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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Thank you Jenn!! This is hands down the”Best” grilled chicken I have ever made at home. I have always wondered how restaurants can serve the juiciest chicken breasts and why mine are always dried out! I used my cast iron skillet and fried them for 2-3 minutes and let them rest. I served it with steamed broccoli and made your Caesar salad dressing. Better than going out! My husband loved it!
This is my go-to chicken marinade! Based on Jenn’s recommendations with some of her other chicken recipes, I also like to use chicken tenders. I have a large family and find the recipe is easily doubled. The ziplock bag technique is genius…easy and mess-free!
This is my go to marinade for chicken. I use it on chicken thighs then use a grill pan with the weighted top to get the markings. I dice up the chicken over jasmine rice with diced green onions. It’s a household favorite. I love the lemon zest to add brightness of flavor. Star recipe as usual!
I’m amazed at the difference using lemon zest makes to the chicken! It was so juicy and flavorful it tasted like a great quality restaurant dinner! My husband and I were very surprised and enjoyed every bite. We ate the leftovers the next day instead of freezing them because it was so delicious! Now I’m stocking up on chicken breasts when they’re on sale so I always have some on hand. Thanks, Jenn for a terrific simple recipe.
This is THE BEST marinade for chicken. I use chicken cutlets and in 4 hours can have juicy delicious chicken on the table. I love that Jenn uses the lemon zest rather than lemon juice – that’s got to be the secret to not drying out the chicken. It makes delicious chicken salad too!
This is my go to chicken recipe it’s delicious! Make it all the time!
This was really good and had great flavour, though I found my chicken on the dry side when I cooked it on the BBQ… Though I almost always find it on the dry side unless cooked sous vide.
Do you think I can cook the chicken in the marinade sous vide, or should I take it out of the marinade before cooking? will it be too strong on the chicken with the garlic if cooked in the marinade?
Hi Julia, I’d love to be able to help but I don’t have any experience with sous vide cooking — I’m sorry!
Hi, I just saw this question when I looked up this recipe to sous vide these chicken breasts today!🙂 So to answer your question, we sous-vide these chicken breasts regularly, and enjoy them hot as well as cold for sandwiches, salads, wraps, with pasta, etc. Works great – perfect flavor and texture! FWIW, I usually don’t pound them, but slice
them horizontally to get thinner cutlets, then SV them at 140 degrees for about two hours.
This is the best chicken in the world. I have never been a great griller, and especially with chicken! But this? It’s almost fool proof, plus you can take out your bad day on the poor raw beast while you pound it to within an inch of its life. I always bring this, sliced beautifully, when I go to a pot luck. Everyone raves about it- so good AND easy!!
This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE way to grill chicken! I just learned to grill this summer and Jenn’s recipe was my first solo performance. It came out perfectly. The lemon zest, herbs and garlic enhance the flavor of the chicken without overpowering it. For me, I like to mix my marinade in a measuring cup and then pour it in the ziploc that I’ve used to pound the breasts. It’s an absolute winner!
I gave up on grilling chicken till I discovered this recipe. Boneless chicken can be challenging but this recipe makes tender juicy chicken every time. During the marinating time I like to move the marinade around and make sure all parts of the chicken are covered. A mini massage!
Mary