Easy Grilled Chicken Breast
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So tender and juicy, this healthy Easy Grilled Chicken Breast is going to become your new favorite quick and easy meal! Seasoned with garlic, smoked paprika, and Italian seasonings with a secret touch of lemon zest, this flavorful grilled chicken recipe is incredible!
Easy Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe
Grilled chicken breasts sometimes get a bad rap for being dry, tough, and boring. But the truth is, it really has nothing to do with the chicken itself. It’s all about the cooking method. And this is one of the easiest grilled chicken breast recipes that is going to show you how simple it is to make perfectly grilled tender and juicy chicken breasts.
With my delicious marinade, a hot grill, and a little patience when it comes time to flip the breasts, you can have moist yummy chicken in no time! The marinade is composed of basic ingredients that help to elevate the flavor of the chicken as it is grilling. It’s just so darn tasty and I’m going to teach you how easy it is to make!
Why We Love This Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe
- Quick And Easy. All you need is chicken breast, some oil, a few spices, a ziplock bag, and a grill! It doesn’t get much easier than that with almost little to no cleanup at all!
- BBQ Season Ready. Perfect for that backyard BBQ with the family. Serve this easy grilled chicken breast as is with your favorite potato salad and coleslaw. Or, you can serve them on a bun topped with all the fixings and some yummy homemade mayonnaise or BBQ sauce.
- Meal Prep Made Easy. This easy chicken breast recipe is the perfect healthy protein for meal prep that is low carb, keto, and gluten-free! Just add your favorite salad greens or roasted veggies and you are all set for the week.
- Chicken – I’m using boneless skinless chicken breasts. Ideally, your chicken breasts should all be about the same size for both even cooking and estimating the cooking time.
- Olive oil – My top choice is olive oil when I make this easy grilled chicken breast, but you can also use any vegetable oil like canola, grapeseed, or soybean.
- Herbs and spices – To add more flavor to the chicken I like to use garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and Italian seasoning. I highly recommend not omitting the smoked paprika! It adds a super yummy unforgettable smokey flavor to the chicken.
- Seasonings – Salt and pepper are used to season and boost the natural flavors.
- Lemon zest – An important ingredient that adds a very subtle touch of lemon to the marinade, which acts both as a flavor enhancer and acidic component that brightens the flavors.
Marinate The Chicken
- Marinate the chicken. Place the breasts into a large ziplock bag and add all the remaining ingredients. Now, squeeze the chicken marinade around in the bag to mix everything together and fully coat the breasts. Then place the bag with the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
Grill The Chicken
- Preheat your grill. Oil the grates and then heat your grill to medium-high to get nice and hot.
- Grill the chicken. Remove the breasts from the ziplock bag and discard the excess marinade. Now, place the breasts on the hot grill to cook for 5 to 7 minutes with the cover on. Then lift the cover and flip the breasts to cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. The cooking time will depend on the size of the breasts you use. Also note, that when you go to flip the chicken it should not be sticking. If it is sticking, that means that the chicken needs to cook a bit longer for the grill marks to form. This helps to indicate that the chicken has cooked long enough on that side.
- Check the internal temperature. When you think the chicken is done cooking, use an instant-read digital meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken. The internal temperature needs to be at least 165℉ when inserted into the center of the breast. If it hasn’t reached 165℉ allow the chicken to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and check the temperature again.
- Rest and serve. Once the chicken breasts are fully cooked, transfer them to a plate, cover them with foil, and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs Instead?
Yes you can! But do select boneless and skinless thighs. Then just follow the instructions as stated in the recipe, but cook the thighs for a little longer on each side, about 7 to 8 minutes. And just like the breasts, the internal temperature of the thighs needs to be at least 165℉ when checked with a digital meat thermometer to ensure that they are fully cooked through.
Can I Bake The Chicken?
Yes! If you don’t own a grill or maybe you’re just not up for pulling it out, you can easily bake these breasts instead. Just put the marinated breasts on a nonstick sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake them at 400℉ for about 20 to 25 minutes.
How Do I Keep The Chicken From Sticking To The Grill?
