The Best Grilled Chicken
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Say goodbye to dry, bland grilled chicken breasts. This recipe guarantees juicy, flavorful chicken every time.
Sometimes in cooking the simplest dishes are the hardest to get right, and grilled chicken is a perfect example. Because boneless chicken breasts are so lean, they often turn out dry, rubbery, and bland. Contrary to popular belief, marinating alone will not prevent grilled chicken from drying out; in fact, it’s often the marinade that causes the problem!
My technique and marinade ensure tender, juicy, and flavorful grilled chicken every time. You can serve the fillets on their own as a healthy main course (kids love them), topped with cheese on a toasted bun, or, as I often do, sliced over a Caesar salad. Bonus: the recipe is quick and easy. You do all of the prep ahead of time and you won’t even dirty a single bowl.
What You’ll Need To Make THE BEST Grilled Chicken
STEP-BY-STEP Instructions
Step 1: Pound the Chicken
Place the chicken breasts in a 1-gallon freezer bag and pound to an even ½-inch thickness. This both tenderizes the meat and ensures even cooking. Left in their natural shape, the thin side of the fillet dries out while the thicker side finishes cooking. If you don’t have a meat mallet, a rolling pin or a saucepan will both work well.
Step 2: Make the Marinade
Lemon is a key ingredient in this marinade, but I only use the zest. Contrary to conventional wisdom, acidic ingredients (such as vinegar or lemon juice) do not tenderize lean boneless chicken breasts. Just the opposite: they “cook” the exterior of the meat and give it a leathery texture. The zest gives the chicken ample lemon flavor without affecting the chicken’s succulent texture.
The best tool for zesting citrus is a fine or microplane grater. Simply rub the lemon in one direction against the blades, turning the lemon as you go. Be sure to remove only the yellow part; the white pith underneath is bitter.
Once you’ve zested the lemon, mix all of the marinade ingredients except for the chicken together in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag (go ahead and use the same one you used for pounding if it is still in good shape).
Add the chicken breasts to the bag and massage the marinade into the meat until evenly coated.
Step 3: Marinate
Seal the bag and place in a bowl in the refrigerator (the bowl protects against leakage); let the chicken marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Step 4: Grill
When you’re ready to eat, preheat your grill to high heat and oil the grates (clean, oiled grates will give you the best grill marks). Be sure your grill is very hot before cooking the chicken; you want nice grill marks and char in the short amount of time it takes to cook these. When pounded thin, chicken breasts only need 2 to 3 minutes per side…no more! If you try to flip the chicken and it feels stuck, try giving it 30 seconds. It’ll release naturally when it’s ready.
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for the grill to be covered while the chicken is cooking. This creates convection heat which helps give the chicken a nicely charred exterior and a tender, moist interior.
After removing the chicken from the grill, let it rest for 3 to 4 minutes before cutting into it. This will help keep the juices in and retain the meat’s moisture. (The timing is perfect as it’s just enough to get it onto plates, add sides, and put on the table).
While this chicken is best right off the grill, it’s also the kind of thing you can make a double batch of and freeze for future use in salads, pastas, and sandwiches.
video tutorial
Freezer-Friendly Tips
- Make sure the chicken is completely cooled before freezing it.
- Keep the chicken pieces whole (no slicing before freezing).
- To avoid multiple pieces stuck together (which extends defrosting time), wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap and then place them all in a ziploc bag. This also allows you to defrost one piece at a time if you’d like.
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- Grilled BBQ Chicken
The Best Grilled Chicken
Say goodbye to dry, bland grilled chicken breasts. This recipe guarantees juicy, flavorful chicken every time.
Ingredients
- 1¾ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ teaspoons lemon zest, from one lemon
Instructions
- One at a time, place the chicken breasts in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag; using a meat mallet, pound to an even ½-inch thickness.
- Mix all of the ingredients except for the chicken together in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag (go ahead and use the same one you used for pounding if it is still in good shape). Add the chicken breasts to the bag and massage the marinade into the meat until evenly coated. Seal the bag and place in a bowl in the refrigerator (the bowl protects against leakage); let the chicken marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the grill to high heat and oil the grates. Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do not overcook. Transfer the chicken to a platter and serve.
- Note: The nutritional information includes all of the ingredients for the marinade, so one serving is likely significantly lower in calories and fat than the numbers below
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Serving size: 1 chicken breast
- Calories: 413
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 42 g
- Sodium: 958 mg
- Cholesterol: 127 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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This recipe is going to become a staple in our house. Chicken turns out perfectly every time, & amazing on caesar salad. We had friends over the first time I made it and they asked for the recipe and have started enjoying it regularly too. It’s great leftover in anything, but especially great on salads.
Usually, when I cook chicken breasts, I season them with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them in the oven. Not exciting but it does the job. Not any more!!
This recipe for grilled chicken was so quick and easy and tasty! If I could put garlic on everything, I would! It really made this marinade a home run for me. The chicken was much more moist and flavourful than with my old, tired method.
If I had known that a marinade could be made so quickly and easily and add so much more flavour, I would have done this a LONG time ago! I know you can use bottled stuff from the store but I don’t care for it.
This will be my new go-to for chicken. Yay!
*There isn’t a recipe that I’ve tried from Jenn that I didn’t like!
Fantasitic! Absolutely delicious and so moist. This will now be my go-to grilled chicken recipe, thank you so much!!
Hi Jenn. Super excited to try this. I started marinating this morning and realized I won’t need it until tomorrow night. Ok to marinate it for 36 hours instead of 12 or will it be too seasoned? Thanks!
It should be fine – hope you enjoy!
We tried this recipe for the first time last week, and just like every other recipe I’ve tried from this site, it was AMAZING. Perfectly seasoned, juicy, and tasty. We’ll probably never grill chicken breast any other way!
Jenn can I grill the chicken on the stove top in a cast iron grill pan
Sure, Anthony — If you cook this on the stove, I’d sear the chicken over high heat (for a min or two per side until browned) then finish it in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn, is there a reason you say to put it in the oven to finish cooking? Why not finish in the grill pan on the stovetop? Linda
Hi Linda, I just suggest that because I don’t want the outside of the chicken to get too browned before the inside is cooked through. If you can get it fully cooked in the center without it browning too much on the outside, feel free to cook it entirely on the stove. Hope that clarifies!
Hi
Can you use chicken tenders instead of the breast?
Thanks.
Sure, Maureen – no need to pound them out. Enjoy!
Just discovered this website and am loving the recipes. Made this yesterday and it was good. What kind of salt do you use in your recipes? I used kosher and it wasn’t salty enough for me but still tasty. So easy to prepare. Thanks.
Glad you’re enjoying the recipes! When a recipe of mine says salt in the ingredient list, I’m referring to regular/table salt. If it calls for something else like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe. And while it doesn’t make a huge difference, different salts have different-sized grains and so you may end up using a bit more or a bit less if you use a different type of salt than the recipe calls for. Hope that clarifies!
Thanks Jenn for the clarification. Other sites says salt and they mean kosher and you can see how salty those ended up! I’m loving your site and will for sure remember you use table salt. 👍
Made this for chicken caeser salad. Came out amazing! My friend told me it was the best chicken caeser salad she had ever had. Definitely a keeper!
Loved this! Made this with only a 3 hour marinade and still turned out super flavourful. Whole family commented on how juicy it turned out. Thanks for all of your fantastic recipes!