Korean BBQ Chicken Recipe
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Sticky, sweet and spicy this Korean BBQ Chicken Recipe is a delicious addition to your regular grilling menu.
Barbecued chicken is everyone’s favorite go-to for the grill. It is the quintessential grilling classic, a crowd pleaser and a delighter of palates everywhere. Kick it up notch with ‘Not Your Mama’s’ finger-licking good Korean Barbecue Sauce (even though I am the mama) and you’ll have kids and foodies of all ages scrambling for seconds.
Have I ever told you about my friend Rebecca, from Foodie With Family? I met her at a fun girl’s weekend where she taught us all how to make cheese. Fresh mozzarella? I knew right away this bad (bad=good) mama jama was my kind of girl. Flash forward a few years and this talented friend has written the coolest canning book around about: Not Your Mama’s Canning Book: Modern Canned Goods and What to Make with Them.
Forget canning as only being for farmers and preppers, Rebecca’s fun and unique recipes will have everyone scrambling for canning jars and the family canner.
You’ll find the Korean Barbecue Sauce featured in this Korean BBQ Chicken Recipe right in her new cookbook. It’s a sweet and spicy combination with garlic, ginger and soy. Oh so good, is what it is. Rebecca Lindamood knows how to pull a fabulous sauce together, that’s for sure. Her new cookbook is jam-packed (hehe get it? because canning?) of all kinds of goodness like Black Bean Chili, The World’s Best Pizza Sauce, or how about a Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie in a Jar? Not Your Mama’s Canning Book will help keep you stocked and ready to prepare an array of delicious dishes. And what a fabulous gift idea! The perfect gift for your foodie friends, newlyweds, or any young cooks wanting to learn how to can. Pair the book with some canning jars, a stainless canning funnel, and cute labels for a lovely gift.
Korean BBQ Chicken Recipe
Korean BBQ Chicken
This sweet and spicy grilled chicken recipe featuring Korean BBQ Sauce is a delicious addition to your regular grilling menu.
Ingredients
For grilled chicken:
- 3 1/2-4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces
- 1 cup (or more) of Korean BBQ Sauce
For the Korean BBQ Sauce* (makes 4 pints):
- 3 cups (700 ml) reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 3 cups (660 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (240 ml) plus ¼ cup water (60 ml), divided
- 1 cup (240 ml) soju or sake
- ½ cup (105 g) gochujang
- ½ cup (120 ml) mild honey
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (57 g) minced garlic
- ¼ cup (57 g) grated fresh ginger root
- 4 scallions, roots trimmed off, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and grated on the finest side of a box grater
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Korean chili pepper powder or crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons (29 g) Clear Jel, ThermFlo or other canning starch
Instructions
For grilled chicken:
- Heat grill to medium, about 300-degrees F.
- Place chicken skin side up on the grill. Cooked covered for 15 minutes. Flip chicken and continue cooking another 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches at least 165-degrees F. Reduce grill temperature to medium-low heat. Generously brush chicken pieces with Korean Barbecue Sauce. Cook covered for around 2 minutes. Flip chicken and brush on more sauce. Close lid and cook another 2-3 minutes. If desired, additional sauce may be added while the chicken is cooling.
For the Korean BBQ Sauce:
- Combine soy sauce, light brown sugar, 1 cup water, soju or sake, gochujang, honey, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, scallions, grated pear, black pepper, and chili powder (or crushed red pepper flakes) in a large stainless stockpot or canning pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the canning starch and ¼ cup water until combined well. Gradually whisk the starch/water mixture into the barbecue sauce. Bring sauce back to a boil and boil for 1 minute or until thickened.
- Ladle sauce into sterilized pint or 24-ounce (475 ml) jars, leaving ½-inch (13 mm) headspace at the top of each jar. Dampen a paper towel with vinegar and use to clean the tops of the jars. Place lids onto the jars and turn to fingertip tightness.
- Prepare a canner or stockpot full of boiling water that will cover jars by 2 inches (5 mm). Use canning tongs to transfer the prepared jars to canner (or stockpot) of boiling water. Cover with lid, return the water to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Carefully transfer hot jars to a towel-lined counter or cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
- Store the jars in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Once opened, store refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
*The Korean Barbecue Sauce recipe featured makes 4 pints and can be stored for up to a year. If a smaller amount is desired, simply adjust ingredients accordingly.
This looks incredibly delicious! I can’t wait to try it, especially the Korean BBQ! Thanks for the mouth-watering recipe!
this really is finger licking good , thank you I’m in love with this recipe and all those amazing ingredients xoxo
What is gochujang and where can I buy it?
It is a type of hot sauce. You can find it on Amazon and probably specialty grocery stores.
I don’t know if you have Kroger where you live, but mine had a small jar in their international section today.
Thank you Amy for your reply.
Great recipe,
It looks so delicious and so easy to make.
I am going to try to cook it tomorrow.
Thank You!
I made this tonight and it was delicious, the whole family loves it. Will try it again.
Your recipe for this Korean BBQ chicken looks divine. However, my husband and I don’t have the 45 minutes to prepare this since we have 4 children. For now, I will look for a Korean food restaurant in our area.
If you can’t spend 45 minutes cooking with you’re husband at least one day a week, then you need to be looking up life style changes and not recipes! And take out? What are we teaching this generation!
That was kind of a rude comment. Just because you have 45 minutes to cook doesn’t mean everyone else does. A family with 4 children and possibly 2 working parents might not have 45 minutes to spend in a kitchen. I’m sure they would rather spend their time doing other things together. Who are you to judge? Be kind to one another. There’s enough ugly in the world. At least they’re together as a family and her children are fed and happy. Isn’t that what should matter? 🙂
SARAH SMITHs comment is the rude one… What is the point of coming to a food blog and complain that you don’t have the usual/average time to prepare a dish like that? Better spend time with your kids than give off the bad image you both did here.
I add one anise to my BBQ sauce. Adds a wonderful flavor that really complements the chicken.
That should have been star anise.
Hi Amy, I adore most all of your recipes but I must see nutrition facts to all things I make, as I have several issues with different recipe items. Since you dont include that at the end, I cant chance making them. Several gals with recipes do include it, & I would so appreciate your plan to do same.
Thanks for sharing ! ! Blessings, Judy
thank you! This recipe will help me in making my new years BBQ.
Tried this recipe today and it is absolutely divine. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
So yummy!! Thanks for you, I have one more option for my weekend parties xD So excited to make this soon.
Hi Amy,
Just wondering in the method what cooking chicken side up means? Is that skin side or ?? Many thanks – Danni
Yes, Danni, skin side up. I corrected the recipe. Thank you for letting me know.
Hi Amy,
Just a question about the method of cooking the chicken … As there are different thoughts around this. Do you cook the chicken pieces skin side up or down? Many thanks – Danni
This recipe is really simple and delicious! Just made for niece birthday as a snack.
Korean BBQ Chicken is great! I just finished it last night and the result was unexpected, my wife and daughter both liked it, which made me happy. Thanks for your recipe