Easy Roasted BBQ Chicken with Red Wine Jus

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• Served with gratin dauphinoise and red wine jus
• Roasted BBQ chicken recipe - a must-try!
• How to make roasted BBQ chicken
• Classic red wine jus
• Ready to serve
• More delicious Sunday lunch recipes to try
• Roasted BBQ chicken with red wine jus recipe

Roasted BBQ chicken is a great dish to prepare for a long Sunday lunch. Beautifully roasted and crisp-skinned, this roasted chicken is basted in a sweet and smoky BBQ sauce. There is a wonderful homeliness and comfort to this dish but sitting alongside it is a rich and decadent red wine jus that elevates a warming, hearty classic chicken roast to another level.

Served with gratin dauphinoise and red wine jus

This roasted BBQ chicken roast was born quite out of an accident.

One family favourite was to have a perfectly cooked succulent whole chicken, beautifully seasoned served with classic creamy gratin dauphinoise potatoes using a recipe passed down from the family recipe book all served with a dark, rich red wine jus.

The pairings were perfect and the dish has always been a success even for dinner parties too. That was until the day the supermarket only had a whole chicken left that was basted in BBQ sauce. It was one of those cook-in-the-bag jobs that either had lemon, garlic and herbs, rotisserie, or BBQ sauce varieties.

As the BBQ sauce version was all that was left, that had to do. But, we’re so grateful that that was the only option as when it was matched with our red wine sauce and gratin dauphinoise our eyelids closed slightly and a dreamy expression was cast all over our faces accompanied by the soft hums of happiness.

Roasted BBQ chicken recipe - a must-try!

This amazing roasted BBQ chicken with red wine jus will massage your taste buds with a sweet tang and complex tannin and beef flavour all with the succulence of a juicy plump chicken. The sweetness and the richness just go together perfectly.

Cream breaks down tannins too which is why cream and tannic ingredients go so well together. So when the gratin dauphinoise gets in the mix it’s not just a taste explosion the textures gel really well too.

What’s more, is that this is a roast! Other than a little preparation, the oven does the work which means you can take time to do something else. For the time being the gratin dauphinoise recipe will remain a family secret but if you make a dish to accompany this roast chicken then add little herbs and spices used in southern states cooking to add a little bit of pizazz to what already has some of its roots in soul food.

How to make roasted BBQ chicken

There is definitely a simplicity to this too that involves using store-bought BBQ sauce. If you have a homemade recipe for a BBQ sauce that you love to make then certainly do that but for ease just buy a bottle.

We like something sweet and sticky and there is a lot to choose from. The heavier stock and red wine will smooth out and refine the flavour anyway. The pairing works so well, that we have previously sweetened down a traditional Coq au Vin with a small tin of bbq beans too, but that’s another story and another recipe.

All that is required for this preparation is to liberally brush over your sauce on a whole chicken. We do recommend brining your chicken first to add flavour and to help keep the bird juicy and succulent.

This process doesn’t have to take so long either and you can leave it out entirely but if you bring a large pan of water to the boil (enough to cover the bird) with about 70g or ½ a cup of salt, a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and a bay leaf then place your whole chicken inside and simmer for 15 minutes before turning the heat off entirely, you can leave it for even as little as 2 hours or up to 4 hours.

We find that the heat aspect helps the salt penetrate further into the skin. It is a little extra work but the difference in taste and texture is noticeable.

You can also just put it into an oven at a steady 200°C/392°F which will see your gratin dauphinoise potatoes cook to perfection too.

Classic red wine jus

For the sauce, we are preparing a classic red wine jus which is a reduction of wine and beef stock together with a few flavourings.

First, we are softening some chopped shallot in a little olive oil. Frying for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat will do.

Next, we add a little redcurrant jelly. This is for sweetness and to glaze the shallots, adding a little of the bbq sauce used for the chicken can be added too at this stage but the cooked juices from the chicken will go in towards the end to really add the punchy flavour. Adding butter after the sugar caramelises the shallots and gives them that perfect colour.

Next, we add the red wine. It is good to source a bolder flavoured wine as we want richness. You can add a little port too at this stage for added depth of flavour but this is totally optional.

The important step here is to let the wine reduce to cook off the alcohol.

A good 10 minutes on medium heat will reduce the wine by about half which is what we want before adding equal amounts of stock as the amount of wine added at the beginning.

Then just leave it to reduce on the hob until it thickens and starts to look syrupy. It should take about 25 minutes to get the desired consistency. No flour or thickening agent is needed, the gelatine in the stock will start to give the sauce a wonderful luscious texture. When the chicken is cooked just add some of the juices with the bbq sauce to the reduction and bring to a boil again to thicken up once more. 

Ready to serve

When the chicken is cooked it does need to rest so that the juices don’t run all over the place when you cut it.

It is important to rest the bird for at least 30 minutes. Some chefs suggest resting your meat for as long a time it took to cook it. The heat for the dish will come from the accompaniments and sauce just taken out of the oven or off the hob. 

We stumbled across this amazing recipe when using chicken but of course, a red wine jus is often paired with other meats such as beef, venison or pork which also go well with BBQ sauce, just think of a sweet rack of sticky ribs for example, therefore you can quite easily reproduce this idea of red wine jus with BBQ flavours with any of your favourite roasting joints.

What’s more, if you have any leftovers, the roasted BBQ chicken meat is so tasty you’ll probably eat it cold right out of the fridge the next day.

More delicious Sunday lunch recipes to try

Amazing Sunday Roast with the best Chilli Cheese Sauce
Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb in Moroccan Baharat Marinade
Greek Roast Chicken (Easy Mediterranean Sunday Roast)