Charred Chipotle Chicken

In this Charred Chipotle Chicken recipe, inexpensive drumsticks are baked with onion and then topped with a thick, sweet sauce consisting of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and more. This is certainly an easily family pleasing main!

I’m not a lover of too much heat in my food, but for some reason, I’m a sucker for chipotle peppers.  This Charred Chipotle Chicken was the perfect dish to satisfy my craving for heat.  And, the charred part is easier than you think – all you need is your oven to make this beautiful chicken dish come to life!

Even though I love cooking and baking, there’s nothing more satisfying than a dish that takes up very little of your time and effort.  Charred Chipotle Chicken is pretty much a prepare, bake, and forget about it type of dish.

Once you’ve prepared the sauce, the rest is a no-brainer.  To save yourself some time, you could make this sauce in advance and store it in your refrigerator.  I would never recommend baking this chicken in advance, because reheating chicken (in my humble opinion) dries it out and who likes dry chicken?  Seriously!

The sauce, however, can most certainly be prepared with very little work.  Simple let it cool down and transfer it to a mason jar.  It can safely sit in your refrigerator for 4 or 5 days and still be perfectly spicy and tasty.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Chicken – I am using two pounds of chicken drumsticks. That will usually get you about 8-10 depending on the size.
• Onion – Use a white or yellow onion. Peel it and slice it into 1/4 inch thick slices.
• Ketchup – This chicken is well coated with sauce, so even though one cup of ketchup might seem like a lot, it is needed.
• Canned Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce – For a mildly spicy chicken, use three tablespoons of the adobo sauce and two peppers that have been well minced. You can add more chipotles or none at all, depending on how mild or how hot you would like the chicken to be.
• White Vinegar – This will offset some of the sweetness.
• Brown Sugar – To add sweetness to the sauce, balance the spiciness, and to help with thickening, caramelizing, and certainly, charring.
• Low Sodiudm Soy Sauce – If you don’t have low sodium soy sauce, use half tablespoon of regular soy sauce with half tablespoon of water.
• Honey – This is used for sweetness and stickiness, but it also gives the sauce a nice shine.
• Salt & Ground Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder – Use garlic powder and not granulated garlic. There’s a big difference in the taste!
• Cumin
• Water
• Parsley – For garnish. Optional.

HOW TO MAKE CHARRED CHIPOTLE CHICKEN

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken drumsticks into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Pour in the water and nestle the sliced onions around the chicken. Evenly distribute the salt and ground black pepper over the chicken. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.

In the meantime, with the exception of the parsley, measure the remaining ingredients into a bowl and whisk together to combine. After the one hour has passed, remove the chicken from the oven, remove the aluminum foil and discard it. Baste the chicken with half of the sauce mixture and return to the oven for 20 minutes.

Once again, remove the chicken from the oven. Baste with the remaining sauce and place back in the oven. Switch your oven setting from bake to broil at 500 degrees. Broil the chicken for 3-5 minutes. Watch carefully! Depending on how fast your oven broiler heats up, the chicken could burn. You want the sauce to slightly char on the top, but not burnt. Remove from oven, sprinkle fresh cut parsley on top and serve immediately.

MORE CHICKEN OPTIONS

This recipe is quite versatile.  I used chicken drumsticks, because that’s my favourite part of the chicken.  Yes, I’ve posted quite a few chicken wing recipes, and those were all delicious, but I much prefer the drumstick; it has more meat and it’s difficult to overcook a drumstick, they remain moist and are perfect for the addition of sauces and seasonings.  You could also use chicken thighs in this recipe as well.

To be perfectly honest, you can use any cut of chicken you want, even a whole, cut chicken. The baking times and processes would change, however. For example, if you wanted to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, you would not need to cook them covered with onion first. They would be so dry by the time you sauce them and bake them again. I would sauce them and bake them in a 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes. Turn on your broiler to char them for a minute or two and done.

Chicken with bones will take a bit longer to cook. You will note that I cooked the drumsticks in water and onion, covered, for one hour. It seems like a long time, but covering the baking dish tightly with foil, prevents the moisture from escaping. I would do the same thing with a whole, cut up chicken, or chicken thighs – as long as they had the bone and skin in tact!

DRUMSTICKS CAN HANDLE A GOOD SAUCE

When it comes to the chipotle in adobo sauce, I tend to be a little timid of the actual pepper itself.  I remove the peppers and use only the adobo sauce.  If you can handle the heat, feel free to puree a pepper or two and add it to the sauce mixture. So, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. What is it anyway?

If you’ve never tried them, you simply must – especially if you love spicy food! You probably already know this, but chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are smoked and dried jalapeños. They are rehydrated and canned in a sweet and tangy sauce consisting of tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, and spices. They pack a punch when it comes to flavour and heat!

I have never tried to eat one right from the can, because I have this fear that my mouth would catch fire. I do love a little heat and spice, but I’m not a fan of self-induced suffering. Mixing them with other ingredients is I tend to do it. This mellows out the spiciness while allowing me to enjoy the complex flavours of the adobo sauce.

In fact, I use just one of two of the chipotle peppers. I tend to use more of the sauce. The adobo sauce is not spicy or hot like the peppers are, which is why I use more of the sauce than I do the actual peppers. If you are more inclined to excess spice and heat, you can certainly increase the number of chipotle peppers you use in your Chipotle Charred Chicken.

ADOBO SAUCE

Now that we know the peppers are dried and rehydrated jalapenos, just what is adobo sauce? The Spanish word adobo means marinade or seasoning. However, depending on what part of the world you’re in, the style of seasoning can vary greatly. For example, in Cuba, adobo is a seasoned salt or spice mix. In contrast, in Mexico, adobo is more likely to mean a spicy tomato-based sauce, which most resembles what I’m using.

The Filipino style of adobo, which involves stewing meat, usually pork or chicken, in a flavorful mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. So, you see, it can vary greatly depending on where you live. For the purposes of this Chipotle Charred Chicken, we are using canned chipotle peppers in adobo, which you can find right here. This is the exact can I used!

LEFTOVER CHIPOTLES IN ADOBO SAUCE

Some of you might be familiar with a spicy mayo sauce called crema. You can make your own version with your leftover chipotles! Anywhere you would use crema, you can use this Creamy Chipotle Sauce. That would apply to things like tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and even soups! I would totally support stirring a dollop of this sauce into my Mexican Corn Soup.

I guess when it comes to dollops, you can apply this sauce to other dishes as well. It would be delicious on this Vegetarian Chili, or on these Chorizo and Black Bean Bowls. You can use this sauce as a dip too. I think these plain Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings would work well dipped into this sauce. Of course, the most obvious use might on a sandwich. Smear it liberally on bread with toppings that would pair well with the sauce, like roast beef or chicken. Don’t forget the tomatoes!

There are too many uses to list, but I have to make mention of this one before I move on. Transfer some of the sauce to a resealable bag and use scissors to cut just the tip of one lower corner of the bag away. Lift the bag over a plate of nachos or a plate of crispy fries and drizzle the sauce all over the top. I absolutely love this sauce over nachos! And, it goes great with melted cheese, salsa, and guacamole!