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.
You May Also Like
- Grilled Moroccan Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Fajitas
- Grilled Chicken & Quinoa Burrito Bowls with Spicy Green Sauce
- Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken
- 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 is simply delicious. I only had to marinate it for about 2 hours, and it’s still worked out perfectly. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Fantastic marinade! We used this recipe for grilled chicken flatbreads the other night, and it turned out great. The whole family loved it. Thank you!
Oh my gosh!!! Is this ever tender! I marinated 5 chicken thighs for 4 hrs! They were SO tender! I couldn’t believe it . Had all kinds of compliments!!! Will make again!
Terrific recipe! My entire family loved it. Made it with chicken tenderloins pounded to 1/2″ per the guidance. Served it over a Caesar salad. I didn’t have a chance to let it marinade the full 4 hours, but it still tasted very flavorful after only 2 hours. Only thing I might change next time is to trim back the salt a little bit. But this is a definite winner!! Thank you!
I’ve made this a few times. I have never liked my chicken tasting like lemon but this is the best recipe! My favorite grilled chicken. So simple but so good. My picky eater daughter gave it two thumbs up. I would love to try it in a salad but never have any left. Highly recommend!
This works equally as well for grilled pork chops. My boneless chops were just under 1″ thick.
Two minutes on each side was all they needed.
Made this chicken on the barbecue tonight-absolutely delicious! I have made your pesto and the pasta salad recipe a couple of times so decided to try the grilled chicken to accompany some leftover pasta salad from last night’s dinner. The chicken was so good, and cooked perfectly, even though I was a bit wary of only doing it for 3mins per side. But it was perfect. Thank you so much!
Hi Jenn,
Can I use this method of marinating chicken for other recipes that might call for lime? I usually make large batches of marinades and then freeze it with chicken. But I’m wondering how I would calculate how much zest of a lemon or lime I would need. For example: the recipe I want to make calls for 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Can I use zest instead and if so, how much would you say? This chicken came out perfectly and I’m eager to try this method with my other marinades. Thanks Jenn!
Sure, it’s fine for you to use zest in place of juice. For every 1.5 to 2 pounds of chicken, I’d use 1.5 teaspoons of zest. Hope that helps!
Thank you Jenn! I’ve been trying out a few of your marinades and so far we like them all. The tequila lime chicken was a big hit! Thanks for all the fantastic recipes!
This recipe is a keeper. Chicken is so tender and moist. Hands down the best grilled chicken recipe I’ve ever come across!
This truly is the best grilled chicken. My entire family raved about how good it was. My 6 year old gave it a 100%. It was not dry despite my husband accidentally cooking it to 175. It was wonderful! Highly recommend! We will be making it again within the week.
Our only modification was to use less salt. We don’t normally use salt so we always use less than half then what the recipe calls for and my 8 year old asked me to go a little lower next time but said it was still excellent!