a lightly-whisky-flavoured bbq sauce for a delicious ribs and chicken combo, a la restaurant takeout, except made in the comfort of your home.
Chicken and ribs is a popular combo at many a rotisserie chicken restaurant here in Montreal. Perhaps, it’s also worth noting, that in general rotisserie chicken restaurants are quite popular in Montreal. I’m sure there’s some history there that I won’t be relaying/don’t know (lol/sorry not sorry). That being said, I’ve always loved a good chicken and ribs combo, typically with coleslaw, buns and fries on the side. The other week, my boyfriend who is mostly gluten free, had just that — and it came with a whisky BBQ sauce that I thought sounded delicious, and he said tasted delicious, so I quickly went to work to recreate this for my own very “take-out” style meal. Because as we all know on SCD life: if you want something, if you miss a certain food, well you better make it for yourself lmao no one will be making it for you/no one knows all your dietary restrictions as well as you do lolol. Or maybe that’s just me.
Anyways, the result is the below recipe! While it’s more complicated than my usual dry rub for ribs, it’s totally worth it, and the taste is delicious. If you are concerned about the whisky flavour being strong, well, just don’t be (!)– it’s very faint, you could definitely serve this to children too.
I wanted to try the whisky BBQ sauce on both chicken and ribs, and I also really wanted the classic chicken-n-ribs combo, but if you prefer just doing this recipe with ribs or just chicken, you can totally do that– you can make this sauce on its own and just use whatever meat you please, really.
As an SCD legal-bbq sauce, it’s not a super thick sauce, to be clear. However it does coat the meat well, as you can probably tell in the photos, and I personally prefer things a bit less saucy so this works for me. Either way, you have enough sauce leftover, including the drippings in the tray, to use for some extra dipping sauce should you please,. I recommend dipping the ribs and chicken in honey, though. It’s so freaking good.
Diving into the sauce ingredients quickly — I use an SCD legal (as legal as possible…) tomato sauce that’s pre-made, although it’s organic, and nothing added, just simple tomatoes. However you can totally use your own homemade tomato sauce (and I may try that myself next time), I imagine it would be even better with homemade boiled-down tomatoes, and perhaps the sauce would be thicker that way too.
Beyond the whisky, which is one of the SCD legal alcohols, I use apple cider vinegar, apple cider juice, toasted sesame seed oil, honey and a few essential spices to create this whisky BBQ sauce. I also definitely recommend prepping in advance so that you give the ribs and chicken some time to marinade and soak up the flavours!!
Finally, you should serve this with some homemade, SCD legal coleslaw– I have a simple and easy recipe on my site that’s my go-to to serve alongside pork in general. Find it here. Other good options for sides: carrots fries, potato fries (if you can do it!!), rutabaga fries, squash fries (you get the idea), or cauliflower rice. Without further adieu, scroll below to grab the recipe!
Tag me on IG @grainfreee if you try making it, I’d love to see the results and find out how it tasted!
whisky bbq chicken n’ ribs: ingredients
- 2 racks of pork ribs (sub 2-3 more chicken legs if preferred)
- 2-3 full chicken legs
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup of apple cider juice
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 2 tbsp of toasted sesame seed oil
- 1/4 cup of preferred whiskey
- 2 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of pepper
- 4 tsp of smoked paprika + 1 tsp or so
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp of cumin
- 1/2 tsp of allspice
whisky bbq chicken n’ ribs: ingredients
- mix all your wet ingredients together in a small bowl, in a separate small bowl, mix your dry spices.
- place your ribs and chicken in a bowl or large tupperware container or two as needed. first cover everything in your spice mx and then you’ll want to pour approx 3/4 of sauce over the ribs and chicken and cover them well with it. refrigerate them overnight or for a few hours to allow them to marinade.
- once you’re ready to cook, place the ribs on one baking tray and the chicken legs on another, both lined with parchment paper (to help with the eventual mess). sprinkle the extra tsp or so of paprika across the chicken and ribs, as desired. you can also bbq the chicken and ribs if you prefer!
- roast in preheated oven at 250 for approx 2.5 – 3 hours, until both meat are properly cooked through. flip after an hour, and flip again for the last hour. every time you flip the ribs and chicken, pour some of the extra sauce on top, also spoon the liquid that fills the tray back on top of the meat as well. you can do this 3-4 times while it’s roasting, but the more the merrier.
- serve with honey to dip, and enjoy with homemade coleslaw!
whisky bbq chicken n’ ribs
Ingredients
- 2 racks of pork ribs sub 2-3 chicken legs if preferred
- 2-3 full chicken legs
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce use your preferred pasta sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple cider juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
- 1/4 cup preferred whiskey
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 4 tsp smoked paprika use regular paprika if you don't have!
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper depending on desired spice factor
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp allspice
Instructions
- mix all your wet ingredients together in a small bowl, in a separate small bowl, mix your dry spices.
- place your ribs and chicken in a bowl or large tupperware container or two as needed. first cover everything in your spice mx and then you’ll want to pour approx 3/4 of sauce over the ribs and chicken and cover them well with it. refrigerate them overnight or for a few hours to allow them to marinade.
- once you're ready to cook, place the ribs on one baking tray and the chicken legs on another, both lined with parchment paper (to help with the eventual mess). sprinkle the extra tsp or so of paprika across the chicken and ribs, as desired. you can also bbq the chicken and ribs if you prefer!
- roast in preheated oven at 250 for approx 2.5 – 3 hours, until both meat are properly cooked through. flip after an hour, and flip again for the last hour. every time you flip the ribs and chicken, pour some of the extra sauce on top, also spoon the liquid that fills the tray back on top of the meat as well. you can do this 3-4 times while it’s roasting, but the more the merrier.
- serve with honey to dip, and enjoy with homemade coleslaw!