How Long To Grill Boneless Chicken Breasts
Depending on the thickness of your chicken, allow about 15-20 minutes to grill boneless chicken breasts. Cook the chicken over direct heat for the first 10 minutes or until nicely seared then move to the indirect heat for another 5-10 minutes depending on its thickness.
Cook until the chickens internal temp is 165° F, or juices run clear. In testing the chicken breasts for internal temperature, slide the thermometer laterally at one end, so it hits the center of the piece. Be careful not to overcook the grilled chicken, otherwise itll become tough and rubbery.
Give it a rest. Once the grilled chicken breasts are cooked, transfer to a plate and tent with aluminum foil to allow the juices to rest for about 5 minutes. Cutting the chicken too early will cause the juices to run out and it wont be as juicy.
How To Grill Chicken Breast On A Gas Grill
- Coat both sides of chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper or desired seasonings. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat gas grill before cooking to medium-high heat, or 350-400° F.
- Lightly grease grill surface and add chicken. Close lid and cook 8 minutes, or until bottoms are browned with sear marks.
- Rotate chicken, close lid, reduce heat to medium, and cook 7-10 minutes more, or until internal temperature reaches 165° F.
- Remove chicken breast from the grill and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
How To Use Grilled Chicken Breast
- On Pizza. Finish off your favorite pizza with diced pieces of grilled chicken breast. It would be a scrumptious addition to Ricotta Pizza with Peaches or English Muffin Pizza.
- On Salad. Add diced grilled chicken to a salad like this Red White and Blue Quinoa Fruit Salad or Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad.
- On a Sandwich. A grilled chicken breast sandwich is a delicious way to utilize this recipe! Serve the grilled chicken breast on your favorite bun with cheese and other toppings.
Also Check: How Long To Grill Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Another Secret For Getting The Perfect Grilled Bbq Chicken Breast
I turn the grilled BBQ chicken and baste it in the sauce frequently during cooking.
This does two things:
- First, it keeps the chicken from drying out by always having a protective coating of sauce on it.
- Second, it really helps infuse the BBQ sauce flavor into the chicken instead of just having it sit on top of the meat.
- You can actually call this grilled BBQ chicken, not chicken with BBQ sauce!
Prepare With A Meat Pounder
With a rolling pen or meat pounder, gently pound the chicken on a counter or table surface. Do this until theyre about half an inch thick across the breast. Do this for each breast.
Why do we do this? Well like with a lot of cooking methods, one of grillings biggest challenges is cooking meat evenly through. If we make our meat uniform in thickness then we help prevent the issue, while also making it easier to eat and cut.
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Top Tips For Perfect Grilled Chicken Breast
- Remove moisture before cooking
How do I grill the perfect chicken breast? In order to make the best grilled chicken breast, we suggest heating your grill to 400ºF. Grill chicken for 5-7 per side and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
Should I pound my chicken before grilling? The option is yours. We dont personally pound our chicken before grilling because we love when a few edge pieces get nice and charred, but option to use a meat tenderizer to pound your chicken so that the entire thing is the same thickness.
How long to grill chicken breast? Grill your chicken breast for around 15-20 minutes, flipping after 7-8 minutes. Grill until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
How to prevent your chicken from sticking to the grill? We recommend spraying your grill grates with nonstick cooking spray right before before cooking. Alternatively, you can use a piece of tin foil with nonstick cooking spray.
Is it okay for chicken to be slightly pink? As long as your chicken has an internal temperature of 165ºF, it is safe to eat even if its a little pinkish.
Should you let chicken rest after grilling? Yes! By allowing your chicken to rest you not only 1. let it cool so you can eat it, but 2. the chicken continues to cook a little bit and becomes extra juicy and moist.
How long does grilled chicken last in the fridge? Your grilled chicken breasts will last up to 3-5 days in the fridge.
How Long To Cook Bone
Bone-in chicken breasts tend to have more flavor than their boneless siblings but take longer to cook. Allow 30-40 minutes total cooking time with 10 minutes over direct heat and 20-30 over indirect heat. When testing the temperature, be sure to avoid touching the bone which will be hotter than the internal meat.
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Tips For Grilling Chicken Breasts
- Pound to even thickness: Pounding the boneless, skinless breasts to an even thickness will help the meat cook more evenly, so you don’t have the extremes of raw and dry.
- Marinate the chicken in an acidic marinade made with lime juice. It’s almost like using buttermilk, but lime flavored. The acid helps tenderize the meat for grilling.
- Work with chilled meat: Since the chicken breasts have been formed into rather thin cutlets, take them directly from the refrigerator to the grill. That way, they don’t overcook in the time it takes to get nice grill marks on them.
