Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts
Marinated grilled chicken breasts are incredibly tender, juicy, and outrageously delicious. The easy, no-fuss, flavor-packed marinade will become your go-to for all your summer grilling recipes!
Just so you know, we devoured all the grilled chicken breasts in the photos in less than 10 minutes after I put my camera down. They were so good and beautifully charred that I rushed my photo shoot so we could start tearing into them. Glad the images came out as I hoped.
Once you have all the marinade ingredients together, simply pour them into a bowl, stir well, and pour it over the chicken breasts. Nothing complicated here. Let them marinate in the fridge for 2 hours, and grill away.
What Makes a Great Marinade
The base is easy: fat, acid, and umami. I love olive oil for the fat, lemon juice for acid, mustard for emulsifying, and soy sauce and Worcestershire for the perfect amount of umami. Honey provides a little sweetness, and the spices add more flavor to the party.
It took me a couple of attempts before I nailed it, but this ended up being the easiest and tastiest marinade I’ve made so far. Even better, you probably already have most of the ingredients. Try my homemade Creole seasoning, and your future self will thank you. It takes any dish from meh to wow, just like magic.
How to Grill Marinated Chicken Breasts
Make the marinade, add it to the chicken breasts, marinate in the fridge, and grill when ready.
Tips and Notes
- The chicken will absorb plenty of flavor in 2 hours. Lemon juice on its own will tenderize the chicken in 30 minutes, but oil does slow down the process. If you want to marinate it longer but still want the lemony flavor, use the zest, then add the lemon juice at the end.
- Please use a non-reactive container for marinating: a zip-lock bag, glass bowl, or stainless steel bowl works best. Aluminum reacts with the acid in the marinade, and not in a good way.
- Simmer the used marinade until reduced for a tasty sauce to pour over the grilled chicken. Just make sure it cooks long enough to kill the raw chicken bacteria (at least 5 minutes).
- When you’re ready to grill, drain the excess marinade and pat the breasts dry. If you don’t have a grill, a stovetop grill pan or broiler will give you good results as well.
Make Ahead and Leftover Makeovers
We make these often for easy weekday meal prep. They’ll last in an airtight container for 4-5 days in the fridge or around 5 months in the freezer. Slicing and storing in serving-size portions make dinner and lunch come together fast.
Leftovers go great on top of a refreshing salad, in a wrap, and in soup.
What Pairs Well With Chicken Breasts
We frequently top my California spaghetti salad with grilled chicken breasts or serve it with garlic bread and seasoned rice or mashed potatoes and gravy. And my sweet tooth insists on apple cobbler for dessert.
More Easy Grilled Chicken Recipes
- Peri Peri Chicken
- Boneless Chicken Thighs
- Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Chicken Tenders
- Marinated Chicken Skewers
This blog post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated with more tips and gorgeous new photos.
Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil (canola oil also works)
- ¼ cup (60ml) soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons (10g) minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons (45g) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup (80g) honey
- 1-2 tablespoons (15-30g) Dijon mustard
- ½-1 teaspoon (1g) cayenne pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons (4-8g) Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon (3g) ground white pepper (or black pepper)
- 2 tablespoons (8g) chopped parsley
- 1-2 green onions, diced
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, honey, Dijon mustard, cayenne, Creole seasoning, white pepper, parsley, and green onions.
- Put the chicken breasts in a non-reactive bowl or freezer zip-lock bag and pour the marinade over them. Stir to evenly coat the breasts, seal, and refrigerate for around 2 hours or overnight.
- Take the chicken out of the marinade and discard the excess, or simmer it for 5 minutes to kill the bacteria, and serve it on the side.
- Preheat the grill or grill pan on medium-high heat.
- Place the chicken on the grill and grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until they have a nice char. Feel free to flip the chicken occasionally until it is cooked all the way through. Please be careful not to overcook the chicken, as it will be painfully dry.
- Remove from the grill or grill pan, let it rest for 5 minutes, then serve immediately.
Tips & Notes:
- This marinade is enough for 4 chicken breasts. If you’re cooking for a crowd, double or triple the marinade, depending on how much chicken you’re marinating.
- The honey adds flavor and creates caramelization for a crispy exterior. But you can leave it out if you’re doing keto.
- Chicken breasts cook fast, so be careful not to overcook them. You might want to take them off the grill as soon as they reach 160℉ (71℃), and let them rest for 10 minutes. The residual heat will finish them off and bring the temperature up to the recommended 165℉ (74℃).
- Please remember that the nutritional data is a rough estimate and can vary significantly depending on the ingredients used in the recipe.
Nutrition Information:
So easy and flavorful Will try it with pork chops next!
