Learn how easy it is to grill the best juicy chicken breasts on your backyard grill. From the preparation of the chicken, seasoning, grill temperature, how long to grill, and final internal temperature. We will cover it all along with some easy tips to get it right the first time, every time.
Table of Contents
Introduction
This is something that has most grill owners struggling. Mostly they still get hockey pucks.
But it is not hard, and no magic is involved. Learn the basics, then expand from there for your own variations. You can never have too many great chicken recipes.
My Rating
A solid 5 for this technique.
🏃♂️How to Grill Chicken Breasts
For those in a hurry, this will get you started. More details are provided in the post below.
A grill surface temperature of 450° is best for most chicken. This is medium-high on most gas grills. On charcoal grills, you will need to close the damper a bit to avoid high temperatures.
Too high of grill temperature will dry out the chicken before the interior is safe to eat. See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more details.
Generally, about 20 minutes of the grill temperature is correct. You can cook faster if you use a higher temperature, but your chicken will be less tender and juicy.
The exact time will vary by the grill and the thickness and starting temperature of the chicken breast.
The best answer is until the internal temperature is 165° in the thickest part.
The FDA recommends 165° as the minimum safe internal temperature.
Lower temperatures with specific rest times at those temperatures can be used if you want to research those. As a retired doctor, I treated many cases of food poisoning and do not recommend anything lower than 165° since people cheat on timing.
Cooking longer than this will tend to dry the chicken and is not recommended.
Yes. Grill chicken breasts (8 oz.) are about 280 calories each with 8 grams of fat and 1 gram of carbohydrates. So they will fit well in almost every diet like low caloric, low fat, and even low-carb or keto diets.
Sodium will depend on your preparation and seasoning choices.
Not still frozen chicken by this method. The outside will be damaged before the inside reaches a safe internal temperature.
So thaw frozen breasts before cooking and consider brining since freezing tends to dry the meat.
1) Cook chicken breasts of about the same size and thickness. If thicker than ¾ inch the thin out the breast.
2) Get the grill temperature correct.
3) Cook to an internal temperature of 165°. Less is not safe, and higher will dry the meat.
↓Jump Directly to Recipe Card↓
🐓Chicken Breasts
Chicken breasts have become progressively bigger over the years. Forty years ago, the six to eight-ounce chicken breast was standard. Now, eight is small.
If the chicken was frozen, it must be totally thawed before proceeding. I also suggest brining if the chicken was previously frozen since they tend to be dryer.
Try to get breasts about the same size if possible. If the breasts are thicker than ¾ inches, you should flatten them with a meat mallet or heavy pan.
With grilling, the thickness of the meat will determine the cooking time more than weight.
How to Thin Thick Chicken Breasts
I usually use a meat hammer, but the bottom of a heavy pan will do nicely.
You need to protect yourself and the surrounding area from splatter. Most people will place the chicken in plastic wrap for this, but I like one-gallon freezer bags.
See Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more food safety discussion about chicken.
🧂How to Brine Chicken Breasts
A brine is a "salt-water bath" where the salt will go into the meat dragging water with it. It will help keep the meat moist during cooking. And in dry-heat methods, like grilling, brining can make a major difference.
You can still get good results without a brine, but you will be consistently better with a brine. Also, if the breasts have been previously frozen, they do lose some moisture, and brine will help that.
I use a brine of 2 cups of water with a tablespoon of table salt. You can add other flavors like garlic or sugar to this, but this discussion is about the basics.
With this brine, you can get fairly good results in 20 minutes. You can brine for up to 1 hour. More than that leaves too much salty taste to me.
After brining, you should carefully rinse the salt off the surface. For food safety, try not to splatter and lean up with an anti-bacterial cleaner in the sink area. See
Never use seasoning with salt if you have brined.
👨🍳Seasoning for Grilled Chicken Breasts
I have a suggested seasoning that you can adjust to your needs but use what you want. Most commercial seasonings are heavy in salt, and if used with a brined chicken breasts will be too salty for most tastes.
BBQ sauce will work fine the last few minutes on this, but I prefer to build up a base of the sauce and suggest you see How to BBQ Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill.
I do love a good marinade for chicken. I have two on the site and recommend either one. Garlic Lemon Marinade for Chicken (my wife's recipe and our favorite) and Easy Chicken Marinade .
♨️Grill Setup for Grilling Chicken
You can NOT cook chicken properly on high heat. You will dry the outside long before the inside is even close to done or safe.
I suggest a grill surface temperature of about 450°. A little less is fine, and a smidge more is OK but never over 500°.
To get this right, you usually should have a grill surface thermometer. The hood thermometer is ALWAYS wrong.
If you don't have a surface thermometer (you should), medium will be about 400°-450° on most gas grills. The cooking time will be different, but as long as you get the end-point of 165° correct with an instant-read thermometer, you will do ok.
Please see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more discussion.
Can I do this on a charcoal grill? Yes, but you need to be very careful about surface temperature. And, of course, times will vary. On most charcoal grills, you will need to adjust the venting.
⏲️How Long to Grill Chicken Breasts
Most chicken breast, when properly prepared, will take about 20 minutes on a grill with a surface temperature of 450°. Smaller breasts may be a bit less, and larger may be a bit longer. Remember to never cook by time alone—cook to the final safe internal temperature of 165°.
The chicken should rest off of the heat for about 5 minutes before serving. If longer, tent lightly with foil to keep warm.
When is chicken done and safe to eat?
According to the FDA, chicken is done at 165° internal temperature in the thickest part. A higher temperature will dry, and a lower temperature is unsafe. An instant-read thermometer is required to get this right.
