Honey Glazed Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts

Great honey glaze combined with that extra grilled flavor with wonderful results. You can never have too many great chicken recipes.

Editor Note: Another in my underappreciated recipe series. I have re-edited the photos, edited and expanded the text and last but not least, renamed. The original recipe was called honey cursted and glazed is more accurate to me. First published July 19, 2014, it got some nice attention early but then disappeared into the masses of recipes. I think it deserved more. This one is easy to do and will become the favorite recipe for many backyard grillers. Fire up the grill and have at it.

I don’t have an “inspired by” for this recipe. Maybe an email from Cooks Illustrated but that just triggered the idea. After reading many recipes, I jumped in.

I started with a tasty glaze of some honey, soy sauce, and other tasty stuff.  Paint the chicken with the glaze and allowed them to sit for 15 minutes while the grill was prepped. The 15 minutes is ultra safe. An hour is almost for sure safe, but really if you are longer than 15 minutes, let’s refrigerate, please.

My Rating

A 5 coming from my wife, who is usually lower than me. I’m at a low five. To get to a full five, you need to brine. See note below.

I must say I love full speed puppy pictures.

Notes on Honey Glazed Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts

Like all skinless chicken breasts grilled, there was some dryness,  not much but a brine would make it a full 5. A suggested brine would be four cups water and three tablespoons kosher salt for an hour or two. If you brine, then rinse and skip the salt before brushing with the honey mixture.

The size of the breasts is also important. Try not to use those huge thick breasts. With a sugar type glaze, you will end up burning the outside before the inside gets to the safe 165 temperature. If the thick breasts are what you have, get out the meat mallet and get them down to about 3/4 inch thick. If you don’t have a mallet, then the bottom of a heavy pan will do.

Finally, grill surface temperature. You must be able to know the temperature you are cooking at to be successful doing any grilling. I think most grilling failures are due to people driving blind. If you closed your eyes and tried to drive around the block, you probably would not be very successful. You need the information from your eyes to be successful. Get a surface thermometer. Go to Amazon or your local hardware store and send your $10. You will save many times that in ruined food. While you are there, get an instant read thermometer also.

Start with skinless boneless chicken breasts. Trim nicely. If you have time, brine in 4 cups water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt for an hour or two. Be sure to rinse well after brining.

Mix the glaze of 2 tablespoons each of honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and olive oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of the mixture for later.

Give each breast a little salt (if not brined) and pepper to taste then brush the glaze on both sides of the chicken. Allow the chicken to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes (maximum) while cleaning oiling and preheating grill to a surface temperature of about 450-500. Medium for me but probably medium high for you.

Place over direct heat. After about 5-6 minutes flip the chicken and brush with glaze. Continue to flip every 5-6 minutes and brushing until internal temperature of 165. Exactly 25 minutes for me.

 

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Orginally Published
July 19, 2014
Last Updated
August 5, 2017