A great Italian Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts that are very moist and a nice change of pace from the usual BBQ on the grill.
Editor’s Note: Originally Published July 16, 2010. Last Updated June 1, 2018.
I wanted Italian on the grill. I was going to fuss with cheese and tomato but got lazy.
So I went Googling again, and all I could find was multiple recipes with two ingredients, the chicken and a bottle of Italian dressing. I’m lazy but not that lazy.
A few had dry Italian seasoning. I prefer to make my own spice mixes, so I substituted for that and went with it.
Add in some careful grilling, and you have a very nice grilling change of pace.
My Rating
A nice solid 4
Recipe notes for Italian Grilled Chicken Breast
You could use dry Italian seasoning. But I chose to make my own.
These are skinless boneless chicken breasts so a brine is always good if you have time. I suggest a brine of 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. This brine will work fairly quickly so about 1 hour is a good time. 30 minutes will do fairly well and probably 2-hour max.
If you use a brine, do not add extra salt.
We not longer rinse chicken ( see Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? ) except after a brine, the breast should be rinsed.
Grill temperature is very important when cooking skinless boneless chicken breast. You generally want a surface temperature of about 450 for chicken. See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more details.
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Trim chicken breasts.
Optional: Mix brine of 3 cups water, 3 tablespoons table salt, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) . Add chicken and submerge and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of about 450 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
If making your own seasoning then use equal parts dried basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme. I used 1 tablespoon each and saved the extra in a small airtight container suitable for storage.
Mix oil and 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning.
Pepper lightly on both sides and salt if not brined. Then brush both sides with the oil mixture. Place on grill over direct heat with grill lid closed.
Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp is 165. 25-30 minutes total on the grill.
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Italian Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts.
- Optional: Mix brine of 3 cups water, 3 tablespoons table salt, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional). Add chicken and submerge and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of about 450 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
- If making your own seasoning then use equal parts dried basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme. I used 1 tablespoon each and saved the extra in a small airtight container suitable for storage.
- Mix oil and 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning.
- Pepper lightly on both sides and salt if not brined. Then brush both sides with the oil mixture. Place on grill over direct heat with grill lid closed.
- Flip about every 5 minutes until internal temp is 165. 25-30 minutes total on the grill.
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Nutrition is generally for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Originally Published July 16, 2010.
Anita
The grilling time seems o be a little long for just 2 boneless breasts, especially at 450* over direct heat. Won’t they burn and dry out?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Anita,r
Welcome to the blog.
That is about the right cooking time if your grill surface temperature is 450. But there are a lot of variables. Total size and thickness of the breast. The starting temperature of the meat etc. So as always, cook to a final internal temperature of the thickest part of the meat. Never cook by time alone.
If you have smaller/thinner breasts or if you flatten the breast some, that time will decrease by 5 minutes or more.
Dan
Ruby Holbert
We purchased this Italian Brand Bruchetta flavor boneless skinless chicken breast from a salesperson that came to our neighborhood in Pearland, Texas several months ago. We really loved it and all the other meat products we bought. He has not been back. We do not have a phone number or address to contact him. Please let us now where we can contact someone to purchase more meat products as soon as possible.
Thanks
DrDan
No clue… But try this recipe and make your own.
DrDan
Dr Dan
Really almost any spice recipe works. Just know your grills hot spots and avoid them or turn the heat down and take a little longer
Sage
This looks really good.Wonder if I would used my fresh herbs to make this juicy recipe.
Rita
Dr Dan
I remember using it 20 years ago but I much prefer the make your own method if possible for most recipes.
I’m working on a Jerk recipe and I think I will wimp and reach for the jar. Way more work than I want to do but Italian was simple.
Chris
Laugh if you want, but bottled Italian dressing was the first chicken marinade when my buddies and I were 18/19 learning to cook on our own.
But taking your approach is much more tailored to personal tastes! Then again, I didn’t have such a nice grill back then either:)