Smoky Gochujang Korean BBQ Chicken
Korean BBQ Chicken is smothered in an easy to make and DELICIOUS gochujang BBQ sauce then grilled until charred and crispy. This recipe will be your new summer favorite!
If you love BBQ chicken recipes, try our Baked BBQ Chicken or our Grilled Chicken Wings. Both are delicious!
Hello, you sweet and smoky Korean BBQ chicken all covered in the best BBQ sauce ever. I know you're begging to be eaten! And who are we to not follow the orders of something that looks that good?
Gochujang: the magic ingredient. Have you guys heard of it? Tried it? Loved it? Think I'm making up a new word just for fun?
I promise you that this is a real thing and if you haven't tried it please promise me you will. It's sweet/spicy/smoky flavored Korean sauce that makes everything you put it in tastes amazing.
Reasons to make Korean BBQ Chicken:
- The Korean BBQ chicken marinade is seriously the best thing ever.
- Sweet/sticky/smoky/and a little bit spicy. Or a lot spicy if you go crazy and heap in the gochujang.
- Super easy to make.
- The best messy eat with your fingers chicken recipe.
- It's summer! And there is literally no reason to turn on your oven make your place even hotter. Fire up the barbecue instead!
READ MORE: Best BBQ Sauce for Chicken
Do you have a favorite BBQ chicken recipe? Summer for me is all about taking it easy so any barbecue chicken recipe needs to simple and quick to make. This gochujang chicken tops my list. It checks all the must have boxes:
- Super fast to make.
- Full of flavor.
- Makes few or no dishes.
- A healthy recipe my whole family will love.
I like to serve this Korean BBQ chicken with a simple side green salad. If your family loves rice (which is everyone but me in my family) then put on a pot of rice before you put the chicken on the grill. The extra gochujang BBQ sauce is delicious over the rice!
All the gochujang recipes:
Now that you have your jar of gochujang in hand, you're going to want to put it on everything. Here are a few ideas to get you going:
- Grilled Gochujang Pork Chope with Watermelon Mint Salad
- Gochujang Pulled Pork Korean Pizza with Kimchi Dipping Sauce
- Crockpot Korean Gochujang Pork
- Sweet Korean Paleo Chicken Thighs with Cauliflower Rice
- Skinny Bang Bang Cauliflower with Gochujang Sauce
Healthy Grilled Chicken Recipes
- Chimichurri Grilled Chicken
- Lemongrass Grilled Chicken with Sriracha Aioli
- Grilled Mustard Chicken with Creamy Walnut Sauce
- Margarita Chicken with Tequila and Agave
- The Best BBQ Sauce for Chicken
Smoky Gochujang Barbecue Chicken
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon gochujang, Gluten-free, if needed. Homemade, if paleo
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 8 chicken drumsticks or thighs
- Cilantro, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your BBQ to medium heat. (use a BBQ mat to keep your grill clean)
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the tomato paste, gochujang, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of water to boil then set aside.2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon gochujang, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 cloves garlic
- Place the chicken on the grill, skin side up. Let it cook for 20 minutes, flipping over halfway.8 chicken drumsticks or thighs
- Baste the chicken generously with the gochujang BBQ sauce and cook for another 6 minutes, turning and basting again halfway.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cilantro over the top.Cilantro
I love the way your recipe integrates the ingredients list, including the amounts. I wish every recipe did this. Kudos!
Absolutely delicious! Recommend doubling the BBQ basting sauce if you like full flavored food.
This is not nearly as spicy as advertised. My twin 3 1/2 year old grandsons loved it! For the adults, we found it to be a little bland. I’ll fix it again, but will use at least 1T more of Gochujang.
I think some brands vary in spiciness. So happy to hear that even your grandson’s loved it!
Love this recipe. Added an extra 1/2 tablespoon of gochujang. Delicious!
I’m thrilled that you love this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to come back and let us know!
Made this with boneless, skinless thighs as that’s all I had on hand. Delicious and well received by all! Didn’t have access to a grill, so coated the thighs generously with the sauce and roasted for a short while in the oven – then broiled to get some color and sticky/crunch.
I’m so happy to hear they were a hit!!
Oh my! This looks delicious!
Thanks, Karly! It’s really tasty!!
I made this last night and it’s amazing! I was worried it would be too spicy but it wasn’t. Just a nice hint of spice and lots of flavor.
I’m so happy you liked it!
I haven’t made this, but I am interested in making it. But I do have a question, for those who are not interested in spicy foods, could you substitute gochujang for something else to reduce the spice or to substitute gochujang for something else with a similar taste.
Gochujang really has quite a unique flavor. But don’t worry, it’s not too spicy. You can always reduce the amount you use if you are quite sensitive to heat. 🙂
Interesting. I’ve never had Korean food with either cilantro or tomato paste. Looks good though.
Definitely not authentic Korean but still very tasty!
What a GREAT recipe. Not only do I love Korean BBQ but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Gochujang and use it in as many recipes that make sense to. I’ll definitely be trying this out this weekend.
Isn’t gocuhjang the best ever?!!