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    🏠Home » Recipes » Chicken Recipes

    Crispy Grilled Split Chicken Breasts

    Mar 20, 2011 · Modified: Apr 10, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 6 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.38 from 16 votes

    Learn the secret of moist and tender split chicken breast on a gas grill that will have you doing this economical recipe for friends and family. Just use these easy to follow step by step photo instructions. You can do it tonight.

    Crispy Garlic Grilled Chicken Breasts from 101 Cooking for Two

    Jump To:
    • 🐓Split Chicken Breast
    • 👨‍🍳The Secret of Trimming the Chicken
    • ♨️The Grill
    • ✔️Tips
    • 📖Split Chicken Breast Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    Some of my wife's favorite words are crispy, garlic, and chicken. I threw in some of my favorite words, which are quick, easy, tasty, and grilled. I rolled it all into one and made her (and me) happy.

    I have included lots of special tips to grill it right.

    My Rating

    My rating system of a 4 out of 5 so very nice.

    Almost a 5.

    🐓Split Chicken Breast

    Split chicken breasts are also known as skin-on bone-in chicken breasts. Most feel they have more taste and moisture than the more popular skinless version.

    They are the whole breast just split down the middle. It will have part of the breast bone, the skin, and a section of the ribs.

    They are usually too big for a serving for most people, but they are usually very cheap to buy. You can easily remove the bone and cook just the breast meat with or without skin if you want.

    👨‍🍳The Secret of Trimming the Chicken

    Chicken breasts have become progressively bigger over the last few decades. They are now too big for a reasonable serving size and are nearly impossible to cook.

    They are hard for most home cooks to get to a safe internal temperature without overcooking the outside. So most will skip them as an option or settle for poor results.

    The “secret” to the success in cooking split chicken breast in the oven or on the grill is how to prepare them for cooking. You get a better serving size, more even cooking, and more surface area for the great spices.

    image of cutting off ribs from the split chicken breast with a large knife
    Cutting off the rib section of the breasts.

    Step one is cutting off the attached rib section. There is no meat, it takes seasoning, and tends to overcook.

    image of cut up large chicken breasts
    Cutting the chicken breasts into chunks.

    Step two is to cut the breasts into two or three pieces. Trying to cook the whole thing at once will almost always burn it on the outside before reaching a safe 165 internal temperature. There is also more surface area for seasoning, and the serving size is correct for most people.

    ♨️The Grill

    The problem most people will have with cooking any chicken on a gas grill is the grill temperature. The surface temperature where the chicken is cooking needs to be in the 450° range.

    For this skin-on recipe, we need a cooler zone on the grill to use if the skin is getting burnt. Remember a little char tastes good but burnt is bad. I suggest leaving one of the outside burners off while adjusting the grill temperature.

    You can not do this on a high heat like beef, so you need to understand grill temperature well. So you need to know your grill well and have a surface thermometer to know what you're doing. This is not the same thing as that nice-looking but useless thermometer in the grill hood.

    For details about grill temperature, please see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.

    While this is a gas grill recipe but you can adapt to charcoal. You have to have a medium heat area and a cooler area.

    ✔️Tips

    Tip #1 - Let the chicken rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes minimum while getting the grill clean and to a stable temperature. You will be able to get the chicken easier without burning the skin.

    Tip #2 - While the rub was to dry the skin, I applied it to the cut edges for flavor. Be sure to use a kosher or a rough salt. This is "salty," so be aware of that if you are on a low-salt diet.

    Tip #3 - There is one (optional) ingredient in this recipe, the baking powder. I suggest using some baking powder to dry out the chicken skin.  Some recipes use a 24-hour wait after adding the baking powder, but I feel there is a significant effect in only 15 minutes (which is more scientifically logical to me). Be sure to use aluminum-free baking powder to avoid that aftertaste.

    Tip #4 - Pat dry the skin before seasoning. We do not rinse chicken anymore. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse?

    Tip #5 - Spice it up some with ¼-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

    Tip #6 - The chicken must reach 165° to consume safely.

    📖Split Chicken Breast Recipes

    Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breasts

    Simple Grilled BBQ Split Chicken Breast

    Garlic Butter Stuffed Chicken Breast

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Chicken Breast Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Grill Recipes
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    trimmed and cut up skin on chicken breasts being patted with paper towel

    Trim chicken breasts by removing any trim-able fat and excess skin and the rib section. Cut in half or thirds depending on size. Pat dry.

    seasoning and baking powder to coat chicken

    Mix ingredients of rub very well.

    cut chicken breasts with seononing on white board

    Apply rub to skin heavy and lightly to cut edges. Shake off excess. Don't try to use all the rub.

    clean and oil grill crates

    Preheat grill to a surface temperature of about 450°, which is medium-high on most grills. Keep one of the outside burners off to create a cooler area. You want the chicken to rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before starting to grill.

    pieces of chicken breasts on a grill

    Place the chicken pieces skin side up and grill for 5-6 minutes. Flip skin down for 3-4 minutes. Keep doing flips, and when the skin is down, only do 3-4 minutes. If the skin is getting too dark, do the skin-side-down time over the turned-off burner.

    pieces of chicken on white plate

    Grill to an internal temperature of 165°. About 30 minutes total grill time depending on your grill and sizes of chicken pieces.

