BBQ Chicken with Grape Chutney

Juicy BBQ grilled herb chicken with a sweet sticky red wine grape chutney

What’s not more to love than great BBQ chicken? Well here is my twist on an elevated grilled chicken recipe paired with a delicious slightly sweet and sour grape chutney made with red wine and fresh grapes that you’ll be amazed it’s so easy to make fancy restaurant style food at home!

Story of the sauce….

So the other day, we went to Costco and got this super great deal for fresh red grapes (i.e. $7.00 for a ginormous box)…and well…it happened that it was just too much grape for us to consume so I came up with this recipe to make a savory chutney.

You really can’t go wrong making a chutney with a base of some type of fruit, onions, and a few flavorings. The key is to balance the flavors of sweet, salty, and sourness and to give the sauce some good body….hence the red wine! And yes, what better way to use up a bunch of old grapes and a bottle of red wine? You’ll be surprised how much flavor you can easily develop with just a few simple ingredients.

Grilled chicken secret…

I think like most home cooks, you want to go for something quick to cook especially for a weeknight meal. I love BBQ and a great tip to speed up the cooking process for chicken legs is to remove the bone first. This might require a tiny bit of work up front but trust me it’s well worth the effort. Plus this also helps the marinade penetrate the meat more quickly since you have more surface area to really get more flavor of the garlic and herbs packed in there!

And don’t throw away the bones! Put them in a pot of water with a slice of ginger and make yourself the most delicious and soothing broth! I also like to nibble off the bits of meat on the bone…a real treat!

For this recipe, Costco chicken legs are perfect and a really great deal to top it off because they cost $8.00 per 6 pack…seriously what a bargain right?! Personally, I like using dark meat as it’s more moist but chicken breast should do just as well. Pair this with with some butter braised carrots and a nice side of quinoa salad and you got yourself a great summery dish. Give this a try, we would love to hear about your creations in the comments below!

BBQ Chicken with Grape Chutney

Prep time: 30 min     
Cook time: 15 h   
Total time: 45 min   
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Marinade

• 2 lbs deboned chicken drumsticks
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Grape Chutney

• 2 cups red seedless grapes halved
• 1 medium onion chopped finely
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Debone the chicken legs and place pieces into a bowl. Mix in marinade ingredients and let sit at room temperature for 30 min.
2. Meanwhile make the grape chutney by melting butter in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent for 1-2 min.
3. Add in the grapes, maple syrup, red wine, vinegar, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium low heat until chutney becomes thick and syrupy for 10 min.
4. Heat grill to medium high heat and cook the marinaded chicken pieces for 10-15 min.
5. Serve grilled chicken with the grape chutney. Garnish with fresh chives and enjoy!