Fall Off the Bone BBQ Coke Chicken

Looking for a chicken recipe where the meat falls off the bone and tastes juicy and tender? My Fall Off the Bone BBQ Coke Chicken recipe is exactly what you’re looking for. This makes for an easy weeknight meal but is elegant enough for a beautiful holiday dinner. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.

Who here loves BBQ chicken?

I know you all raised your hands because BBQ chicken is the best!

Just the thought of BBQ chicken makes my mouth water.  How about you?

Last week, I set out to make a delicious, sweet, and of course, gluten-free BBQ chicken recipe.  

My recipe was inspired by a cookbook sent to me called, Perfect for Pesach, by Naomi Nachman.

While the cookbook says “Pesach” in the title, it is far from being a Passover cookbook. In fact, almost every recipe in the book is gluten-free and I’ve become obsessed with making recipes from the book.

I decided to give Nachman’s BBQ Coke Chicken a go because it looked tasty and easy to make.

To make BBQ Coke Chicken, gather the following ingredients:

• 2 onions, sliced
• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or other bone-in chicken pieces (I used thigh/leg combo pieces)
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 cup gluten-free BBQ sauce
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 1 cup cola (You can use Coke® or Hansen’s Natural Soda®)

Please note the original recipe calls for a can of Coke®, but I couldn’t motivate myself enough to purchase Coke, which contains high fructose corn syrup, genetically modified ingredients, and artificial stuff (no judgment here; it’s just not for me).

Instead, I opted for a cleaner version of cola from Hansen’s. Hansen’s cola is caffeine-free, made from cane sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup, and contains no artificial ingredients.

In addition to cola, I used organic raspberry jam by Crofter’s and sweet BBQ sauce by Stubb’s, which are both gluten-free.

How to Make BBQ Coke Chicken

This recipe is so easy to make you’ll be kicking yourself for not making it sooner.

Preheat your oven to 400º F while you assemble all your ingredients.

Slice the onions and place them at the bottom of a large glass baking dish.

Top the onions with the chicken pieces (dark meat), then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you’re using Kosher chicken, go lightly on the salt as the chicken is already salted.

In a separate bowl, combine the Coke (or cola of choice), BBQ sauce, and jam. Mix together well, then pour the ingredients on top of the chicken.

Now place the chicken in the oven and bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting the chicken with the juices halfway through the cooking cycle. The chicken is cooked through when it’s no longer pink and has an internal temperature of 165º F.

Allow the chicken to cook slightly. While it’s cooling, the greasy fat will float to the top. Looking closely at the above picture, you’ll see some of the fat rises to the top as the dish cools.

I use a paper towel to soak up the top of the fat juices (skim the top with your paper towel). You can also use a spoon to skim off the top layer of juices. Doing so will make the gravy less greasy when you serve it.

Serve the chicken with your favorite vegetables and potatoes or rice to help soak up the gravy. Top with the cooked onions and extra gravy from the cooking dish. The onions are sweet and soft – perfection!

FAQs

A note about Passover:  If you’re making this recipe for Passover, ensure all ingredients are “Kosher for Passover.”

Cola choices: You can use plain old Coke or any cola. I have tested this recipe with root beer, and it turned out great. You can also find Kosher for Passover Coke and other colas.

Can you use diet cola? I recommend using regular cola (not diet) as the sugars work towards browning the chicken. It’s okay to use diet soda if it’s all you have because the BBQ sauce and jam will still provide some of the sugar needed to brown the meat.

Jam choices: I suggest using raspberry jam, but I have also used cherry jam (it’s what I had on hand). Use what you like or what you have that needs to be used up before it spoils. This recipe is flexible and hard to mess up.

Other Passover-Friendly Recipes

Try these Passover recipes too:

• Passover Charoset
• Homemade Gluten-Free Oat Matzah
• Easy Beef Brisket
• Matzo Ball Soup
• Chocolate Quinoa Cake
• No-Bake Gluten-Free Chocolate Matzah Cake
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies
• Overnight Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
• Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Torte