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    📝Recipe

    Crispy Garlic Grilled Chicken Breasts from 101 Cooking for Two

    Crispy Garlic Grilled Split Chicken Breast

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Learn the secret of moist and tender split chicken breast on a gas grill that will have you doing this economical recipe for friends and family. Just use these easy to follow step by step photo instructions. You can do it tonight.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.38 from 16 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 1 hour
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 4

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 2 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts - AKA split chicken breast
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoon aluminum free baking powder - optional
    • ½ teaspoon black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Trim chicken breasts by removing any trim-able fat. and excess skin and the rib section. Cut in half or thirds depending on size. Pat dry.
      trimmed chicken breasts on black board
    • Mix ingredient of rub very well.
      seasoning and baking powder to coat chicken
    • Apply rub to skin heavy, and lightly to cut edges. Shake off excess. Don't try to use all the rub.
      cut chicken breasts with seononing on white board
    • Preheat grill to a surface temperature of about 450°, which is medium-high on most grills. Keep one of the outside burners off to create a cooler area. You want the chicken to rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before starting to grill.
      clean and oil grill crates
    • Place the chicken pieces skin side up and grill for 5-6 minutes. Flip skin down for 3-4 minutes. Keep doing flips and when the skin is down, only do 3-4 minutes. If the skin is getting too dark, do the skin-side-down time over the turned-off burner.
      pieces of chicken breasts on a grill
    • Grill to an internal temperature of 165°. About 30 minutes total grill time depending on your grill and sizes of chicken pieces.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. The two keys to this are the trimming of the chicken breasts, and the grill setup.
    2. The grill surface temperature of 450°, and leave a cold zone by keeping an outside burner off.
    3. Let the chicken rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before going on the grill.
    4. Remember to do the uneven grilling with a shorter time when the skin side is down.
    5. The baking powder helps dry out the skin. Be sure to use aluminum-free baking powder to avoid that aftertaste.
    6. Pat dry the skin before seasoning.
    7. Spice it up some with ¼-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
    8. The chicken must reach 165° to consume safely.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    Crispy Garlic Grilled Split Chicken Breast
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 196 Calories from Fat 72
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 8g12%
    Saturated Fat 2g10%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
    Monounsaturated Fat 3g
    Cholesterol 83mg28%
    Sodium 1179mg49%
    Potassium 250mg7%
    Carbohydrates 0.4g0%
    Fiber 0.2g1%
    Sugar 0.003g0%
    Protein 30g60%
    Vitamin A 100IU2%
    Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
    Calcium 10mg1%
    Iron 1.3mg7%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Originally Published March 20, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation. Also, the method is modified slightly to my current technique.

    Molly Running

    More Chicken Recipes

    • Grilled Whole Chicken without Spatchcocking
    • Super Moist Grilled Reversed Seared Chicken Breast with Marinade
    • Extra Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
    • Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in)

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    1. Ailsa Millar

      September 08, 2022 at 1:16 am

      5 stars
      Why do the pictures of the recipe not how up on the recipe instructions? I would appreciate being able to see how it is done. Love that your recipes are for two as no need to work out how to reduce the recipe and stop wastage.

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        September 08, 2022 at 4:40 am

        Hi Ailsa.

        Welcome to the blog. Glad you are enjoying the recipes.

        I see the images on two Macs and an iPhone. Sometimes the browsers will decide not to load the images. They are in two places, within the blog post, and in the recipe card when you click the "Photos ON' button.

        Most of the time, doing a "cold restart" by shutting down completely and then restarting. Not a "warm restart," which is just clicking restart. If that doesn't work, clearing the cache of the browser would be the next step, but that varies by computer/phone type and browser you are using, so you would need to Google how for your setup.

        It those things don't help, please let me know.

        Dan

        PS on this recipe, there are six photos, trimming the chicken, seasoning ingredients, seasoning the chicken, cleaning the grill, chicken on the grill and finally, the cooked chicken.

    2. Jay

      October 13, 2014 at 4:17 pm

      Hello making this recipe as we speak can u tell why u put skin down on grill won't rub fall off or burn first thank u

      Reply
      • DrDan

        October 13, 2014 at 11:12 pm

        The rub stays on fine and I wanted to get the skin to start crisping early. I felt it worked well. Start with skin up if you want.
        Dan

    3. Dr Dan

      March 20, 2011 at 3:36 pm

      Baking powder... Thanks and the correction is made.

      Reply
    4. umbrellalady

      March 20, 2011 at 1:17 pm

      I'm a little confused but your recipe calls for baking soda and your picture is of baking powder - could you tell me which one it is?

      Reply

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