Dutch Oven Smokehouse Chicken

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Smokehouse Chicken is slow cooked in a dutch oven in a tenderizing sauce that causes the meat to become fork tender beneath a skin that is crisped and browned in the final step of the cooking process.

Dutch Oven Smoke House Chicken

Serve it with a heaping helping of Alabama White Barbecue Sauce and you might feel as if you’ve gone to Glory.

In order to make the smokehouse chicken like I grew up with, you’d need a pit building that has been smoking chicken since 1950’s and the pit masters who work on it all day to get it just right. But on the off chance that you, like me, don’t have your own barbecue smokehouse, this is how I do it and it comes in as a very close kissing cousin – awfully good in it’s own right.

Ingredients smoke house chicken

Recipe Ingredients:

  • Cider Vinegar (more about that under the next photo)
  • Kosher salt (or regular)
  • Smoked Paprika (or regular)
  • Hot sauce (the red kind)
  • Crushed Red Pepper
  • Brown Sugar (light or dark)
  • Smoked or Regular Black Pepper

Oh yeah, you’re gonna need some chicken. Bone in, skin on. No exceptions if you want this to be just right.

Seriously, if you don’t have the exact ingredients I am using (other than the type of chicken) but have one of the “or” options I listed, do not go make a special trip to get the one I use. What you have on hand will do just fine.

If you really want to give it a smokehouse taste, add in a little bit of liquid smoke. I don’t use that on here because I get too many emails when I use it that are actually worse than the emails I get when I use food coloring, and that is saying something, believe me.

How To Make Smokehouse Chicken

Pour vinegar into a dutch oven or deep pain

 Pour your vinegar into a dutch oven or deep baking dish.

A 9×13 would work for this as long as you are careful not to spill the liquid when putting it in and out of the oven.

Why Add Vinegar?

This chicken doesn’t taste like vinegar. The vinegar is a base that tenderizes it and infuses it with all of the other flavors but once you add everything else to the vinegar in the next step it becomes just a base. However, your kitchen will smell like cider vinegar and it WILL clean your sinuses out when you open the lid so if you can’t deal with that then you should have someone make this chicken for you :). However, if you like my slow cooked pulled pork, you’ll love this chicken. I used that recipe as a starting point to come up with this one.

add in all other ingredients except chicken

 Now add in all of your other stuff, everything except the chicken.

all ingredients except the chicken

Stir that up good until the sugar is dissolved. The vinegar helps this happen pretty fast.

after stiring that up add the chicken

Now put your chicken in, skin side down.

Dutch Oven Smokehouse Chicken - Slow cooked in a tenderizing sauce with a skin that crisps in the final steps, this chicken is amazing and made in your oven at home!

Put a lid on your dutch oven or cover your baking dish with foil.

Bake this at 300 for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully remove lid (watch for the steam). Flip chicken over and put lid back on. Return to oven for another 45 minutes.

After that time, remove lid and keep pot in oven. Place oven on broil for 15-20 minutes to brown and crisp skin, watching carefully so chicken doesn’t burn.

after cooking leave in oven and broil for 20 mins

This is what mine looked like after 20 minutes under the broiler. I removed some of the liquid to get more parts of the chicken browning (the parts under the liquid won’t brown).

smoked house chicken on the plate

 And this is what you have on your plate.

bit of smoke house chicken

Now go ahead…Dig in to this crispy moist meal of goodness.

smoked house chicken on the plate

Smokehouse Chicken in a Dutch Oven

Smoke House Chicken is slow cooked in a tenderizing sauce that causes the meat to become fork tender beneath a skin that is crisped and browned.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken
Servings: 4
Calories: 409kcal

Ingredients

  • Bone in skin on chicken however much will fit in a single layer of a baking dish or Dutch oven
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon smoked black pepper can use regular
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar dark or light
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce the red kind in the glass bottle
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 +1/2 cups cider vinegar

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients except for chicken in enamel Dutch oven, or other baking dish. Stir well until sugar is dissolved.
  • Place chicken in pot, skin side down. Cover and place in 300 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove pot from oven and flip chicken. Cover again and return to oven for another 45 minutes.
  • Remove lid and place oven on broil. Broil for 20 minutes, or until skin is nicely browned and somewhat crispy on top, watching carefully so that it does not burn (this may take significantly less time in your oven as they vary).
  • Spoon additional pan juices over to serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 409kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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~Albert Einstein

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182 Comments

  1. Does the brown sugar keep from turning hard better if you keep it in a mason jar? Or is it just pretty that way? 🙂

    1. It’s just convenient and keeps it fresh. I don’t store things in the plastic bags they come in because I tend to store things for longer term and those bags are just too easy to tear and get into by critters 🙂 But it is pretty 🙂

  2. Hi Christy
    By choice I decided to work (volunteer) today. Working for a non profit organization with a great cause to help save lifes. So, my husband and I decided to keep this day simple. So with this said;
    I am preparing this receipe for tomorrow’s dinner. I don’t have a dutch oven put as you suggested I;m using a 9×13 pan.a lid using foil to cover. It smells wonderful and can’t wait to try it.
    Thank you for your wonderful messages with each of your recipes.
    Happy Thanksgiving Day,

  3. This browned up real nice after about 12 min under the broiler. Wow this is tasty. We eat a lot of chicken and will put this in a rotation for sure. Could not find smoked black pepper anywhere. Can you suggest how to make smoked black pepper at home?

  4. I’m making this tonight, looking forward to it. Just double checking… 1 tablespoon salt? Seems like a lot.
    Thanks,
    Debbie

  5. I made this list night for dinner and it was amazing! My husband loved it and asked me to put it on the regular rotation for chicken! I don’t keep smoked pepper so as you suggested I just used regular pepper. I do keep smoked paprika though, this was sooo easy to throw together and make and I had everything in the pantry. I used chicken thighs since I keep those in the freezer along with legs to make fried chicken as that’s what we want. They were perfect! Mine only took 8 mins. To broil, of course everyone’s oven will be different and mine is no exception! The flavor is great! I makes collard greens to go with this and I must say, it was the perfect side for this! Mmm mmm, good! The chicken, literally fell off the bones tender and the skin nice and crisp! Thanks!

      1. Christy, Gonna try the Smokehouse Chicken next week. Was wondering if I can use my cast iron dutch oven. Also, would like to know, if the Fruit Cocktail Cake has to be refrigerated. I have your book, and find it totally awesome. Love all the reading material.

        1. Hi Debra!! You sure can use your cast iron Dutch Oven, it will work great!! That cake doesn’t have to be refrigerated but if it is going to hang around for more than three days I would go ahead and put it in there 🙂

      2. Good evening. Do the hot sauce and red pepper flakes bring too much heat to the chicken? It looks delicious and I want to try this recipe. Thank you for your recipes.

    1. Made this Wednesday night and we loved it(especially hubby ;)! Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe 🙂

  6. I made this list night for dinner and it was amazing! My husband loved it and asked me to put it on the regular rotation for chicken! I don’t keep smoked pepper so as you suggested I just used regular pepper. I do keep smoked paprika though, this was sooo easy to throw together and make and I had everything in the pantry. I used chicken thighs since I keep those in the freezer along with legs to make fried chicken as that’s what we want. They were perfect! Mine only took 8 mins. Took broil, of course everyone’s oven will be different and mine is no exception! The flavor is great! I makes collard greens to go with this and I must say, it was the perfect side for this! Mmm mmm, good! The chicken, literally fell off the bones tender and the skin nice and crisp! Thanks!

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