How To Grill Chicken Breasts That Are Sooo Juicy
This post may contain affiliate links.
Learn the method for how to grill chicken breasts that are juicy, and never ever dried out.
Everybody loves chicken, and all cooks love a good chicken How-To. I know this because the most popular post on this site is How To Cook Chicken Breasts From Frozen and the most popular post on my sister site, TheCookful, is How To Bake Chicken Wings That Are Sooo Crispy. With summer and grilling season coming up, I thought it would therefore be a good time to tackle that real conundrum of how to grill chicken breasts that are juicy, every time.
The thing about chicken breasts is that they are not typically of an even thickness. This means that the thinnest part tends to dry out before the thickest part is cooked all the way through. There is only one way to fix this and it involves a tiny bit of work, but not hard work. Dont worry!
What youre going to do is flatten the chicken out to an even thickness, then marinate them a bit for flavor, and then grill for as short a time as possible. Heres how!
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What Are Oven Broilers
If you dont realize starting a backyard grill but hope for a grilled chicken for the feast, your oven broiler comes in practical. It has a broil method that can grill maximum food, be it meat, poultry or vegetables. Grilling through the cooker does not dishearten, as it generates adequately grilled meat with its realistic liquids all preserved.
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A Few Notes About Methodology
Our recipe suggestions came from Kitchns team of food editors and contributors. For example, contributor Patty Catalano suggested our own pounded thin, brined, and marinated chicken, while my friends The Grill Dads had a lot to say about dry brining . Each method was prepared so that they could be grilled and tested side-by-side. I used boneless, skinless breasts of roughly the same weight . Two methods had overnight brining or marinating times as options, and I did test them out to try and get the best results. Each method was tested on a gas grill following the directions for each method most call for medium-high heat, while two called for indirect and direct heat . All of the chicken was sliced and taste tested in our backyard by my family of four and two close friends. Here are the results.
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The Best Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe
The secret to juicy grilled chicken isnt the seasonings or complicated marinades. Its all about HOW you grill the chicken perfectly in 20 minutes or less.
Sometimes I get all wrapped up in outdoing / improving / out-creating some of my most favorite / simple / craveable recipes.
Its easy to over complicate a recipe when I see all sorts of crazy inspiration and crazy mash-ups on the ol www. When inventive cooks take humble and mundane basic recipes Ive always known and loved, then stuff them into a cannon with whatevers trending at the moment, light the wick, and ka-boom-er-ama!
Thats not this recipe.
This grilled chicken breast recipe goes right back to the basics. Its perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal or meal prepping for salads and lunches in my Chinese chicken salad with pasta, a classic Caesar salad, or my favorite Italian chicken wrap.
This is the simplest, juiciest chicken breast recipe you might ever make / grill /eat. Once you make it, its sure to become the base to every chicken recipe you throw on the grill and it just might possibly lead you to lick that wick and send you over the moon.
Why Make Grilled Chicken
Grilling chicken might look intimidating, especially if you arent a seasoned griller. Were here to tell you that its actually easier than you might think to make grilled chicken! Plus, we know youll love the outcome.
Easier cleanup: There is no splattering involved like pan seared chicken, and pretty much no clean-up at all.
Juicy and Tender: by grilling your chicken breasts at high heat, they come out super juicy and tender.
Amazing flavor: a little bit of jar will do your chicken breasts some good!
Super customizable: whether you are using a chicken marinade or a chicken dry rub, flavor combinations are endless.
Also Check: How To Grill Boneless Chicken Breast
Easy Grilled Chicken Breast
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Grilled Chicken Breast is a quick meal with tender juicy chicken in a flavorful marinade. Its extra quick to make and perfect to enjoy on its own, add to pasta, or even put on top of a salad!
A quick and flavorful marinade and an even quicker grill time means this is meal on the table in no time at all!
Without Grill Grilled Chicken
Thawed Chicken Breasts slash into strips/pieces
1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil/Oil of your selection/Sprinkle of Pam/etc
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder as per taste
Aluminum Foil
Baking Paper/Pan/Broil Ban
THATS IT and YOUVE DONE IT! Greatly, its that modest.
And because you utilized aluminum foil, there are no plates to wash!
Permit chicken cools entirely, then stock in airtight Tupperware containers.
Add to whatever feasts you prefer to develop with grilled chicken for the week!
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Pro Tips For Grilled Chicken
1. Use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces.
Grilling experts highly recommend thighs, and I agree that they are the moistest, but legs, breasts and wings also benefit when the bones and skin are left intact, as they help to insulate the meat from overcooking and they make it taste much better. Pasture-raised chickens, especially those from heritage breeds, are not only tastier but also more sustainable than factory-farmed birds, so seek them out in your area at the farmers market or local grocer.
