A great tasting, moist and tender grilled BBQ skinless boneless chicken breast. A simple short brine gets you the moist chicken breast you want. A light coat of BBQ sauce then grills carefully. Umm, chicken heaven.
Editors Note: This is another recipe update. While this recipe was not “underappreciated,” it was in need of a rewrite, some better photo editing and some clarification of technique. Originally published August 1, 2011.
Everybody wants to grill skinless boneless chicken breast, but they all get hockey pucks. To address this issue, I started with a simple brine to help with the moisture problem you can have with SBCB. Add a little cayenne for taste to the brine.
Let set in the brine for about 30 minutes while the grill is heating. Rinse, pat dry and a light coat of sauce. Grill carefully for about 30 minutes and add another coat of sauce a few minutes before removing. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.
My Rating:
Tasty, and easy to do. A classic recipe. I was a high four but having redone this a number of times; I’m at a low five along with my wife.
Pro Tips: Notes for grilling skinless boneless chicken breasts:
The Chicken Breasts: Skinless boneless chicken breasts have gotten much bigger over the years. It is always easier to cook chicken that is about the same size and thickness. So try to even it out when you pick your chicken.
If you get these really plump ones, flatten them down a little with a meat mallet or bottom of a pan.
The Brine: The recommended brine is relatively heavy in salt. According to Cooks Illustrated, this concentration of brine is recommended for chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours. The chicken gets saltier if over 1 hour so I’m suggesting 1-hour max.
To me (a safety guy), I don’t like raw chicken at room temperature for more than 20 minutes. Actually, 20 minutes will do a fairly good job of brining these.
While we no longer recommend rinsing chicken, you should always rinse carefully after brining. Also, don’t add any more salt after a brine is used. You can grill an SBCB and keep it moist without the brine, but it requires attention and skill. Skip the brine at your own risk.
Grill temperature is also important in our keep it moist quest. For any chicken, I feel you can not “sock the heat to it.” The outside will be burnt before the center is safe to eat. Also, the light coat of sauce can burn easily.
I like to cook all chicken with a grill surface temperature of about 450 degrees, give a take a little. This is medium on my current grill which is a “hot” grill. It is medium-high on most gas grills. Please see my guide A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill and get it right.
I like to add a very light coat of BBQ sauce at the beginning to create a base for the last coat. You do not have to do that, but I recommend it.
Use the BBQ sauce of your choice. I love Gates BBQ of KC sauce but used Bulls Eye Original, which Cooks Illustrated likes (me too). My Memphis BBQ Sauce would also be great.
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Trim skinless boneless chicken breast of any trim-able fat. Try to use chicken breasts of about the same size. And if you get some that are very plump, flatten them down a little with a meat mallet or bottom of a pan.
Mix brine of 3 cups water,1 1/2 tablespoons table salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) . Add chicken and submerge and refrigerate for 30 minutes (no more than 1 hour).
Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of 450-500 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
Remove chicken from brine and rinse lightly under running water. Pat dry.
Brush lightly with BBQ sauce of your choice.
Place over direct heat.
Flip about every 5 minutes. About 3-4 minutes before done, brush both sides with sauce. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165. About 30 minutes of total grill time. But total time will vary by the exact grill temperature and thickness of the breasts. Thinner breast may be in the 25-minute range, and those huge thick ones may take 35 minutes.
Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
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BBQ Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoon BBQ sauce of choice
Brine
- 3 cups water - cold
- 1 1/2 tablespoons table salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
Instructions
- Trim skinless boneless chicken breast of any trim-able fat. Try to use chicken breasts of about the same size. And if you get some that are very plump, flatten them down a little with a meat mallet or bottom of a pan.
- Mix brine of 3 cups water, 1 1/2 tablespoons table salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) . Add chicken and submerge and refrigerate for 30 minutes (no more than 1 hour). Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of 450-500 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
- Remove chicken from brine and rinse lightly under running water. Pat dry. Brush lightly with BBQ sauce of your choice.
- Clean and oil grates. Place over direct heat.
- Flip about every 5 minutes. About 3-4 minutes before done, brush both sides with sauce. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165. About 30 minutes total grill time.
- Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
- This brine is relatively heavy in salt so a maximum time of 1 hour please. Rinse to remove extra salt. The brine is optional but recommended.
- Total grilling time will vary by the exact grill temperature and thickness of the breasts. Thinner breast may be in the 25-minute range, and those huge thick ones may take 35 minutes.
- If you have a breast that has a large variation in thickness, using a meat mallet to even things out a bit is a good idea.
- I like a very light coat of BBQ sauce at the start to create a base for later. It does not burn but omit if you which.
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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 August 1, 2011
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Basil
Best bbq’d SBCBs we’ve ever eaten. Perfect!
Thank you.