The beautiful thing about properly grilled chicken is that it will let you know when it’s ready to be flipped. It does this by releasing itself from the grates as the chicken starts to form those beautiful char lines as it cooks. A lot of people, and rightfully so, are afraid of overcooking their chicken, so they flip it too soon and ruin all that charred yumminess which ends up stuck to the grill. But if you are patient and give it another minute or two the chicken will easily flip. So if you attempt to flip or remove the chicken and it’s sticking, don’t!
Serve This With
Air Fryer Corn On The Cob
Creamy Cucumber Salad
Easy Tossed Salad
Greek Rice
Expert Tips
- Marinating does matter. For the best flavor make sure to marinate your chicken breast for at least 30 minutes. And the longer you let it marinate, the more intense the flavor. You can even prep the breasts the night before.
- Temp your chicken. I can’t say this enough. To ensure the chicken is fully cooked, you will want to use an instant-read digital meat thermometer to make sure the chicken has reached 165℉. Temping the chicken also helps to keep you from overcooking it as well.
- Oil your grill grates: This helps to keep the chicken from sticking. Another grilling secret is to cut an onion in half and rub it back and forth over the grates after you oil them. This not only seasons the grill grates but also helps to clean them too.
Storing Leftover Chicken
Make sure the chicken is fully cooled before storing it in the fridge. You can store leftover grilled chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. You can also store the chicken in the freezer for up to 3 months!
Other Delicious Chicken Breast Recipes To Try
- Baked Chicken Breast
- Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Firecracker Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Easy Grilled Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless (about 6 ounces each))
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from one lemon)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken. Place the breasts into a large ziplock bag and add all the remaining ingredients. Now, squeeze the chicken marinade around in the bag to mix everything together and fully coat the breasts. Then place the bag with the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
- Preheat your grill. Oil the grates and then heat your grill to medium-high to get nice and hot.
- Grill the chicken. Remove the breasts from the ziplock bag and discard the excess marinade. Now, place the breasts on the hot grill to cook for 5 to 7 minutes with the cover on. Then lift the cover and flip the breasts to cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. The cooking time will depend on the size of the breasts you use. Also note, that when you go to flip the chicken it should not be sticking. If it is sticking that means that the chicken needs to cook a bit longer for the grill marks to form, which helps to indicate that the chicken has cooked long enough on that side.
- Check the internal temperature. When you think the chicken is done cooking, use an instant-read digital meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken, which needs to be at least 165℉ when inserted into the center of the breast. If it hasn't reached 165℉ allow the chicken to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and check the temperature again.
- Rest and serve. Once the chicken breasts are fully cooked, transfer them to a plate, cover them with foil, and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Equipment
Notes
- Marinating does matter. For the best flavor make sure to marinate your chicken breast for at least 30 minutes. And the longer you let it marinate, the more intense the flavor. You can even prep the breasts the night before.
- Temp your chicken. I can’t say this enough. To ensure the chicken is fully cooked, you will want to use an instant-read digital meat thermometer to make sure the chicken has reached 165℉. Temping the chicken also helps to keep you from overcooking it as well.
- Oil your grill grates: This helps to keep the chicken from sticking. Another grilling secret is to cut an onion in half and rub it back and forth over the grates after you oil them. This not only seasons the grill grates but also helps to clean them too.
- You can store leftover grilled chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months!
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
As always, I used two of the giant chicken breasts you can get in any grocery store, and cut them in half so that each half is thinner. The marinade is perfect – don’t change a thing! I only marinated the chicken breasts for about 90 minutes and the flavor was full-on tremendous. I’ll be making this recipe again. Thanks for your great ideas!
Really good recipe! However, being 83 and too lazy to uncover the grill I baked it! No grill marks but just as good!
This chicken looks so beautiful. For some reason all of the chicken breasts (boneless or bone in) available here are the size of my head! And most of the time they’re SO tough you cannot even eat them. I’ve even looked at the really expensive ones ($6-7 per pound)and they’re also so huge. When you go to cut them up raw if you want strips, etc.. they’re all stringy and weird. The other day I baked some bone-in to have shredded chicken for a salad and I couldn’t even cut it with a sharp knife when it was done baking. We love chicken but tend to shy away from it – so frustrating! Maybe this marinade will tenderize it a bit – will give it a try.
Let me know how it turns out for you!