I’d venture to guess that some cut of chicken is just about everyone’s first victim on the grill. Grilling chicken has got to rank up there right next to burgers and hot dogs for all time favorite items for the grill. I’d also venture to guess that there are more grilled chicken recipes on the Internet than any other meat. So how do you pick a favorite for your next grilling session? If you are like us, it all depends on how much time you have to prepare, how much trouble you want to go through and whether or not you are trying to impress some guests or just make a quick, delicious and nutritious dinner! Start by asking yourself some simple questions. Boneless or with ribs? Simple or marinated? Do I have time to disassemble a whole chicken or not? Do I have time to smoke a chicken? Do I even have a smoker? How the heck do I do that anyway? Wait, don’t panic! I didn’t mean to get you all worked up, take a deep breath and stay with me here…
Grilled chicken comes in all shapes, sizes and accommodate all different ability levels for the common grill chef. Chicken is probably my favorite meat to grill and usually makes it onto my grill at least once a week. Why so often? Because I can keep frozen chicken breasts in the freezer and sometimes I just don’t plan too far ahead for dinner. On those nights that I am running late, the baby is crying when I get home and the 4 year old is upset because I didn’t bring him home a Hotwheels car…I go to the freezer and pop a couple of frozen chicken breasts into the microwave to thaw. In a few minutes, I get to escape to the porch to, uh, cook dinner!
So let’s start with some simple, yet tasty methods to grill chicken. You see, a nice chicken breast, boneless or with the ribs, doesn’t need a whole lot added to make it the delicious star of any dinner. All you need is Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, the right level of heat and technique. For thinner chicken breasts, the key is to grill them quick over high heat so that we don’t dry them out. Click on this photo for details on how to grill a simple boneless chicken breast:
A simple grilled chicken breast is hard to beat, but sometimes I get a little burned out and want something just a little bit different but still quick and simple to put together at the last minute. That goes for marinades as well. You don’t even have to plan hours in advance to get some great marinated chicken breasts. Got some limes, jalapenos and garlic laying around? If so, check out this recipe:
I also grow several herbs and recommend that you do the same, especially easily grown herbs like rosemary. I pretty much have a hedge of rosemary now and don’t do a thing to maintain it. So one of my favorite simple, yet a little different techniques for grilling chicken is to just snip off some rosemary and grill my chicken right on top of the smoldering herbs. The smokiness of the herb infuses with the chicken breast and the result is just amazing. Again, we are talking quick grilling over high heat, nothing to it! Click on this image for details on grilled rosemary infused chicken breasts:
Want to get a little more fancy? Go ahead and combine that rosemary with some lemons and garlic and create another quick marinade for your grilled chicken. This is by far my wife’s favorite. The marinade works itself into the chicken quickly, so you don’t need a lot of time set aside for marinading. As a matter of fact, it’s easy to overdo it with such a strong marinade, so follow the directions and time limits carefully. Check out this quick and delicious recipe for lemon and rosemary marinated chicken breasts:
Though they take a little longer to thaw and a little more attention when grilling, I love chicken breasts with rib bones and skin. I know it’s really bad for you, but crispy skin from grilled chicken is amazing! As we saw with our first two recipes, boneless chicken breasts are best grilled quickly over high, direct heat. The opposite is true for chicken breasts with ribs and skin still intact. We’ve detailed the instructions here, but in short, to grill split chicken breasts with rib bones we need to use both direct and indirect heat with the grill lid closed, which means grilling for a slightly longer time. When I have time to prepare, I love to prepare grilled mustard chicken breasts. This recipe uses bread crumbs, so it creates an even more delicious crust.
While we are on the subject of split chicken breasts, I can’t think of a better combination than crispy chicken skin and barbeque sauce. Barbeque chicken is also very easy to prepare and is one of my favorite “lazy afternoon” meats to cook. Set your grill for indirect grilling, season your chicken breasts with a little salt and pepper, place the breasts on the cool side of the grill, close the lid and check back in 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, all that is left is a little BBQ sauce application, followed by some glazing and you are all set to get your fingers dirty! Here are some step by step directions for some delicious barbecue chicken on the grill:
What’s more American than chicken wings and football (probably a few things, but I love this combo the best)? Sick of your wife or girlfriend nagging you for eating fried foods? Try to throw those wings on the grill the next time. It’s really very easy to cook grilled chicken wings and they will turn out so much better than the fried variety you get at most Sports bars. Just a little char mixed with your favorite wing sauce will set these wings apart from fried wings. Click this mouth-watering photo for step by step directions:
In the mood for a little dark meat? It’s no secret that buying a whole chicken is less expensive than buying the chicken parts. If you are really in the mood to roll up your sleeves, I recommend buying a whole chicken, disassembling the bird and grilling the pieces. It doesn’t get more “old school” than quartering a whole chicken! By the way, this is sometimes called “butterflying” a chicken and it’s really a lot easier than you may think. Click here to learn how to butterfly a chicken.
While we are on the subject of whole chickens, beer can chicken is one of the best (and funniest looking) grilled chicken recipes I can think of. The beer can provides a little moisture to the inside of the bird and creates a really juicy chicken. The rub on the outside gets just enough char to make eating that greasy, crispy skin just too tempting not to try! Go ahead, a little won’t hurt ya. Click this funny looking chicken photos for full details on the famous technique called beer can chicken:
Do you have a smoker? If not (or even if you do), why don’t you make one yourself for around $60? Nothing tastes better than food cooked on your own creation! Jump over here and learn how to build a smoker. Once you get that bad-boy going, throw on some whole chickens, sit back and smell the delicious smoke for a few hours on a nice afternoon. After 4 hours, you’ll have some awesome smoked chicken:
So there you have it, some variations of grilled chicken recipes to choose from. What’s the perfect grilled recipe for chicken? Well that depends on what chicken component and equipment is on hand, how much time you have to prepare and how much effort you want to put into it. There’s no wrong answer here, try a few at the same time! What’s your favorite method? We’d love to hear your favorite recipe.
Follow Us!