Lower temperatures with specific rest times at those temperatures can be used if you want to research those. As a retired doctor, I treated many cases of food poisoning and do not recommend anything lower than 165° since people cheat on timing.
Chicken Safety
A complete discussion of preparation safety is beyond the scope of this discussion, but remember we no longer recommend rinsing routinely, although we do careful rinse brine off ( Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse?).
For more poultry safety discussions, please see Summer Food Safety or Thanksgiving Food Safety and Food Help .
📖Grilled Chicken Breast Recipes
How to BBQ Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill
Super Moist Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken Breasts
Grilled Blackened Chicken Breasts
Grilled Chicken Tenders For the Kids
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Trim chicken breasts.
If the breasts are thick, use a meat mallet and flatten the thickest part of the breasts to ¾ inch.
If brining, combine 2 cups cold water with 1 tablespoon table salt. Submerge the chicken in the brine for up to 1 hour. As little as 20 minutes will help moisture a lot. Be sure to carefully rinse off the salt when done brining.
Clean and oil grill. Preheat to a surface temperature of 450°.
Use the seasoning of your choice. I suggest ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. If not brining, add ½ teaspoon kosher salt. If you use a different seasoning, be sure not to add more salt if you have brined.
Give them a light coat of vegetable or olive oil. Sprinkle all sides with a light coat of seasoning.
Place over direct heat with closed lid. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°. About 20 minutes most of the time, but remember you are cooking to final internal temperature and not by time, so check the temperature a few times early.
Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.
📖Recipe
How to Grill Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts - two
- 1 teaspoon olive oil - or other vegetable
Optional Brine
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
Suggested Spices
- ½ teaspoon granular garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts.
- If the breasts are thick, use a meat mallet and flatten the thickest part of the breasts to ¾ inch. Cover with plastic wrap or use a gallon Ziplock to prevent splatter.
- If brining, combine 2 cups cold water with 1 tablespoon table salt. Submerge the chicken in the brine for up to 1 hour. As little as 20 minutes will help moisture a lot. Be sure to rinse off the salt when done brining carefully.
- Clean and oil grill. Preheat to a surface temperature of 450°.
- Use the seasoning of your choice. I suggest ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. If not brining, add ½ teaspoon kosher salt. If you use a different seasoning, be sure not to add more salt if you have brined.
- Give them a light coat of vegetable or olive oil. Sprinkle all sides with a light coat of seasoning.
- Place over direct heat with closed lid. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°. About 20 minutes most of the time, but remember you are cooking to final internal temperature and not by time, so check the temperature a few times early.
- Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- It is impossible to get good results without a good instant-read thermometer. Extra points for a grill surface thermometer.
- Use fully thawed chicken breasts if frozen.
- The breasts should be about the same size if possible. Flatten to ¾ inch thick if needed.
- Brine if you have time. Be sure to have the breasts completely covered by the brine.
- Use seasoning of your choice but not with salt if you brine.
- BBQ sauce is ok, but I suggest seeing the referenced BBQ recipe in the post.
- Cook over direct heat with a grill surface temperature of about 450°.
- Cook to 165°. Not higher (it will dry) or lower (not safe.)
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Smaller breasts may cook faster.
- Obviously, an easy recipe to adjust the number of servings.
- Good refrigerated for up to 3 days. Good frozen for 3-4 months but slice, shred, or dice before freezing is suggested.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's note: Originally published June 7, 2019. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Steve Waltman
I would also like to see this for electric grills. As an apartment dweller, fire codes forbid me from using something with a flame. Maybe it works similarly?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Steve,
You are the second person to ask recently. I did a fast Google and found that high is usually 500°-650° and medium high is listed as 400-450°. I would expect that to have some variation between brands but medium high seems to be the right setting for chicken and things like pork chops. And high for steaks and burgers. You may want to check your specific brand.
Dan
Richard
Love your cooking directions, really helped me learn to grill and make it through the pandemic isolation!
Mike Malone
This comment is not meant to be snarky or rude, but I have to disagree with the length of grilling time you suggest. My experience has been almost half that time. Otherwise, thank you.
Susan Hamilton
I always start checking temps at 3rd turnover.
Chicken George
I wholeheartedly agree. It's NEVER taken me more than 12 minutes total to grill chicken breast at the recommended temperature in this read. Flipping after 5 minutes and going another 5 to 6 minutes usually gets the job done, especially if you flatten them like in this article.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi George (and Mike),
I like to publish other opinions. YMMV as they say.
Reminder to readers:
Always know your grill surface temperature—never use the hood temperature
Be sure to get to a final internal temperature of 165°
Cooking at higher temperature will tend to dry more.
Keep your eyes open.
Dan
Kim
Dr. Dan,
I just happened upon your blog. I am so excited. You think you know how to cook - the kids grow up and move out - its just the two of you.... Not so good. I've forgotten how to cook and still can't cook for just two. I still make spaghetti for 8.
I'm so excited to read all that you have posted and give it a try -especially the grilling parts!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Kim
Tom kaminski
Dr. Dan,
Thank you for your site👏👏. It is informative and very useful as there is only my wife and I. I appreciate you thoroughness and simple approach. Thanks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Tom,
Welcome to the site.
Glad you are enjoying the site.
Thanks for the note and let me know if you any questions.
Dan
Sue Shortley
Hi Dr. Dan, open or closed grill? Thanks, Sue
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Sue,
Welcome to the blog.
Closed. General rules: Things under 1/2 inch thick can usually be cooked open. 1/2 to 1 inch is usually closed and 1 inch or more is always closed.
I will add the wording.
Dan