Sweet and Spicy Italian BBQ Grilled Chicken – only 4 ingredients in the marinade! BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Sweet and spicy in every bite! SO delicious! We make this once a week. Everyone cleans their plate. The chicken is so juicy and has TONS of flavor! We never have any leftovers.

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Pin This RecipeEasy BBQ Chicken Marinade Recipe
New favorite alert! This Sweet and Spicy Italian BBQ Grilled Chicken has been on repeat at our house. O-M-G! SO good! There are only 4 ingredients in the marinade – Italian dressing, barbecue sauce, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. We made this for lunch last week and immediately added it to the menu for this week.

How to Make Sweet and Spicy Italian BBQ Grilled Chicken
This chicken marinade is effortless to make with only a few simple ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce, Italian dressing, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Place boneless chicken breasts in a plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for a few hours to overnight.
When ready to cook the chicken, remove the chicken from the marinade and discard. Prepare the grill and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- You can use this marinade on any cut of chicken – chicken breasts, chicken tenders, chicken thighs, chicken wings, or chicken drumsticks/legs.
- You can use boneless or bone-in chicken. Adjust the cooking time to ensure an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- I suggest pounding the chicken breast to an even thickness. We put the chicken in a ziplock bag and use a flat meat mallet to carefully pound out the hump. This ensures that the chicken cooks evenly and you don’t have juicy chicken and half-dry chicken.
- You can marinate this for as little as an hour or up to overnight. We almost always marinate our chicken overnight. It is just easier for me to prep for our meals at night.
- My favorite store-bought BBQ sauces are Sweet Baby Rays, Stubbs, G.Hughes, and Williamson Brothers. I buy them all at Walmart.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade BBQ sauce made with ketchup, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-bbq-sauce/
- I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken in the oven or skillet? Yes! To cook the chicken breasts inside, heat olive oil in a skillet. pan sear it for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Can I freeze grilled chicken? Yes! Cook the chicken and cool completely. Place the chicken in a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw and reheat in the microwave.

What to Serve with BBQ Chicken Breast
This is one of the best grilled chicken recipes we’ve ever eaten. We loved the flavor. It is sweet and a little spicy. We make this almost every other week. We like to serve the chicken with some rice or garlic mashed potatoes and smothered broccoli. This is equally delicious served on a bun topped with lettuce and tomato. Add this to your menu ASAP! It is sure to become a family favorite.
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Sweet and Spicy Italian BBQ Grilled Chicken
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup BBQ Sauce
- ¾ cup Italian dressing
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp dried red pepper flakes
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions:
- Whisk together BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Pour over chicken and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
- Remove chicken from marinade and grill for 12 to 15 minutes, until no longer pink.
Notes:
- You can use this marinade on any cut of chicken – chicken breasts, chicken tenders, chicken thighs, chicken wings, or chicken drumsticks/legs.
- You can use boneless or bone-in chicken. Adjust the cooking time to ensure an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- I suggest pounding the chicken breast to an even thickness. We put the chicken in a ziplock bag and use a flat meat mallet to carefully pound out the hump. This ensures that the chicken cooks evenly and you don’t have juicy chicken and half-dry chicken.
- You can marinate this for as little as an hour or up to overnight. We almost always marinate our chicken overnight. It is just easier for me to prep for our meals at night.

- My favorite store-bought BBQ sauces are Sweet Baby Rays, Stubbs, G.Hughes, and Williamson Brothers. I buy them all at Walmart.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade BBQ sauce made with ketchup, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-bbq-sauce/
- I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken in the oven or skillet? Yes! To cook the chicken breasts inside, heat olive oil in a skillet. pan sear it for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Can I freeze grilled chicken? Yes! Cook the chicken and cool completely. Place the chicken in a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw and reheat in the microwave.
Steph
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Do you pound the chicken before you marinate it?
I usually do so it cooks evenly.
Instead of the grill, I used my air fryer and air fry at 360 degrees for 18 minutes, turning the chicken after 10 minutes. Tasted just like it was off the grill.
If cooked in a cast iron skillet think it will get the same out side texture like grilling??
Could I also use Bone-in thighs. Gonna try this first with the breast, but love thighs also.
Thanks, Jan
Any cut of chicken will work. Just make sure to cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF
WOWWWW
Could you bake this also?