These delicious Honey-Glazed Grilled Chicken Breasts are moist and tender, with a tasty honey-garlic glaze and a touch of smoky char from the grill.
The simple honey garlic glaze is made with honey, garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. It will elevate your chicken to a new level. Just follow the easy step-by-step photo instructions.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken breasts—skinless boneless
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Honey Glaze—honey, olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic powder
Optional Brine—water, salt
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Featured Comment by Loraine:
"This recipe was awesome! The best yet. Hubby just got a Weber grill and followed ur recipe to a tee.. moist inside too for being a chx breast…Thxs!!"
You can never have too many great chicken recipes. This one is easy to cook and will become the favorite recipe for many backyard BBQ grillers. Fire up the grill today.
For other honey-glazed recipes, see Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin, Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken, Small Crock Pot Ham, and Glazed Ham Steak.
👨🍳How to Cook Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Trim chicken breasts. Thick chicken breasts, over ¾ inches, should be flattened to ¾ inch thick. Brine if you wish.
2. Clean, oil, and preheat the grill to 450° to 500° surface temperature while allowing the chicken to rest at room temperature.
3. Mix the glaze of honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, and olive oil.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then brush the glaze on both sides of the chicken.
5. Place over direct heat (a closed hood is preferred). Flip the chicken and brush with glaze every 5-6 minutes.
6. Continue to flip every 5-6 minutes and brush until an internal temperature of 165°—about 25 minutes.
7. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
♨️Grill setup
The grill surface temperature is about 450°, which is medium to medium-high on most gas grills. You must be able to know the temperature you are cooking at to be successful in grilling.
See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for a complete discussion.
Other Chicken Breast Recipes
For more information about grill juicy chicken breasts see my tutorial on How to Grill Chicken Breasts.
Check out special chicken recipes, like Italian Grilled Chicken Breasts, BBQ Chicken Breasts, Grilled Reversed Seared Chicken Breasts, Lemon Garlic Marinated Chicken Breasts, and Buttermilk Grilled Chicken.
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How to serve
Serve with Grilled Baby Potatoes, Grilled Stuffed Tomatoes, Grill Mixed Vegetables, Grill Corn on the Cob, Cornbread Biscuits, or a large glass of homemade lemonade.
❄️Storing and Reheat Leftovers
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container for 4 days or in the freezer for 3 months.
To reheat leftovers, first thaw overnight in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in the oven at 350° covered until hot or in an air fryer. A microwave can be used, but it will affect the texture.
❓FAQs
A charcoal grill may be used, but measuring the grill's surface temperature is even more important since charcoal can get very hot. Don't overdo the coals; you will need to learn to adjust the vents.
Chicken thighs should be skinless, but bone-in or boneless will both work. Cook the thighs to an internal temperature of 185° instead of the 165° we suggest for breasts. This will improve the tenderness of the thighs, which are safe at 165°.
Skinless chicken breasts can quickly dry during cooking, especially if previously frozen. So if you have time to brine, you should for moister results.
A suggested brine would be two cups of water and one tablespoon of table salt for an hour or two. If you brine, rinse and skip the salt before brushing with the honey mixture.
All salt is not equal in volume due to crystal size. 1 teaspoon table salt = 1 ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt = 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Food safety
We do not routinely wash raw chicken due to water splatter. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not to Rinse? for more information.
Raw chicken and other poultry should be considered contaminated and handled with care. Wash your hands carefully before and after touching raw chicken.
According to the USDA, chicken must be cooked to an internal temperature of 165° for safety. You should check this with an instant-read thermometer. We cook chicken thighs to 185° for tenderness.
Most recipes (including this one) include estimated cooking times. These are provided for planning purposes. You can not cook safely by time—you must use a thermometer.
Let's plan for food safety and get it right. Check out more tips at the USDA Food Safety recommendations.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken Breast
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Honey Glaze
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Optional Brine
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon table salt
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Start with trimmed, skinless boneless chicken breasts. If you have the time, brine in 2 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt for an hour or two. Be sure to rinse well after brining.
- If the thickness of the breasts is over ¾ inches, flatten them to about ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap or a ziplock bag to prevent splattering.
- Allow the chicken to rest at room temperature while cleaning, oiling, and preheating the grill to a surface temperature of about 450°—medium-high on most grills.
- Mix the glaze of 2 tablespoons each of honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Give each breast a little salt (if not brined) and pepper to taste, then brush the glaze on both sides of the chicken—reserve ¾ of the glaze for later brushing while grilling.
- Place over direct heat. Flip the chicken and brush with glaze every 5 minutes.
