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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 Greek salad or Caesar salad. Bonus: the recipe is quick and easy. You do all the prep ahead of time and won’t even dirty a single bowl. It’s also great for meal prep—make a double batch and freeze the extra for salads, pastas, and sandwiches.
“Truly the best grilled chicken. Juicy and flavorful and oh so easy.”
What You’ll Need To Make The Best Grilled Chicken
The marinade is a simple combination of olive oil, garlic, dried thyme, oregano, and lemon zest. I use lemon zest rather than juice because acidic ingredients like lemon juice and vinegar can give lean chicken breasts a leathery texture when marinated too long. The zest adds plenty of bright lemon flavor without affecting the chicken’s tenderness.
How to Make Grilled Chicken Breasts
Pound the chicken: Place the chicken breasts in a 1-gallon freezer bag and pound to an even ½-inch thickness. This tenderizes the meat and ensures even cooking, so the thinner ends don’t dry out before the thicker portions are done. If you don’t have a meat mallet, use a rolling pin or saucepan.
Make the marinade: Using a Microplane or fine grater, zest the lemon, rotating it as you go and avoiding the bitter white pith underneath. Combine the zest with the remaining marinade ingredients (except the chicken) in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag. You can reuse the bag from pounding the chicken if it’s still in good shape.
Marinate: Add the chicken breasts to the bag and massage the marinade into the meat until evenly coated. Seal the bag, place it in a bowl to catch any leaks, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Grill: Preheat the grill to high heat and oil the grates. Grill the chicken, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F. If the chicken sticks when you try to flip it, give it another 30 seconds; it should release naturally.
Rest: Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes before slicing. This helps keep the juices in and the chicken moist.
Can You Make Grilled Chicken Without an Outdoor Grill?
Absolutely! You can use a grill pan or your oven’s broiler.
Grill pan: Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F. There’s no need to cover the pan.
Broiler: Preheat the broiler and position an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Arrange the chicken on a foil-lined, broiler-safe baking sheet and broil for about 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Storage: Store leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.
Freezing: Let the chicken cool completely, and keep the breasts whole rather than slicing them. Wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap, then place them together in a zip-lock freezer bag. This prevents the pieces from sticking together and allows you to thaw just what you need.
Reheating: Thaw frozen chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat, covered with foil, in a 325°F oven until heated through to 165°F.
Video Tutorial
Grilled Chicken Breasts (Juicy)
Ingredients
- 1¾ lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ teaspoons lemon zest, from 1 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-in (13-mm) 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, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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!