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    🏠Home » Recipes » Chicken Breast Recipes

    Buttermilk Marinated Chicken Breasts on a Gas Grill

    May 31, 2010 · Modified: Feb 1, 2023 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 5 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    5 from 4 votes

    Great tender and moist grilled chicken breasts start with a garlic buttermilk marinade that adds great taste and acts as a brine tenderizing the chicken. Spice to your liking and grill for some great char, and you have a wonderful change of pace.

    grilled buttermilk chicken on white plate
    Jump To:
    • 👍Why you should try buttermilk marinade for chicken
    • 🐓Ingredients
    • 👨‍🍳How to Grill Buttermilk Marinaded Chicken Breasts
    • ⏲️How long to grill chicken breasts
    • ✔️Tips
    • ❓FAQs
    • 📖Chicken Marinades Recipes
    • 🐓Grilled Chicken Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    👍Why you should try buttermilk marinade for chicken

    • Buttermilk makes a perfect marinade for chicken breasts on the grill.
    • Due to the acidic pH, buttermilk will tenderize and moisturize at the same time—very important for grilled chicken breasts which tend to be tough and dry.
    • It is an economical and easy marinade to use for grilled chicken with its own flavor.
    • It is flexible in spicing. You can keep it relatively bland with just pepper or add a lot of flavor with the optional spices.
    • You can also tenderize and moisturize the chicken breasts in the marinade, then control the spicing to keep it light or spice it up with a dry rub or seasoning of your choice.

    Based on Martha Stewart's Buttermilk Grilled Chicken Breasts. You can't be much simpler than this. Soak in buttermilk for hours; add salt and pepper. Grill. Now that is simple. But you may want more flavors.

    🐓Ingredients

    • Chicken—skinless boneless chicken breasts Trimmed
    • Buttermilk
    • Garlic or garlic powder
    • Salt and pepper
    • Optional other spices or dry rub

    👨‍🍳How to Grill Buttermilk Marinaded Chicken Breasts

    1. Trim chicken breasts and place in buttermilk marinade with garlic for 1-12 hours
    2. Preheat grill to 450°.
    3. Remove the chicken from the marinade, do not dry it. Add pepper if you want mild or spice to your taste with a dry rub or another seasoning.
    4. Grill over direct heat until 165° internal temperature.

    ⏲️How long to grill chicken breasts

    Most chicken breasts will take 20-25 minutes on a grill with a surface temperature of 450°. Smaller breasts may be a bit less, and larger ones may be longer. Remember to never cook on time alone.

    A chicken breast is done at 165° internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. More will dry, and less is unsafe. An instant-read thermometer is required to get this right.

    ✔️Tips

    The Chicken

    • When you pick out your chicken, try to get about the same size and thickness. If you have thick chicken breasts, flatten the breast a bit with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan. Try for about ¾ inch thick.
    • If the chicken was frozen, it must be thawed before proceeding.
    • We no longer recommend rinsing chicken, just a good pat dry. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse?

    The Grill

    • You can NOT cook chicken properly on high heat. You will dry the surface before the inside is even close to done or safe.
    • The grill surface temperature should be 450°. A little less is fine, and a smidge more is ok, but never over 500°. To get this right, you should use a grill surface thermometer. The hood thermometer is ALWAYS wrong. Please see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more discussion.
    • If you don't have a surface thermometer (you should), then medium to medium-high heat will be about 400°-450° on most gas grills.
    • You can use a charcoal grill, but you need to be very careful about surface temperature. And, of course, your time will vary.

    The Spicing

    • With just buttermilk, garlic, salt, and pepper, this is very moist but bland. That may be what you want.
    • You can add hot sauce or fresh herbs and spices to the marinade. Sugars like brown sugar or honey are good for chicken.
    • I prefer to marinate with buttermilk and garlic then I can individualize the season for the guests. I suggest an excellent BBQ spice rub—see BBQ Dry Rub.

    ❓FAQs

    What is the safe internal temperature for chicken breast?

    According to the USDA, chicken and all poultry need to reach an internal temperature of 165° in the thickest part of the chicken for safety.

    You need to use an instant-read thermometer.

    Can I use this marinade on other pieces of chicken?

    Yes, it can be used on any chicken, even with skin like drumsticks, chicken thighs, or bone-in chicken breasts.

    Is buttermilk a good marinade for chicken?

    Yes, it is one of the best. It imparts flavor, and because of the lower pH, it will also break down proteins to tenderize and adds moisture.

    You can easily add other flavors to a buttermilk marinade or use it to add flavor, moisture, and tenderize, then add seasoning before cooking.

    For food safety, buttermilk marinades should be refrigerated.

    What is the difference between marinade and marinate?

    Marinade is a noun and refers to the liquid. Marinate is a verb and is the act of using the marinade.

