In partnership with HeadCountry BBQ Sauce.
Experience the joy of smoking chicken halves with a touch of peachy heat. Join me as we dive into easy steps, creating flavorful Mexican-inspired magic with HeadCountry BBQ’s new Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce. This is a simple and super delicious grilled chicken recipe you won’t want to miss!
NOTHING QUITE LIKE BBQ CHICKEN
As a lover of uncomplicated cooking in Colorado, I’m excited to share a incredibly easy recipe for Smoked Chicken Halves infused with the zing of HeadCountry BBQ’s Peach Habanero Sauce. Let’s keep it simple and let the flavors shine!
There are flavors from your childhood that, when experienced as an adult, take you right back to being a kid and relishing in the simplicity of life. BBQ chicken is definitely one of those memorable flavors for me. We’d go to my grandparents’ farm in the summertime and my grandpa would fire up the grill to make chicken for the family. Now, I have to imagine it was actually overcooked and dry, but there’s something about those crispy, BBQ-sauced edges that were my favorite.
And I had a similar experience when cooking up these chicken halves recently. It tasted like I remember (and better) and I’m excited to share it with you. I know for a fact that my grandpa didn’t use a BBQ sauce half as tasty as HeadCountry’s new Peach Habanero BBQ sauce, so the flavors of this one are amped up a lot.
START WITH A WHOLE CHICKEN
When possible, I love starting with a whole chicken for cooks like this. There’s some pleasure in being able to break down a bird yourself and the finished result is worth the effort. For about $10, you can pick up a whole chicken at the grocery store. And all you need is a pair of sharp kitchen shears and a sharp knife or cleaver and you’re in business.
SPATCHCOCK IT FIRST
Yes. That word… fun and awkward. Basically, you’re cutting out the backbone of the bird and flattening it as much as possible for optimal even cooking. Check out this blog post for details on the spatchcock method. It’s not as intimidating as it seems.
THEN SPLIT IT IN HALF
After spatchcocking the bird, use your knife or shears to cut the bird in half down the breastbone. You’ll end up with two chicken halves– mirror images– that are pretty evenly thick and perfect for a BBQ treatment.
A QUICK DRY BRINE
One of the keys to great, flavorful and juicy chicken is the dry brine technique. The application of a layer of salty flavoring on the exterior of the bird draws moisture throughout the meat, helps crisp up the skin and results in the tastiest chicken around.
I made a quick blend of HeadCountry’s Sweet & Spicy seasoning and some additional salt to use as a dry brine. Once the chicken was split in two, I seasoned the pieces all over with my rub/salt blend and put them on a wire rack over a cookie sheet in the fridge. They sat there for about an hour, which was sufficient time to make a big impact.
THEN ONTO THE GRILL
After dry-brining, I turned on my Traeger to 325* and once it was hot I placed the chicken halves in the grill. They went right on the racks, with a wireless thermometer probe in the breast, and got the wood-fired flavor treatment that is iconic with a Traeger.
I let the chicken cook at 325* for about 30 minutes until the internal temperature was nearing 145*. This was the perfect time to sauce the chicken halves with HeadCountry’s amazing new Peach & Habanero BBQ sauce.
SAUCE AND SET
After coating the grilled chicken halves with HeadCountry Peach & Habanero BBQ Sauce, I closed the lid on the Traeger again and let the chicken continue cooking. Another 10-15 minutes was needed to set the sauce (making it sticky and adhered to the chicken) and have the chicken reach a finished internal temperature of 165*. I like to pull my chicken at about 160* because the carry-over cook makes it easy to reach the perfect internal temperature.
Pull the chicken halves from the grill and serve them hot with some traditional or Mexican-inspired BBQ sides. We gobbled these up with refried beans, fresh flour tortillas and homemade pico de gallo salsa. This grilled peach and habanero BBQ chicken is terrific as a leftover too- either used cold in chicken salad or reheated for sandwiches, tacos or the like!
