This Bourbon Barbecue Roast Chicken is SO delicious. The recipe comes complete with a custom homemade barbecue sauce (that is ready in about 10 minutes!!) and it forms the perfect crust over the skin, producing the juiciest chicken EVER.

Bourbon Barbecue Roast Chicken pieces cut and served on a grey plate with pan fried hash browns and steamed broccoli

Once you try this and taste how juicy the chicken turns out, I am confident that you will never cook a whole chicken any other way!

This recipe is also incredibly easy. The hardest part is perhaps learning how to carve a chicken… So with that being said, let’s get on with it!

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Making the Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

This bourbon barbecue sauce is AMAZING. It is slightly sweet but the bourbon adds an extra element that is out of this world.

If you don’t have bourbon on hand, you can substitute spiced rum or whiskey as well!

So, in a large mixing bowl combine the chili sauce, brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, white wine vinegar, mustard powder, garlic powder, and pepper and whisk the mixture to fully incorporate.

Transfer the sauce mixture to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once the barbecue sauce has reached a boil, boil for 7-8 minutes or until thickened, stirring regularly.

BOOM.

That’s it. Bourbon barbecue sauce complete. Now let’s move on to the chicken.

Roasting the Chicken

Pat your chicken dry with paper towels and preheat the oven to 450°F.

In a large cast iron skillet or oven safe casserole dish spread the carrots, potatoes, and celery on the bottom of the dish.

placing the cubed vegetables into the bottom of the cast iron pan

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and pour all of the prepared bourbon barbecue sauce on top of the chicken. Make sure to cover the chicken entirely with the barbecue sauce.

placing the chicken on top of the vegetables and pouring over the bourbon barbecue sauce

Place the chicken into the oven and roast for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 350°F and cook the chicken for an additional 60 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads at least 165°F.

Remove the chicken from the oven and tent with aluminum foil. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes.

Bourbon Barbecue Roast Chicken in the cast iron pan, straight out of the oven

Then transfer the chicken to a cutting board and discard the vegetables at the bottom of the pan. I know these vegetables look tempting but in all actuality they have zero nutritional value after the chicken has cooked on top of them. Cooking the chicken on top of vegetables causes the vegetables nutrients to extract into the chicken. Making for a more flavorful taste in the chicken meat. So you will definitely want to toss those vegetables and serve the chicken with other, freshly cooked vegetables.

Need some ideas of what to serve with the roasted chicken?

Here is a list of things that we love to pair with the bourbon barbecue roast chicken:

Pan Fried Maple Sweet Potatoes
Pan Fried Hash Browns
Steamed Broccoli or Green Beans
Roasted Kalettes
Wedge Fries
Oven Roasted Cauliflower

Leftovers

Once fully cooked, the chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and enjoyed hot or cold.

I LOVE having leftover roasted chicken in the fridge. It is a real time saver and comes in so handy for whipping up sandwiches for lunch or using in a variety of different meals throughout the week.

Don't forget about the bones & carcass

For years, after making roasted chicken I would strip all the meat off of the bones and carcass to store but I would just toss all the bones into the compost.

This was a HUGE MISTAKE.

You need to package these up in either an airtight container or zip top bag and store all of the bones and carcass in the freezer. Once you have 2 or 3 of these packages in the freezer, you can use them to make the most delicious chicken bone broth.

The bones and carcasses are absolute gold for making bone broth (something I am relatively new to) but I have been using my instant pot and it only takes 2 hours to whip up a giant batch. Let me know if you guys want me to post a recipe for the super easy bone broth that I have been making!

We put a lot of work into our recipes, we would love to know if you tried this recipe and how it turned out for you!

If you have any questions about this recipe, I would be happy to answer them in the comments down below! To get a hold of us, you can shoot us an email or leave a comment down below! We can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.