Awesome! Glad this was a hit with you. Here is the link for the pork chops https://www.africanbites.com/marinated-pork-chop-with-rosemary-and-garlic/. Looking forward to your feedback.
Can this work for chicken thighs?
Hi Etienne. Yes, you can use chicken thighs.
Very good marinade. Also tried with pork chops! Cooked in the air fryer as i have no grill. Will be making again.
Thank you 🙂 And thanks for stopping by.
Making this again for my 4th of July meal! Thank you for yet another amazing recipe. This has become the first place I come to when I’m unsure of what to cook. Everything is delectable! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for your love and support. I am sure you’ll love my other chicken recipes also 🙂
Hi Imma!
YES!!! This is out of this world! I cannot believe how easy this marinade is to whip up and the amazing levels of flavours that roll off the tongue and how moist the chicken breast was! I served it with your Trinidad Corn Pie and it was out of this world!! Will definitely be making this again. Thank you so much!!
With much gratitude,
Chef Sheem
Hahaha. Thanks, Chef Sheem! I love anything easy :)! I am glad this was a hit with you too!
This marinade recipe is awesome! We had this for dinner lastnight. Hubby loved it! I served it with roasted asparagus and red potatoes. with of course bottle of Syrah, yum:)
I am salivating . That’s my kind of meal. So happy to hear it worked out well.
Omg! I stumbled across this marinade recipe by accident and let me tell you, this was an absolute hit! I am making this for the second time now, and added sesame seeds to the marinade as well. Thanks for posting this awesome recipe!
I think the marinade was tasty. I say that because like every piece of chicken I’ve ever grilled, by the time it gets to the 165 degree mark, it’s overcooked and then I dont want to eat it. No idea what causes that. I’ve got a very hot grill and I have to seriously dial down the heat, but it still comes out awful. I’m not a cook but dang, lots of others can get this done right. Any ideas?
Hi Jim,
It’s tricky to offer suggestions without actually being there. Can you pat dry the chicken first before grilling . Start on medium flame and adjust as you see fit. You can also take it off the grill at 160℉ and let it rest for 10 minutes. The residual heat will finish cooking it and bring it up to 165℉.
Make sure you take chicken out and allow it to warm up a bit, grilling stone cold chicken maybe your problem
A good rule of thumb for cooking meat- no matter the method- get a the thicker/bigger the piece of meat, the lower the heat, and the thinner it is, the higher the heat. With grilling it’s crucial to know how close/far away the meat needs to be from the heat source and how high the heat is. Often you move it from an area of higher heat to lower heat. It’s not about it reaching a certain temperature, it’s more about the level of heat being just right. Sounds like you’re cooking it too long. Also know when to close tue lid and when to leave it open. A chef once told me the secret to being a great cook is 95% cooking techniques and far less how it’s seasoned. You can have something well seasoned but if you don’t cook it properly it won’t matter. Practice makes perfect! Play around with your technique and you’ll become grill king! Good luck!
Great to hear that, thanks for sharing:) Yes, we need to do some adjustments as per the heat level and meat placement.
Does you have to pre cook the chicken or cannot be raw when i marinate it?
Hi, Ben. You don’t have to cook the chicken first. You use this marinate instead on raw chicken breast. But you’ll want to discard leftover marinade unless you cook it to kill the raw chicken bacteria.
Heyyyy can u jus sauté it on a pan instead of grilling it? Sounds wonderful and can’t wait to try it this week!
Yes, you may. Please let me know how it turns out for you. Happy cooking!
I sauté it on a pan and it came out great, definitely going to continue to make. My fiancé loved it too!
Awesome! Thank you so much for the feed back!
Grilled this chicken and my husband loved it. I ran out of cayenne pepper so threw in red pepper flakes and marinated the breasts overnight and into the next afternoon. This recipe is a definite keeper.
Yes, Yes, Yes. Thank you so much Glenna!!!!!
Hi can you post nutrition facts so I can know the calories and sodium
Updated the post. Thanks for bringing this up! 🙂
I always love your recipes, my kids love when I make something from your site. Can’t wait to try this out
mommypharma.wordpress.com
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! I had some baby carrots that need to be used, so I pared it with your Pineapple Ginger Glazed Carrots and a handful of spring mix salad with a little balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The crowd went wild! Okay, not a crowd…but my wife raved about it !! It really was excellent!!
Weekend backyard bbq is the best. Glad you two love it!
I love how your recipes come with notes and tips, thank you for that
Aww, thanks Aisha! Glad you find the notes and tips helpful.
Wow! I will try this next.
This chicken looks incredible! Can’t wait to try the marinade!!
Thank you, Deborah! Can’t wait to hear how this one turned out for you. Enjoy!