    📖Chicken Marinades Recipes

    Quick Marinade For Grilled Chicken Breasts

    Garlic Lemon Marinaded Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast

    🐓Grilled Chicken Recipes

    How to Grill Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill

    Grilled Chicken Drumsticks - Quick and Easy

    Grilled Chicken Thighs on a Gas Grill

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Chicken Breast Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Grill Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    trimmed chicken breasts on a white board

    Trim chicken breasts. Flatten to ¾ inch if thick.

    adding buttermilk to bag with raw chicken

    Place chicken in a 1-gallon zip lock in a large bowl. Cover with about 1 cup of buttermilk per breast. You want to cover the chicken completely. Then, add ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per cup of buttermilk. Mix everything well, then refrigerate for 1-12 hours.

    adding pepper to milk coverd chicken

    When ready to grill, remove from the bag but do not rinse off the buttermilk—salt and pepper to taste. Another seasoning may be added at this point, like a dry rub.

    clean and oil grill crates

    Preheat the grill to a grill surface temperature of about 450° medium-high on most grills—clean and oil grates.

    grilled buttermilk chicken on the grill

    Grill over direct heat with the lid closed. Flip about every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°—about 25-30 minutes, depending on the exact grill temperature and thickness of the chicken. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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    📝Recipe

    grilled marinated chicken breast on a white plate-2

    Buttermilk Marinated Chicken Breasts on a Gas Grill

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Great tender and moist grilled chicken breasts start with a garlic buttermilk marinade that adds great taste and acts as a brine tenderizing the chicken. Spice to your liking and then grill for some great char, and you have a wonderful change of pace.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 1 hour
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 3

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 2-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts - Trimmed
    • lowfat buttermilk - to cover
    • salt and pepper - to taste
    • granular garlic powder - ½ teaspoon per cup of buttermilk
    • Additional seasoning of choice
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    Instructions

    • Trim chicken breasts. Flatten to ¾ inch if thick.
      trimming chicken breasts on a white board
    • Place chicken in a 1-gallon zip lock in a large bowl. Cover with about 1 cup of buttermilk per breast. You want to cover the chicken completely. Then, add ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per cup of buttermilk. Mix everything well, then refrigerate for 1-12 hours.
      adding buttermilk to bag with raw chicken
    • When ready to grill, remove from the bag but do not rinse off the buttermilk—salt and pepper to taste. Another seasoning may be added at this point, like a dry rub.
      adding pepper to milk coverd chicken
    • Preheat the grill to a grill surface temperature of about 450° medium-high on most grills—clean and oil grates.
      clean and oil grill crates
    • Grill over direct heat with the lid closed. Flip about every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°—about 25-30 minutes, depending on the exact grill temperature and thickness of the chicken. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
      grilled buttermilk chicken on the grill
    • Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
      grilled buttermilk chicken on white plate
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Try to pick chicken breasts that are about the same size and thickness.
    2. If the thickness varies a lot, then using a meat mallet or heavy pan to get to about ¾ inch thick.
    3. I recommend real buttermilk here. You can use a substitute but there is some extra taste with the real stuff.
    4. Add some rosemary or thyme to the marinade if you want.
    5. Do not brine with salt before doing the buttermilk marinade/brine.
    6. Only salt lightly.
    7. Grill surface temperature is critical to getting this right. So use a grill surface thermometer. Also, use a meat thermometer to be sure the internal temperature is 165°.

    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

    Nutrition Facts
    Buttermilk Marinated Chicken Breasts on a Gas Grill
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 243 Calories from Fat 27
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 3g5%
    Saturated Fat 0.1g1%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.01g
    Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g
    Cholesterol 164mg55%
    Sodium 736mg31%
    Potassium 40mg1%
    Carbohydrates 1g0%
    Sugar 1g1%
    Protein 57g114%
    Vitamin A 5IU0%
    Vitamin C 0.3mg0%
    Calcium 30mg3%
    Iron 0mg0%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Grill|Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 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 May 31, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

    Molly as a deck puppy

    More Chicken Breast Recipes

    • Super Moist Grilled Reversed Seared Chicken Breast with Marinade
    • Pan Seared Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
    • Grilled Chicken Marinade with Lemon, Garlic, and Butter
    • Waldorf Chicken Salad

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    1. Danielle

      March 06, 2019 at 3:45 pm

      5 stars
      We have a ton of snow right now so can i bake this and still get juicy results? If yes what temperature and how long would you cook it for? I think this sounds delicious 😋

      Reply
      • DrDan

        March 06, 2019 at 4:16 pm

        Hi Danielle,
        Welcome to the blog.
        It is a bit dependent on size of the breast. I would do 375. About 30 minutes for smaller, 35 for normal size, and maybe 40 minutes for large. But as always, you are cooking to a final internal temperature of 165 and never by just time.
        Hope that helps.
        Dan

    2. Dr Dan

      June 04, 2010 at 7:08 pm

      I so agree. I'm using a lot of buttermilk for various things. Note to readers. Steph is at Plain Chicken and Chris is at Nibble Me This. Both are must follows for interesting and great cooking.

      Reply
    3. Chris

      June 04, 2010 at 6:44 pm

      Ha ha, aren't we a trio? Like I said at Steph's blog, I think the whole secret is the buttermilk and everything else is just the cooker's preferences. Great post.

      Reply
    4. steph

      May 31, 2010 at 7:56 pm

      we did buttermilk grilled chicken last week too! We added lemon and fresh basil.

      Reply

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