I don’t often think about barbecue chicken, but when I do, it evokes all sorts of joy-filled memories. When I think of barbecue chicken, I think of popsicle stained lips, grass between toes, soda filled solo cups + American afternoons fulls of family and sunshine.
Barbecue chicken just screams summer. And while the grey English weather outside of my window doesn’t exactly fall in line with my nostalgic daydreaming, this Blueberry Barbecue Chicken sure does. This meal is like summer on a plate (without the sunburn).
This barbecue sauce on its own is absolutely magical. Firstly, it’s entirely fruit based which means that it boasts a natural sweetness alongside all kinds of powerful antioxidants from the blueberries. Just look at that colour! Traditional barbecue sauces are laden with brown sugar to sweeten them up, but we use just a tablespoon of all natural honey – and even that is optional.
Next comes a wide array of spices including garlic, onion, paprika + cinnamon. They help to quickly add deep warmth, well rounded spiciness + smokey sweetness. A hit of apple cider vinegar brings a bit of barbecue tang to the table along with all sorts of other gut + health related benefits.
Throwing together this sauce is only mildly more complicated than pouring it out of the jar, but YOU get to control the ingredients. Simply combine the ingredients together, simmer it on the stove + blend it if you want it smooth. It takes maybe 15 minutes, but tastes like it took all day. Plus, it’s made with real food ingredients that you can read, understand + feel good about feeding to yourself and your family.
Obviously my first choice when cooking barbecue would have been a grill, but #winter. So, to make this dish all-season-friendly, I slathered the sauce onto some chicken breasts and baked them off in the oven. They were juicy + sweet, smokey + spiced. These chicken breasts would go PERFECTLY with my Salt + Vinegar “Magic” Potatoes. However, this sauce would be delicious on all kinds of protein. Have a pork chop or pork tenderloin? Throw some on! It would be divine spooned on top of some burgers or slow cooked with some shredded chicken. I think it would be even great as a Sloppy Joe sauce, but that’s just me. The options really are limitless – anywhere you’d use regular barbecue sauce, try this out. I think you might even like it better!
This Blueberry Barbecue Chicken is great for meal prep because the sauce helps to keep the meat juicy when you reheat it. Chopped up cold leftovers are wonderful thrown onto salads for weekday lunches. The leftover sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a week and can absolutely be frozen too.
If you do one thing this week in the kitchen, I’d encourage you to try this sauce. It’s such a game changer! After you’ve tried it, I’d love to know if it filled your hearts with all sorts of summer-time happy too. Let me know what you think in the comments below or tag me in your photos on Instagram!
Blueberry Barbecue Chicken (Paleo, Whole30)
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp honey (omit if you’re on Whole30)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1.5-2 lbs chicken breasts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375f or 190c. (If planning on just making the barbecue sauce, skip this step.)
- Heat the blueberries on the stovetop in a medium sized pan for 5-7 minutes until they all start to burst. (If using fresh, add 2 tbsp water)
- Add the tomato pasta, vinegar + all of the spices to the blueberries + mix.
- Add the honey + water. Bring to a bubble.
- Pour the mixture into a blender (high speed works best) and CAREFULLY pulse until smooth.
- Cool on the counter + store in the fridge for later use. OR proceed to the following step to use immediately.
- Toss your chicken breasts with 1/3 of the sauce and lie out on a parchment lined baked sheet in a single layer. Or, lay out the chicken + paint the sauce onto the breasts with a pastry brush. Be sure to coat both sides thickly!
- Bake the chicken for roughly 15 minutes + remove the pan from the oven. Spoon or paint another thick layer of the barbecue sauce on top of the chicken.
- Bake another 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and reads 165f or 64c internally.
- Serve with extra, warmed barbecue sauce.