- Continue to flip every 5 minutes and brush until an internal temperature of 165°—about 25 minutes. But your time may vary—cook to the final internal temperature of 165° in the thickest area.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Brine, if you have time. 1 teaspoon table salt = 1 ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt = 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- If you brine, rinse off the brine well, and do not add any more salt.
- Flatten to ¾ inch thick if needed.
- Grill surface temperature of about 450°.
- Remove at 165°. Lower is not safe. Higher will dry.
- Skinless chicken thighs may be used. Boneless will cook a bit faster than bone-in. Cook thighs to 185° instead of 165°.
- Rest for 5 minutes before cutting.
- Be sure to oil the grill grates well to start to prevent sticking.
- You should have a grill surface thermometer and an instant-read thermometer to do this right.
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 July 19, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation. The original recipe was named honey crusted but glazed is more accurate to me.
Louise Capra says
How can I do this without a grill? Not allowed in apartments in Mo.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Louise,
Welcome to the blog.
You should (meaning I have not tried it) be able to follow these instructions and bake in a 400° convection or 425° conventional oven for about 25± minutes. I would still flip and brush a few times during cooking. Also, it may not brown as well, so you may need a few minutes under the broiler at the end.
If you try it, please post your results.
Dan
Doug says
The glaze was very tasty, but I had trouble getting the glaze to stick to the chicken, although I basted before, and every five minutes before flipping. The final product was good, but lacked a strong taste of the glaze. Any pointers?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Doug,
Welcome to the blog. Sorry, it didn't work very well for you.
Pointers: Nothing will stick to wet chicken. Dry with paper towels before starting, then dry again. Second, to oil can be cut in half would help stick (or even eliminate) that would help to stick and concentrate the flavor. Flavor-wise, I have added a pinch of heat with cayenne.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Celestine Armstrong Erby says
Hi There, can I substitute with mayonnaise instead of olive oil in the honey sauce?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Celestine,
Welcome to the blog. I have some major doubts about how well that will work. I do have a nice mayo breast recipe that is oven based https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/parmesan-mayonnaise-baked-skinless/
Dan
Scotty says
Can I use chicken legs?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Scotty,
Welcome to the blog.
The answer is probably. I have never done it but I grill drumsticks longer. Please see https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/art-of-drummies-grilling-chicken/ So the legs will need to cook longer so be careful about all the sugar burning.
Dan
Timothy Enns says
Very nice recipe. It was my clear inspiration. I replaced the soy sauce with Coconut Aminos (4 T) and added all of the ingredients into a Sous Vide bag. Cooked at 141 for 1 and 1/2 hours. Then finished on the grill, glazing with the Sous Vide juices. Optionally, you could glaze with a BBQ sauce. Wellbee’s BBQ is great and compliant with our diet restrictions.
Nora says
has anyone made it the oven? if so what temp, how long? Out of gas and don't have a grill pan. Recipe sounds really good! Thanks
Corine Wilber says
Not sure if you figured out the answer, but I'm going to try tonight! I already brined my chicken and it starting POURING outside. I'm going to try 425 and rotating and glazing every five minute as instructed when cooking on the grill. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Corine,
Welcome to the blog.
Your plan probably will work. You probably should check out https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/baked-chicken-breasts/ since you have done half that recipe. Maybe just bake per those instructions. Glaze the top then flip halfway and glaze again.
Dan
Mike Fisher says
Dan, I made this tonight for the wife and myself. It was perfect. I put it in the brine for an hour beforehand. Moist on the inside, sweet and sticky on the outside. Great recipe. Thanks!
Mike
Tim Burke says
Used the recipe on chicken tenderloins, soooooo delicious!!! Currently trying it on some home cut pork chops right this minute, made a nice spicy teriyaki BBQ sauce to go with, idk if it's gonna work out or not, keeping my fingers crossed!!
DrDan says
Hi Tim,
First, sorry for the delayed reply.
Hope that teriyaki worked well for you.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Loraine says
This recipe was awesome! The best yet. Hubby just got a Weber grill and followed ur recipe to a tee.. moist inside too for being a chx breast...Thxs!!
Dawn Burke says
This recipe was amazing! I didn't have lemon juice on hand so substituted with orange juice and it was great! This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Cheryl Barnes says
I made this tonight. YUMMY!!!!! Unfortunately I had to make it on a grill pan on my stove because our outdoor grill wasn't gassed up tonight. lol. This was soooooo delicious and moist and I didn't do the brine first. It was so tasty that my husband volunteered to do the dishes. :-). Thank you so much for this recipe. I will be making this again!
I have one question/suggestion is nutritional info available? I put everything I eat into the my fitness pal app and it would be super if that was available. Thank you.
Suzanne says
This recipe looks sooo good. Will be cooking it this week.