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS
- Whole chicken
- HeadCountry’s new Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce
- HeadCountry’s Sweet & Spicy Seasoning
- Kosher salt
WHY GRILLING CHICKEN HALVES WORKS ON THE TRAEGER
While you may think of the Traeger as mostly a smoking device, this is a great recipe to highlight the versatility of this type of grill. The food gets a hint of wood-fired flavor being cooked in the Traeger, but the grill’s ability to reach high heats with a speediness and accuracy that is unmatched in the industry makes them the perfect backyard kitchen workhorse.
I love how these chicken halves came out so flavorful, juicy and tender. The brief dry brine allowed the meat to pick up some extra flavor and juiciness and the addition of HeadCountry’s Peach Habanero BBQ sauce took it from good to great.
STEP-BY-STEP
- In a small bowl, combine the HeadCountry Sweet & Spicy seasoning blend with the kosher salt.
- Mix to combine.
- Unwrap the chicken and place it on a cutting board, breast side down.
- Using kitchen shears, a sharp knife or cleaver, cut the chicken on either side of the backbone, about 1″ apart.
- Remove the backbone and discard.
- Flip the chicken over and press hard to crack the breastbone, creating a flattened (spatchcocked) chicken.
- Using a knife or scissors, cut the chicken in half down the middle, creating two mirror pieces.
- Season the chicken halves all over (top and bottom) with the prepared seasoning blend.
- Place the chicken halves on a wire rack over a cookie sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat your Traeger Grill to 325*.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and place the halves in the preheated grill.
- Cook for about 30 minutes and check the internal temperature.
- When it reaches 145*, open the grill and sauce the chickens.
- Using the squirt bottles on the new HeadCountry Peach Habanero BBQ sauce, cover the chicken halves with sauce.
- Use a brush or spoon to spread evenly, if desired.
- Close the lid and allow the sauced chicken halves to keep cooking until they reach about 160*.
- Move the chicken to a cutting board and tent with foil, allowing the carry-over cook to reach 165*.
- Serve the sauced chicken halves with your favorite sides and enjoy the Mexican-inspired BBQ.
The perfect sauce for chicken halves 
Perfect, juicy chicken halves
OTHER RECIPES TO TRY
Here are some other Traeger grilled chicken recipes for you to try:
PRODUCTS USED IN THIS COOK
- We love the sauces and spices that come from HeadCountry BBQ. They’re consistently delicious, flavorful and exactly what our family loves. The addition of the new line of Mexican-inspired BBQ sauces make us love the brand even more!
- Traeger Grills
Grilled Peach Habanero BBQ Chicken
Equipment
- Traeger grill
- Cutting board
- Cleaver or kitchen shears
- pastry brush
- Wire rack and cookie sheet
- Small bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Whole chicken
- 2 cups HeadCountry’s new Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 cup HeadCountry’s Sweet & Spicy Seasoning
- 4 tbsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the HeadCountry Sweet & Spicy seasoning blend with the kosher salt.
- Mix to combine.
- Unwrap the chicken and place it on a cutting board, breast side down.
- Using kitchen shears, a sharp knife or cleaver, cut the chicken on either side of the backbone, about 1″ apart.
- Remove the backbone and discard.
- Flip the chicken over and press hard to crack the breastbone, creating a flattened (spatchcocked) chicken.
- Using a knife or scissors, cut the chicken in half down the middle, creating two mirror pieces.
- Season the chicken halves all over (top and bottom) with the prepared seasoning blend.
- Place the chicken halves on a wire rack over a cookie sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat your Traeger Grill to 325*.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and place the halves in the preheated grill.
- Cook for about 30 minutes and check the internal temperature.
- When it reaches 145*, open the grill and sauce the chickens.
- Using the squirt bottles on the new HeadCountry Peach Habanero BBQ sauce, cover the chicken halves with sauce.
- Use a brush or spoon to spread evenly, if desired.
- Close the lid and allow the sauced chicken halves to keep cooking until they reach about 160*.
- Move the chicken to a cutting board and tent with foil, allowing the carry-over cook to reach 165*.
- Serve the sauced chicken halves with your favorite sides and enjoy the Mexican-inspired BBQ.
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