with salt and pepper. Brush half the melted butter all over the chicken.
- Cook for 30 minutes, basting frequently with the remaining sauce and the accumulated pan juices..

- After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and brush on the barbecue sauce. Cover it really generously with the sauce. Return the pan to the oven and continue cooking until the chicken reaches 165 degrees when tested with an instant-read thermometer.
- During the last 10 minutes or so of cooking, arrange some lemon slices over the chicken. Be sure to also baste the lemon slices when basting the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme sprigs before serving.

Recipe Variations
This recipe could easily be used with only chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or leg quarters (I’d use bone-in, skin-on pieces) in place of the whole butterflied chicken.
How to Handle Leftovers
Any leftover chicken can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and should be used within 3 days or frozen and used within six months.
More Recipes You’ll Like
If you enjoyed this recipe, you’ll also want to look at my Chicken Country Captain, Slow Cooker Chicken Stew, Smothered Barbecued Chicken, Chicken Cacciatore, Paprika Chicken, and Chicken Jallop recipes!

Questions? I’m happy to help!
If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Recipe
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Butter BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 2 green onions white part only, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 6 sprigs fresh lemon thyme (or regular fresh thyme)
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons cold butter
- 10 dashes Tabasco
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 pound frying chicken butterflied
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 lemon sliced
- Additional fresh lemon thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Place the shallots, green onions, thyme and water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium low heat for about 2 minutes or until the shallots and onions are tender.
- Add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, and lemon juice and continuing cooking over medium low heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Bring the sauce back to a very low temperature and stir in the cold butter, a tablespoon at a time. Add the Tabasco, salt and pepper.
- Dry the chicken well and place it breast side up in a foil-lined baking pan. Sprinkle the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Brush half the melted butter over the chicken.
- Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, basting frequently with the remaining butter and the accumulated pan juices.
- After 30 minutes of cooking, remove the pan from the oven and brush the chicken all over with the barbecue sauce. Return to the oven and continue cooking and basting with sauce and pan juices until an internal temperature of 165° is reached (15-30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken).
- During the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, arrange lemon slices over the top of the chicken. Be sure to baste the lemon slices when basting the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to rest for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with additional fresh lemon thyme if desired.
Notes
- Any leftover chicken can be stored in a well sealed container in the refrigerator and should be used within 3 days or frozen and used within six months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on September 4, 2012. It has been updated with additional information.
Can I this chicken recipe in the oven ?
This is an oven recipe. The recipe is written for cooking in an oven.
It looks amazing! I love roasting chickens.
Slamma Jamma Miss Lana!
Home run.
Miss P
Wow, this chicken looks like perfection!
OOOO this looks good. Wish I had some for dinner tonight.
you say to put it back in the oven until the temperature reaches 165 degrees. Do you have an approx. time for how long it will take once you put it back in the oven? 10 minutes, 20 minutes? Thank you for your time.
Tammy, it depends on the size of the chicken. I always use a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh to tell when it’s done, but another good way to check is to make sure that the juices run clear (no pink at all) and the leg should move easily. This recipe usually takes a total of about one hour cooking time.
Dang woman…you make me want this for BREAKFAST!! Funny, I have an old sauce I’m getting ready to publish for my Wednesday feature; we have got to stick to our guns…so many wonderful things from our past we have to share!
I’m loving your Wednesday feature! I kinda like that “just the facts, ma’am” aspect of giving a recipe and a couple of photos. I might post more often if I did’t feel compelled to write *something* to go with the recipe every time.
Oh wow, Lana, that looks phenomenal!
Thanks so much, Carolyn. It has long been a favorite of ours.
So golden-buttery-good! I love simple go-to recipes that can be jazzed up on a whim! Thanks for sharing.
OH my goodness..I just about died when I saw this chicken! I cannot wait to make it..and it has to be soon.. or I will die ;)
If you do make it, I’d love to know how it turns out.
BBQ chicken is my favorite, and this one look really yummy. When BBQ chicken, I always add some honey and lots of garlic. It bring good flavor that I love so much. :)
Yes, I agree. Honey and garlic are always good flavor components for barbecued chicken.
They don’t appear to have fryers up here in Michigan. The smallest chicken I could find at the grocery store yesterday was 4.75. Most were over 5 lbs. I’m still going to try this, just bake it longer. It looks great.
Rachel – I can usually find smaller chickens only in the organic section. You might try looking for one of those.
This looks absolutely scrumptious! Can’t wait to try it!