Easy Grilled Chicken
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The best marinade ever! No-fuss and packed with so much flavor. You won’t need another grilled chicken recipe again!
We are two days into summer so if you haven’t dusted off those grills, that really needs to change immediately so you can whip up the easiest grilled chicken recipe of all time.
Really, it doesn’t get any easier than this recipe, and it’s practically fool-proof.
All you need to do is marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs) in a Ziploc bag, let it sit in all that balsamic-lemony-herb goodness and well, that’s pretty much it.
You just throw the chicken right onto the grill, basting as needed. And if you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can easily use a cast iron grill pan.
When ready to serve, you can serve this with your choice of salad or any of these lovely side dishes along with some crusty bread.
Either way, these would be perfect for all your summer gatherings or backyard BBQs since you can easily double or even triple the recipe as needed.
Tools For This Recipe
Cast iron grill pan or large cast iron skillet
Easy Grilled Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
No grill, no problem. A cast iron grill pan or a large cast iron skillet will work beautifully here, especially during those winter months when it’s too cold to grill out!
Easy Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon, brown sugar, Worcestershire, garlic, thyme, oregano and rosemary; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reserve 1/4 cup and set aside.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and balsamic vinegar mixture; marinate for at least 1 hour to overnight, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade.
- Preheat grill to medium high heat. Add chicken to grill and cook, flipping once and basting with reserved 1/4 cup marinade until cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 5-6 minutes per side.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Please read Chungah’s recipe more closely. She writes: “Reserve 1/4 cup [marinade] and set aside.” Further in the recipe she instructs to baste the chicken with the reserved marinade. She is instructing the cook to use marinade that never came in contact with the meat, thus safe to use.
I am always up for a good chicken recipe. Especially if it’s easy 🙂
These chicken breasts look perfect…look at those grill marks! Fantastic job 🙂
I think the marinade sounds delicious as is. Just reserve some marinade before placing the chicken in the bag. Use that for basting.
Wow this looks amazing, I am definately going to give this a try this week. Thankyou for sharing 🙂
I always have a concern when using lemon in a marinade for a long period as it cooks the meat. Also I do not like to reuse the marinade that the meat has sat in as a base. May I have your opinion on these two concerns? Thank You!
You can omit the lemon in its entirety to suit your preferences.
I used this marinade last night at my husband’s birthday party and it was awesome! Thanks
Will this recipe work with dark chicken cutlets?
If so, what’s the recommended grill time?
Thank You!
Yes, absolutely. Cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the chicken. As always, please use your best judgment.
Mix the ingredients for the marinade, reserve 1/3 cup, then put in the chicken in the remaining marinade. The reserved amount had never come in contact with the chicken until it is basting the chicken on the grill.
I agree that reusing marinade is not a good idea. I’ve always just set aside a small amount for basting prior to marinading the meat. I’ve also read that if you put it in a sauce pan and boil for one minute that should kill anything that could make you sick.
If the reserved marinade bothers you to use, I suggest to cook them for a few minutes in a pot and use it the cooked one in basting the grilled chicken.
Just my 2 cents!
If you don’t want to use the reserved marinade to baste with then you will have to reserve it BEFORE marinating the chicken. That seems like a no brainer.
You reserve the 1/4 c. of marinade before you put the chicken in, so you are not reusing it.
What’s a marinade?
A marinade refers to the action of soaking food in a flavorful liquid. You can read more about it here:
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-class-marinating
Is this a joke?
hell NO its not a joke, and if you’ve never tried it, you have been eating some tasteless meat since you were a we lad. It. Will. Change. Your. LIFE!!
he meant the “is this a marinade” comment – obviously
Jeanette, if you read the directions correctly, they say to use the reserved marinade to baste the chicken. That means the 1/4 cup that you were supposed to take out of the whisked marinade before you marinade the chicken.
Since you aren’t leaving the chicken in the marinade for an extended period, you only get the flavor of the lemon, not the cooking. Also with the marinade, I’ve always reserved it and just boil it to reduce by 1/2 and use it as a basting liquid. Boiling the marinade kills any bacteria and by reducing maximizes flavor
The recipe dictates to reserve some marinade before adding the chicken to it, not to reuse after meat has been in it.
You are perfectly using the marinade to baste the chicken- just keep in fridge till using it. The meat pieces in the marinade are the same age etc that the chicken was when you put on the grill. You should never reuse marinade for another batch of meat like a week later or something. It will be rancid
I made this as stated in the recipe and grilled the beast for 20 minutes. They were delicious!