It tastes as good as it sounds. Quick and easy, this chicken marinade has butter, lemon, garlic, and spices. Cook the chicken over direct heat for speed, a little bit of “crunchy” and out of this world taste.
Editor’s Note: Originally published May 20, 2010. Last Updated May 14, 2018.
This was our standard grilled chicken when the kids were young. The components are always in the house, so not much thinking ahead.
My Rating
A solid 5 for us.
Recipe Notes for Quick Garlic Lemon Marinaded Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
The marinade is enough for 4 breasts.
Try to let the marinade cool some before adding the chicken or it will cook the chicken some.
I scored the smooth side of the breasts. I saw this somewhere it seems like a good idea to allow the marinade to penetrate better. I think it did some but really mostly we do this without the scoring.
Three chicken breasts because that is want was in the package. The leftovers are great on salad.
The grilling method is my standard grilling method for skinless boneless chicken breast. You need to control your grill heat. Too hot and you will make hockey pucks.
Your really need two different thermometers to do this well. First, a grill surface thermometer and second, a instant read digital thermometer. See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more information.
Other Suggested Chicken Marinades
Healthier Lemon Garlic Marinade Grilled Chicken Breasts
Quick Marinade For Grilled Chicken Breasts
Buttermilk Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
Serving Suggestion:
This is great on a salad due to the intense flavor. Try Garlic Marinated Grilled Flank Steak if you want beef
Trim 2-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts. Lightly score (about 1/8 inch deep) across grain every 1/2 inch on the smooth side of the breast. The scoring is not a must do but it helps the taste penitrate faster.
In a medium size sauce pan, melt 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons (about 6-8 cloves) minces or crushed garlic and bloom for 1 mi, nute. Add 6 tablespoons lemon juice1 tablespoons Lowrey’s (or other) seasoning salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Add chicken breast smooth size down, stir well and be sure breast are covered with liquid.
Now preheat the grill for 10 minutes on medium-high for a surface temperature of about 450 degrees. Clean well and oil.
Place breasts over direct heat with lid closed for 5 minutes per side. Continue to cook until internal temp of 165. (about 30 minutes total cooking time).
Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
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Garlic Lemon Marinaded Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 3 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 6 tablespoons butter - 3/4 stick
- 6 tablespoons ReaLemon juice
- 2 tablespoons garlic - sub 6-8 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon seasoning salt - Lowrey’s
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts. Lightly score (about 1/8 inch deep) across grain every 1/2 inch on the smooth side of the breast
- In a medium size saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and bloom for 1 minute. Add spices and ReaLemon. Mix well and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chicken breast smooth size down, stir well and be sure breast are covered with liquid.
- Now preheat the grill for 10 minutes on medium-high, clean well and oil.
- Place breasts over medium-high direct heat with lid closed for 5-6 minutes per side. On third and forth flip re-baste the breast with the marinade and turn heat down to medium.
- Continue to cook until internal temp of 165. (about 30 minutes total cooking time)6) Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
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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 May 20, 2010
Hollee
Had to google that, lol.
jim humphrey
If you want to use the gas as a charcoal starter, you may get a nicer result, don’t be toooo lazy. I am in the charcoal biz, lol But it IS much better!
DrDan
Suum cuique
DrDan
Gs
Thank you! I took the time to read a bit more about your interests and the blog. Great work, you earned a follower today! :)
Gs
Hi,
Tried two of your recipes so easy and kids loved it. Thank you :). What type of grill you are using, charcoal or gas, brand? The pic shows uniformly packed round things under grill bar? ??
Yummy!
DrDan
I currently use a Weber Summit with natural gas. The picture in this post is a MHP and it was also natural gas. It had a great 12 yr life span. The little round things are ceramic heat diffusers that I replace the lava rock with. I found they cut down the hot spots lot. My current Weber uses metal heat diffusers. It is very hot and can get 650 with no problem
I’m too lazy for charcoal and I was always running out of propane gas. So when we built a new home, I had natural gas piped to the deck.
DrDan
Dr Dan
The extra one was indeed great on my lunch salad. The size of the breasts is somewhat important. I repeated this yesterday for company but I had bought the chicken at Sam’s. They were huge so I ended up doing cutlets. They cook faster that way but don’t have the charring I love. They were great as sandwiches.
Chris
I like quick acting marinades like that. Perfectly cooked chicken, look how juicy on the inside and a slight char on the outside. I hope you threw an extra one on to have for leftover grilled chicken alfredo or salad. Looks great.
Christine
Oh! I like the pic of my doggie. But, he is being a bit spoiled over there with you and mom!
Dr Dan
Just marinade for the 10 minutes that you preheat and prep the grill. Take the marinade off the heat before putting the chicken in. It may cook slightly but not significantly.
Christine
I can’t remember how long you leave the chicken in the marinade. Last time I did this I kept the chicken on the heat in the marinade and ended up semi-boiling them after 5 minutes, the outside was stringy. Definitely not the way mom made this when we were little. Are you leaving it in the marinade just about 5 minutes or so?
Also, you forgot to mention how yummy this is as a sandwich. I love to put this on a bun with some mayo, and if I’m very adventuresome I’ll add some mozz cheese.