I find it really easy to create a BBQ sauce. You need your sour/vinegar taste, your sweet, tomato, and then spices. This recipe was mostly a quick glance at some of my very random ingredients in my cupboard and a thought of whether or not it will work. Just to be blunt, there will be a lot of ingredients in this recipe which will be hard to source. I will suggest some alternatives, and explain why things have been chosen, and what to do if you cannot get your hands on them.
Maple Cream
It looks like a mix of butter and maple syrup, but thicker and more of a spread. It was sent to me by a fan in Vermont, however, a simple Google search can come up with alternative options in your country. I have looked online and in the UK you can source it from Ocado. It is definitely worth the look, and very useful in other dishes.
Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
I bought this from a rather large Waitrose. The brand that they source is A L’OIivier. This, as well, can be used in a multitude of dishes (and salad dressings, I use it quite a bit) and very nice!
So while those 2 things may or may not be the easiest to find, it is well worth the hunt.
The final outcome
The dish has a very sticky and lovely texture to it. You need to make sure to reapply the BBQ sauce to it and ensure that you just keep coating it. The sour of the fruit blends nicely with the maple cream, which adds an additional thickening to the sauce.
Servings: 3 – 6 (depending on how much chicken you want to eat!)
Calories per serving: Per 2 chicken thighs, it is around 264 calories. Due to the obscure ingredients that I sourced, I was not actually able to calculate the calories. But it definitely needs to be eaten with a light salad if you want to eat healthy.
Raspberry Maple BBQ Chicken Thigh Recipe
BBQ chicken is always delicious. This is a sticky delicious recipe that has a fruity, smokey, and spicy appeal.
Ingredients
- 6 Skin on Chicken Thighs
- ----
- 3 tbsp of Maple cream (it is a thick version of maple syrup)
- 1 tbsp of Soya sauce
- 1.5 tbsp of Raspberry balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 2 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp caynne pepper (you may want to use less)
- Pinch of mexican chili
- 2 tsp of garlic powder
- Black pepper to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Make the BBQ sauce: In a tupperware container that is large enough to fit all of your chicken, prepare your BBQ sauce. First add your maple cream, soya sauce, raspberry balsamic vinegar, and tomato paste. Stir this well, and add your powders into the mixture. Keep a close eye on the smells, and if something appears to be a bit too much, don’t add as much.
- Step 2 You want this to be a rather thick sauce. After you have mixed it, let it stand for a little bit so that your powders and dried seasonings get a chance to rehydrate. Give the mixture a taste and see if you are happy with it. The sweet and sour should be prevalent, but you should also have the taste of the salt. You cannot have too much of this BBQ sauce, so don’t be shy adding more of the ingredients until you get a ratio that you are happy with. As always, definitely comment if your ratios are complete different.
- Step 3 Remove ABOUT ¼ of the marinade from your tupperware container, and put into a bowl. Depending on how much extra you will have from your preparation of the BBQ sauce, put some aside, you need to make sure that you have enough leftover to happily coat the chicken.
- Step 4 Put your chicken into the container skin side down and vigorously rub in your marinade into the bottom, then flip them over and continue to massage the marinade into your chicken. Put this into your fridge and let sit for at least an hour, 2 hours would be best. However, we don’t always have that much time.
- Step 5 Preheat your oven to 180 degrees, and line a roasting pan with aluminium foil. I am a lazy cleaner, and try to line roasting dishes as much as possible.
- Step 6 Remove your chicken from the fridge, place them skin side up, and put all of the marinade that is left in your container on the top of the chicken. Please note! Do not add your aside BBQ sauce yet, that is for later. If you have quite a bit left in your container do not add it on to the chicken yet. Basically, cover them so that you have enough.
- Step 7 Put the chicken into the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Add more BBQ sauce. Essentially repeat this process until you have baked the chicken for 30 minutes, and they should be about done. Turn the oven off, and leave them to stand in the warm oven for 15 minutes while you prepare your salad or vegetables. The skin should be very sticky with the sauce.
- Step 8 I served this with a lambs lettuce, manchego cheese, toasted pine nuts, and cherry tomato salad, with a simple vinaigrette.
- Step 9 This dish can easily store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days. I strongly suggest that you eat it before day 5 though. When reheating, I suggest to microwave first, then to put them under the grill to crisp up the skin.
