So today’s Sriracha Chicken recipe was kind of an accident. But don’t some of the best recipes start out like that right?! It all happened as a happy result of peeking into my fridge, looking to see what I had on hand, and getting a little creative with some of my tried-and-true, favorite flavors. Say hello to my Molasses Glazed Sriracha Chicken with Roasted Corn, Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice.
Those tried and true flavors include chicken roasted to perfection. Sweet and spicy BBQ sauce; I like all of my BBQ sauces with brown sugar, so I kept things simple. Sriracha, my favorite spice, to infuse the homemade sauce with a little heat. And since I was out of honey, I grabbed the molasses. The result was absolutely FIRE. There was just something about the way the molasses crystalized on the crispy spicy sriracha chicken.
And don’t let me forget about the pairing with the cool cilantro lime rice from this recipe, and the sweet roasted corn with baked pinto beans and a squeeze of fresh lime…words barely can do it justice.
If you’re intimidated by the steps and different components of this recipe, don’t be. It may feel like there are a lot of moving parts, but in reality you can make the sides ahead of time, or do it while the chicken is roasting. You can also totally use store-bought BBQ sauce if that’s what you have in your fridge…make this easy! That being said, I’ve included my secret equation for moist, succulent chicken below; it always involves roasting the chicken with the simple ingredients, and finishing it with the final flavor or the homemade BBQ sauce in this instance.
Also an important thing to note when you’re using your sauce: whenever you’re using a sugar-based sauce like BBQ, you want to baste it on the chicken only near the end or even after it’s done roasting. Otherwise, the sugar crystals will burn off, leaving your chicken with too much of a charr flavor and taste. If you wait and do it at the end, it will crystallize just enough to give you great texture to enjoy.
As for serving; if you’ve been following along, you’ll recognize that I love plating like this. Here, everything you need is on the plate in several sections. This way, you don’t have to grab from all over to get a little bit of each flavor. As you can see, the corn and beans run through all three areas. I’ve found that plating like this is great for large servings, and it ensures that everyone gets the best of each bite! Truly, MKR
P.S. Here’s another great trick for this recipe: when you’re cutting the corn off the cob, use a bundt pan. By placing the corn cob in the center hole, you’re able to easily shave off the kernels with a knife. It’s then all collected in the bundt pan!
Ingredients
- 2-3 of each, skin on chicken breasts, thighs and drumsticks
- dark pure molasses (enough to cover the chicken)
- 1.5 cups brown sugar
- 1.25 cups Ketchup
- 1.5 T molasses
- 2 T ground mustard
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
- Sriracha, to taste
- 4 T melted unsalted butter, to baste the chicken
- 1/4 cup olive oil, to baste the chicken
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 4-6 ears of corn, cut from cob
- 1 large can organic pinto beans, made to directions
- fresh jalapenos, sliced to garnish
- fresh cilantro, chopped to garnish
- fresh limes, sliced to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Make your homemade brown sugar BBQ sauce: mix your Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, molasses and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil then let simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add in desired amount of Sriracha. Stir and set aside.
- Spray your pan (or use a nonstick pan) and place chicken into it. Baste the chicken with salt and pepper, olive oil and butter. Depending on how much chicken you have, you want to brush it with enough salt and pepper first. Then follow with olive oil and butter. This will give the chicken its crispy outer layer with moist inside.
- Cook for about 30 minutes, using the meat thermometer to monitor doneness. You'll want to baste the chicken with your sauce when it's about 10 degrees from being done.
- Meanwhile, cook the pinto beans per label instructions, keep warm and set aside.
- Roast the corn in a medium sized sautee pan with butter, salt and pepper. Keep warm and set aside.
- Once chicken is about 10 degrees from being done, baste with the BBQ sauce now. I used a basting brush to apply the brown sugar BBQ/Sriracha sauce. Then baste all chicken with a layer of molasses. You can also wait until it's completely done cooking, but I prefer to put it on with about 5 minutes left to cook.
- Cook for an additional 5 minutes (or until chicken is fully cooked), and remove from oven. Plate with rice, corn, and beans. Garnish with cilantro, jalepenos and a few squeezes of fresh lime.
