Oven-Baked 3-Ingredient Church Supper Chicken

My mother-in-law made this for every potluck from 1975 to 2010. Only three ingredients, and people still ask for the recipe.

This is the kind of dish that showed up on every church-basement buffet table from the mid-1970s clear into the 2000s, usually in a well-worn glass baking dish with somebody’s name scratched on the bottom. My mother-in-law called it her “potluck chicken,” and I don’t think she ever came home with leftovers.

It’s only three ingredients—nothing fancy at all—but the way the sauce bakes down around the chicken creates a glossy, savory glaze with sticky, caramelized edges that people remember. It’s the recipe folks still ask me for at funerals, baby showers, and every small-town supper in between.

This chicken is right at home next to fluffy mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles, where all that extra sauce can soak in. At a potluck, I like to serve it with baked rice, a big green salad, and buttered corn or green beans.

Dinner rolls or slices of soft white bread are perfect for mopping up the juices. It’s also delicious the next day, shredded over rice or tucked into a soft roll with a spoonful of the leftover sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 to 3½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, preferably thighs and drumsticks
• 1 (16-ounce) bottle thick, tomato-based barbecue sauce
• 1 (12-ounce) can lemon-lime soda, such as 7UP or Sprite, not diet

Directions

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