Grilling tender and juicy chicken at home isn’t an oxymoron. So when I find that perfect technique, or recipe, I don’t waver from it. That is why I am sticking with this technique for how to grill perfectly tender and juicy chicken. When something works….you stick with it!
Do you ever notice that when you order grilled chicken in a fine restaurant, it tastes so much better than when you grill it at home? It’s tastier and juicier and it can be discouraging when your attempt just isn’t the same? It isn’t because they happen to have access to the best tasting chicken out there… preparation is the key. Here is how you can make perfectly grilled chicken at home just by following a few simple steps before your chicken hits the BBQ!
I use a simple marinade of ranch dressing before grilling the chicken and a high heat sere to seal all those juices in….let me show you how it’s done!
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless chicken breasts
- 4 teaspoons of coarse or kosher salt
- ½ cup ranch salad dressing
Prepping the Chicken:
- place the chicken breasts in a ziplock bag or plastic wrap
- using a meat tenderizer mallot, flatten each chicken breast until it has the same thickness throughout the breast
- generously salt both sides of the chicken breast and place back in the plastic bag or container and refrigerate for 30 -60 minutes
- remove chicken from the the refrigerator and rinse the salt off the chicken and pat dry with a paper tower
- cover both sides of chicken with the ranch dressing and leave for 30 minutes
Grilling the Chicken:
- Preheat your grill- *if your grill has a searing station turn it on high and then turn another burner on medium low heat. If you do not have a sear station on your grill, turn one burner on high and another on medium low and close the lid on the grill. Allow the the grill to get really hot, around 450℉
- when the grill is hot, place the chicken on the sear station for 45 seconds and then flip the chicken and sear for another 45 seconds. * don’t use a fork for turning chicken, you will lose a lot of the juices when you create holes in the meat. Use tongs or spatula and then attach your meat thermometer if you have one with digital probes into the center of the chicken
- now move the chicken to burner with the lower setting and close the lid. * turn off the searing burner or the high heat burner * it is very helpful to watch the temperature inside your grill and adjust the temperature settings if necessary 350℉ is optimal
- cook the chicken until it reaches 165℉ and remove it from the heat immediately * allow the chicken to rest for a minimum of 5 minutes before cutting and serving
You can find safe cooking temperature for all kinds of meat here:
https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/safe-minimum-cooking-temperature
Sue, I had just about given up on grilling chicken breasts but with your techniques and recipe chicken breasts are back on the menu! Thank you tonight’s dinner was yummy 😋.
Glad to hear it, I really liked this recipe too!