2. Season the chicken well with salt and save the marinades for after cooking.
Most people make their first mistake before they even fire up the grill: They dont season the chicken enough. With your best-quality kosher or sea salt, sprinkle all sides of the chicken pieces as if youre dusting them finely with confectioners sugar. Everyone loves marinated chicken, but submerging your chicken in any sauce even barbecue sauce will bring you more cooking complications, not more flavor.
3. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat and control those flames.
Unlike other foods that respond well to intense heat, chicken calls for moderate or medium-high heat . Whether using a charcoal or gas grill, test the heat patterns by placing your open palm about 5 inches above the grate. If you can hold it there for 5 seconds, youre in range. Also note where the heat is less intense. In the event of a flare-up, immediately move the chicken to these cooler parts of the grill to prevent charring.
The Recipe: How To Grill Perfectly Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time
What you need: I use pink Himalayan Salt for brining but you can also use kosher salt.
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Brines Keep The Meat Juicy
A brine is a salt and water solution that helps keep chicken breasts moist through the process of osmosis. The basic formula for a brine is 1 Tbs. salt and an optional 1 Tbs. sugar or other sweetener for every 1 cup water. Other possible flavorings include herbs, garlic, spirits, and for an interesting but subtle twist coffee. The typical brining time for boneless chicken breasts is 2 to 3 hours. Dont brine them for much longer, as overbrining will give the chicken a rubbery texture and make it overly salty.
Grilled Chicken Method: Wet Brined
Timing: 30-minute brine time + 25-minute cook time
Rating: 5/10
Wet brining, like this recipe from Simply Recipes, is different from marinating. Wet brines are a solution of salt and water that help keep meat moist and also season the meat through osmosis. Simply Recipes promises juicy chicken after a 30-minute saltwater soak. After brining, the chicken breasts are patted dry, brushed with oil, sprinkled with paprika, and grilled using a two-zone cooking method using direct and indirect heat.
Generally, Im a fan of brining, but this brine alone didnt bring enough flavor to our grilled chicken party. The chicken itself browned well and the middle was juicy. The edges of the chicken were very dry, which speaks a bit to why flattened chicken pieces grill better more on that below.
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How To Grill Chicken Breasts
This recipe is the main building block and grilling guide I use as the base for nearly all of my grilled chicken recipes. The secret to juicy grilled chicken isnt in the seasonings or complicated marinades, its all about HOW you grill the chicken.
Set up the grill with two heat zones. If using a gas or a charcoal grill, designate one side of the grill for direct grilling and the other side for indirect grilling .
Sear the chicken on both sides over the direct heat, then turn off one burner and move the chicken to the side of the grill where the heat has been turned off to finish baking over the indirect heat. The chicken continues to cook over the indirect heat but wont burn. I usually close the lid and cover, but check the temperature and monitor how the chicken is cooking, opening the lid if the grill is too hot.
Simple And Easy Pinky Swear
Grilled chicken breasts are notoriously dry and flavorless, but when prepared the correct way they can be delicious, flavorful and tender. And I promise its not a lot of work.Today you will learn just how easy it is to achieve tender, juicy flavorful boneless skinless chicken breasts every time to grill. And I will guide you through the process step by step, complete with photos. Thats just how nice I am!
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How To Grill Chicken Thighs
When it comes to the barbecue, breast isn’t always best.
For reliably tender, tasty results, few cuts offer more bang for your buck on the grill than chicken thighs. Quick-cooking, inexpensive, andthanks to a higher fat contentmuch moister and more forgiving than breasts, they work just as well for a speedy weeknight supper as a leisurely Saturday feast. Another bonus: because their rich, dark meat stands up so well to bold flavors, thighs are the perfect blank canvas for trying out the wide world of bbq rubs, marinades, and spice blends. Not sure how to handle them? Remember these rules of thumb and youll be all set.
How To Cook Bbq Chicken On The Grill
Prepare clean grill grates to minimize sticking and preheat the grill at 400-450°F. Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive or canola oil and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange the breasts on the hot grill grates and cook for 4-6 minutes with the lid closed. If the chicken sticks to the grill grate, let it cook a minute more before trying to flip again. Cook on the second side for another 4-5 minutes. Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce, flip, and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Repeat on the other side side. The chicken is done when the internal temp is 160°F and the juices run clear. Let the chicken rest a few minutes for the temp to raise to 165°F and the juices to settle before serving.
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