Easy and delicious, this blackened chicken is wonderful on a salad, in a sandwich, or just straight up for dinner. Done in under 30 minutes on the grill or in the oven.
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You can never have enough great chicken recipes. Kick it up some with these tasty blackened chicken breasts cooked on your grill or in the oven. Great taste is not far away.
And by making your seasoning, you can adjust the heat to your taste. Also, we can do a quick brine for moisture.
The original recipe was an oven-based recipe from allrecipes.com. I used the seasoning with some changes and converted it to grilling with my standard chicken breast recipe but I have included oven instructions, also.
How to Cook Blackened Chicken Breasts
- Clean and oil the grill grates. Preheat the grill to a surface temperature of about 450°
- Trim skinless boneless chicken breasts and brine if you wish.
- Mix a blackened seasoning of paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cumin, thyme, and other spices. If you did brine the chicken, do not add salt.
- Apply a light coat of blackened seasoning to all sides of the chicken breasts.
- Grill over direct heat with the grill lid closed for 5 minutes, then flip every 5 minutes until internal temp is 165°. About 25-30 minutes. Alternate oven instructions are below.
- Lightly tent for 5 minutes before serving.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken Breasts
It is easier to cook chicken that is about the same size and thickness. So try to even it out when you pick your chicken.
If you get these really plump chicken breasts, flatten them a little with a meat mallet or the bottom of a pan. Aim for about ¾ inches at the thickest point.
The Optional Brine: Like all grilled chicken breast, this can dry some if you're not careful. A simple brine of 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons table salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar for 20 to 60 minutes help keep them moist.
The recommended brine is relatively heavy in salt. According to Cooks Illustrated, this brine concentration is recommended for chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours. I find the chicken gets saltier in over 1 hour, so I suggest 1-hour max with this mixture. Actually, 20 minutes will do a fairly good job of brining the chicken breasts.
While I no longer recommend rinsing chicken usually, you should always rinse carefully after brining it to eliminate the surface salt.
You can grill skinless boneless chicken breasts and keep them moist without the brine, but it requires attention—or use the oven option.
Related Recipes
For other blackened recipes, try Blackened Tilapia in the Oven or Grilled Blackened Tilapia.
Check out some other flavorful chicken breast recipes, like Italian Grilled Chicken Breasts, Grilled Buttermilk Chicken, Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Buttermilk Ranch Marinade, BBQ Chicken Breast, and Chipotle Chicken Salad.
👨🍳The Seasoning
Blackened and Cajun seasoning are similar, and many people use the terms interchangeably. It is generally accepted that Cajun is a bit spicier but since this is adjustable, use the term you like. Creole spice has more herbs.
The original seasoning needed a touch of garlic, and I added that. And a touch more salt.
The heat here is about 4/10, so adjust the cayenne to your taste.
I prefer white pepper but use black pepper if you want or don't have white pepper. The white pepper adds a very nice different taste.
If you brine the chicken, you must leave the salt out of the seasoning.
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♨️Grill setup
Grill temperature is critical in keeping the chicken moist. For any chicken, you can not "sock the heat to it." The outside will be burnt before the center is safe to eat.
I like to cook all chicken with a grill surface temperature of about 450°, give a take a little. This is medium on my current grill, which is a "hot" grill. It is medium-high on most gas grills.
Please see my guide to controlling your Grill Temperature and get it right. If you don't get this right, you will not be successful with this recipe.
♨️Oven instructions
Sometimes you just dinner to be super easy, then just pop the chicken in an oven.
About 25 minutes in a 375° convection or 400° conventional works well; give or take 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken and the oven.
I recommend a sheet pan covered with foil and preferably with a baking rack to keep the chicken out of the drainage. Don't forget a good spray of PAM. Cook to a final internal temperature of 165° in the thickest parts.
🥣Suggested Sauce
I liked the taste of the sauce from Alabama BBQ Chicken with White BBQ Sauce with the blackened chicken. A great mayonnaise-based sauce from Big Bob Gibson's of Alabama.
Serve with a cold side dish like Caprese Pasta Salad, Small Macaroni Salad Recipe, or Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Raisins.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Clean and oil the grill. Preheat grill to a surface temperature of about 450°, which is medium-high on most grills. You must get the surface temperature correct.
Trim breasts well. You can brine if you wish but then skip the salt in the rub.
Mix rub: ½ teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ¼ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoon thyme, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ⅛ teaspoon white pepper. You may adjust the cayenne to taste and use black pepper if you want.
Rub the dry mix on breast front and back. You only have 2 teaspoons so a light coat.
Grill over direct heat with the grill lid closed for 5 minutes then flip every 5 minutes until internal temp is 165°. About 25-30 minutes.
Lightly tent for 5 minutes before serving.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Blackened Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper - adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper - use black pepper if you want
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Clean and oil the grill. Preheat grill to a surface temperature of about 450° which is medium-high on most grills. You must get the surface temperature correct.
- Trim breasts well. You can brine if you wish but then skip the salt in the rub. A simple brine of 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons table salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar for 20 to 60 minutes help keep them moist.
- Mix rub ½ teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ¼ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoon thyme, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ⅛ teaspoon white pepper. You may adjust the cayenne to taste and use black pepper if you want.
- Rub the dry mix on breast front and back. You only have 2 teaspoons so a light coat.
- Grill over direct heat with the grill lid closed for 5 minutes then flip every 5 minutes until internal temp is 165°. About 25-30 minutes. Oven instructions in the recipe tips below.
- Lightly tent for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Scale to your needs. This is cooking for two, so I have two chicken breasts.
- Like all grilled chicken breast, this can dry some if you're not careful. A simple brine of 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons table salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar for 20 to 60 minutes help keep them moist.
- If you brine, rinse the salt off carefully and add no salt in the seasoning.
- The seasoning only makes about 2 teaspoons, so only a light coating.
- Try to use chicken breasts that are about the same size and thickness. If you get those very thick breasts, use a meat mallet or bottom of a pan to flatten them out a little to about ¾ inches.
- The seasoning is about 4/10 hot. Adjust the cayenne to your taste.
- You can make extra seasoning and store airtight in a dark dry place for at least several months before it starts to loose flavor.
- Grill surface temperature is very important for cooking any chicken. Please use a grill surface thermometer to get a temperature of 450. See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
- The safe final temperature is 165°. Less is unsafe and more will start drying.
- Be sure to let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.
Oven Instructions
- About 25 minutes in a 375° convection or 400° conventional works well; give or take 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken and the oven.
- I recommend a sheet pan covered with foil and preferably with a baking rack to keep the chicken out of the drainage. Don't forget a good spray of PAM. Cook to a final internal temperature of 165° in the thickest parts.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Originally published on August 9, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Donna says
Great Recipe on a gas grill or a indoor electric grill!
David says
This recipe was fantastic...perfect blackened crust
Merut says
I'm always looking for new variations on grilled chicken. Thanks for the seasoning idea.
Dr Dan says
It seems impossible to weed the darn thing and it just grows and grows. Just more fun to be had.
Chris says
I know your feelings, my "to try" queue is about 1 light year long.