Smoked Chicken Thighs

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Smoked chicken thighs are juicy, tender, and packed with smoky flavor. Season bone-in thighs with a dry rub, smoke them at 275°F, then brush with barbecue sauce near the end for an easy dinner with a glossy, flavorful finish.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

rest10

Total Time1 20

Course: Dinner, main

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 680kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Pellet grill, smoker, or gas grill with smoker accessory
premium hardwood pellets

Ingredients

3 - 4 pounds bone-in skin on chicken thighs
2 tablespoons dry rub
avocado oil spray
⅓ - ½ cup BBQ sauce

Instructions

Prepare the grill

Pre-heat the pellet grill to 275°F. Check the hopper to be sure it's full of pellets and the grates are clean.

Trim and season chicken

Trim the thighs of excess skin and fat. Season with dry rub, adding salt first if the rub is salt-free.

Smoke chicken

When the grill reaches temperature, place the chicken thighs on the grates and give them a quick spritz of avocado oil spray. Set a timer for 60 minutes.
At 60 minutes, check the thighs with a digital thermometer. If they are close to 170°F, brush them with warm barbecue sauce and continue smoking for another 10–15 minutes, or until they reach 175°F–180°F. If they are still well below 170°F, continue smoking before adding the sauce. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Note – Large chicken thighs, such as 8-ounce thighs, may take up to 2 hours to reach the proper internal temperature. If any size thighs are taking longer than expected and you need dinner done, increase the smoker temperature by 25°F and watch the internal temperature closely. They will finish faster.

Notes

Salt note - if you are using my dry rub recipe, salt the thighs before adding the dry rub as my recipe is salt-free so you control the salt.

Yield and serving size – Six large bone-in chicken thighs serve about four people. Plan on 1–2 thighs per person, depending on their size, appetite, and the number of side dishes. Smaller children may need less, while hungry adults or teenagers may want two. It's easy to scale this recipe to more servings.

Nutrition