Grilled Bourbon Chicken with Peaches

Summertime is all about low stress cooking and big, bold flavors. This Grilled Bourbon Chicken with Peaches is a light, slightly sweet, summery dish that's just right to feed hungry crowds at your next barbecue. 

This post was originally published on June 16, 2017. It has been updated with new photos, more helpful recipe content, and details, and republished most recently on May 22, 2025.

Grilling season is here!

Summertime eating means lighter meals packed with fresh seasonal fruits and veggies that are easy and fast to put together.

We love making this Grilled Salmon in Foil Packets with Lemon and Herbs, BBQ Bacon Burgers, and Hawaiian BBQ Chicken.

This Grilled Bourbon Chicken with Peaches recipe is just the thing to serve up to friends and family for summer picnics, and really, any outdoor entertaining occasion.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe!

This grilled chicken recipe is one the whole family will love!

• Perfect finger foods for outdoor picnics and parties
• The chicken is tender and moist.
• Peaches lend a touch of summer sweetness and pair so well with rich flavors of bourbon.
• It's an excellent main dish that can go with a wide variety of side dishes

🍑 Ingredients

Here's a quick look at what you'll need to make this peach bourbon chicken recipe:

• Peaches - When peaches are in season, they are extra juicy and delicious in this recipe! But you can use canned or frozen peaches, too.
• Chicken - This recipe calls for chicken drumsticks and wings, which are cuts that are great for entertaining. But you can also use the marinade on chicken breasts or thighs. Just adjust the cook time.
• Bourbon - Use your favorite bourbon here.
• Apple cider vinegar - For a hint of tangy flavor.
• Ginger - Love the zesty, uplifting flavor garlic adds to this!
• Garlic - If you're a garlic lover, try using one more garlic than what the recipe calls for.
• Salt and pepper - Use kosher salt if you can!

FLAVOR NOTE: You can add spices like nutmeg and paprika to make this sauce less sweet and more of a balanced smoky/sweet sauce. I like the sweetness of this sauce for wings and drumsticks, but would probably add spices if I were grilling larger cuts of meat, such as chicken breasts or thighs.

How to make this delicious grilled chicken

You'll find the fill ingredients list along with more detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick guide:

• Make the marinade. You can mix the marinade up in a big bowl to marinade the chicken. Save ¼ of the marinade in a separate bowl for later.
• Marinate the chicken. You'll want to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes.
• Grill the chicken. Place the wings and drumsticks on a greased or nonstick foil in the top rack of your grill. Grill for about 30 minutes; flip and baste with reserve marinade halfway through until fully cooked.

Grilling Tip: the wings will likely be done before the drumsticks, and so watch those carefully and remove when a meat thermometer reads the internal temperature of the wings at about 165 degrees. The drumsticks should be done at about 175 degrees.

Serving suggestions

For this grilled bourbon chicken dish, I would suggest pairing it with sides that are similar in lightness and seasonal freshness. Dishes like:

• Fresh fruit salad
• one of these simple summer salads
• Baby Potato Salad with Bacon
• Summer Slaw
• Corn with basil lime butter
• Ricotta Crostini with Berries and Honey

🍷 Best wine pairing for grilled chicken

A stainless steel Chardonnay would pair well with this grilled bourbon chicken dish. The Stoller Dundee Hills Chardonnay has hints of summer peach and nectarine, which help bring out the peach bourbon flavors of the chicken.

It's a nice, crisp white wine with low residual sugar that drinks beautifully on a hot summer day.