There are grilled burgers and hot dogs, but no dish speaks to true grilling prowess quite like perfectly grilled chicken breast. Marked by the grill and turned a most gorgeous caramel-colored hue, the very best grilled chicken breast promises to be juicy and tender—and as versatile for quick summer meals as a good tomato. Grilled chicken has become so ubiquitous, though, that we often forget what a real stunner it can be among dry and less flavorful grilled fare.
Pound the chicken for more even cooking, brine, or marinade for flavor and color, and grill over direct heat for grill marks, but finish over low heat to keep them juicy.
Why You’ll Love It
- It’s everything you need to know about grilled chicken. Getting the best grilled chicken requires some planning and solid grill knowledge, lessons that even the most seasoned griller should revisit each year.
- We’re breaking down the know-how into two parts. What to do before you grill and what to know when you’re at the grill.
What to Do Before You Grill
- Pound the chicken into flat, even pieces for easier grilling. The uneven shape of boneless, skinless chicken breasts makes them tricky to grill, but by just spending a few minutes pounding the thicker end thinner, you’ll both reduce cooking time and end up with evenly cooked meat.
- Brine the chicken for juicy breasts every time. Brining is simply submerging the chicken in a salt-water solution before grilling. This prevents the chicken from overcooking on the grill and also helps it get great grill marks, as the increased surface moisture and sugars brown quickly. Brining also keeps the interior of the chicken breasts juicy while grilling. It’s one of the easiest ways to ensure success, but it does require extra time so plan accordingly. As little as 30 minutes of brining helps the chicken breast, but you can brine chicken breasts in a mild brine for eight to 12 hours.
- Use a marinade-brine hybrid that doubles as a glaze. This recipe calls for a quick mixture of honey, vinegar, and spices to be added to the brine and used as a glaze. This sort of hybrid marinade-brine adds flavor and color to the breast before grilling, and glazing them before serving makes them finger-licking good. You can skip this step, but don’t skip the brining.
What to Know at the Grill
- The difference between direct and indirect heat and when to use which. Direct heat will get you great grill marks over a fast flame, while indirect heat will bring your meat to temperature. Direct heat means to cook the food directly over the heat source (whether charcoal, gas, or wood), while indirect cooking refers to cooking adjacent to the heat source. A combination of direct heat for prominent grill marks followed by indirect heat to cook the chicken to the correct temperature without drying it out makes for pretty, juicy chicken breasts.
- The importance of a digital thermometer. A digital probe thermometer is one of the best tools you can own for the grill. While you’ve already done a lot of work to ensure that those chicken breasts are cooked correctly—flattening them for even cooking, brining for juiciness, and cooking over direct heat for grill marks—you still want to be doubly sure the chicken is cooked through.
- The right doneness temperature for grilled chicken breast. Insert the probe thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken (the flattened part will plump back up a bit over the heat) and look for a temperature of 165 degrees F.
- How to account for carryover cooking. While you can safely remove the chicken at 160 degrees F and allow for some carryover cooking, 165 degrees F is the safest temperature to ensure the chicken is cooked completely.
- How to get really great grill marks. Make sure your grill grates are clean and debris-free before you put the chicken on the grill. Pat the chicken breast dry to remove excess surface moisture that causes steaming instead of searing. Cook the chicken over direct heat for three minutes to get gorgeous grill marks and then move to indirect heat, cover, and grill to 165 degrees F before removing from the grill.
