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Grilled Chicken (the only recipe you’ll ever need).

11 · Sep 9, 2015 · 11 Comments

perfect grilled chicken on the platter

This is the grilled chicken of my childhood. My dad loved to cook out, and it’s one of the ways I picture him – standing over the grill in a white t-shirt. Like this:

Dad grilling

After dinner, while the coals were still hot, we would find the perfect sticks and toast marshmallows.

I like how so many of my good memories – the ones that are always with me, that let me taste/see/smell again – are about simple, everyday things. Nothing fancy.

That’s also The Family grilled chicken – uncomplicated, but in a good way. It’s juicy with just the right amount of salty tang from Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice, and is the opposite of the bland/dry/tough grilled chicken we’ve all broken our plastic utensils in.

My dad always made grilled chicken with this sauce that you brush on the chicken as it grills (no need for a marinade/planning ahead – score!). The sauce is super simple: a barely simmered mixture of butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, season salt and pepper.

sauce for grilled chicken

Jay is the griller around here (my responsibility begins and ends with melting the butter and seasoning the sauce, and that’s the way I like it), and he likes to lightly rub the raw pieces of chicken with olive oil and give them a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper so they don’t stick to the grill. You need a medium-hot fire (400 degrees if your grill has a temperature gauge). Details on how to get these lovely grill marks are in the recipe below!

grilled chicken on the grill

Wait to brush the sauce on until the chicken is almost done. My dad always used a thermometer and a timer to get great results on the grill, and that’s how Jay does it, too. Chicken needs to be cooked to 160 degrees, and Jay recommends brushing on the sauce when the chicken is at 140.

taking the temperature of grilled chicken

Brush one side of the chicken, then close the grill for a few seconds, then brush the other side. Flare-ups from the butter are normal and help give the chicken a nice crust while the inside stays moist!

grilled chicken on the grill getting brushed with sauce

When you take the chicken off the grill, brush it with the remaining sauce while it rests on the platter. (Unlike a marinade, the sauce never encounters raw chicken so it’s okay to do this.)

grilled chicken brushed with sauce

I love the smokiness from the grill and the richness of the sauce-and-juices that accumulate on the platter. I occasionally dabble with other recipes, but we make grilled chicken this way 9 times out of 10. Intentional leftovers make awesome salads, quesadillas, and pizzas later in the week!

slices of grilled chicken

And now go make some marshmallows.

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Grilled Chicken (the only recipe you’ll ever need).

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Bet Denton
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: enough sauce for about 4 breasts (or about 2 pounds of boneless chicken pieces)
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Ingredients

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • season salt (like Lawry’s) and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low. Stir in lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, and add salt and pepper to taste. (Think in terms of how many pieces of chicken you’re making – if you would normally do 2 shakes of salt and 2 twists of pepper on one piece of chicken, multiply that by your total number of pieces.) Allow the sauce to bubble for a minute or two, or just leave over low heat until you’re ready to brush it on the chicken.
  2. Lightly coat the raw chicken pieces with olive oil (and a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper) so they don’t stick to the grill. Grill them top side down at 400 degrees (a medium hot fire) for 2.5-3 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees for grill marks. After 5-6 total minutes on the first side, flip them over, moving the pieces that are cooking slower to the hotter part of the grill.
  3. Grill another 5-6 minutes on the second side (rotating 90 degrees halfway through). At about the 5 minute mark on the second side, check the temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches about 140 degrees (chicken should be 160 when it’s done), brush the chicken with the sauce. The fire will flare up, which is a good thing because it will give the chicken great color. Control it by closing the lid and vents for about 15 seconds, then open and flip the chicken and brush the other side, noting which ones are getting a nice crust, and moving the pieces if necessary to hotter/cooler parts of grill.
  4. Once the color looks good, take them off and brush them again with the remaining sauce while the chicken is resting on a platter. (Since the outside of the chicken is fully cooked when you start brushing them, there’s no risk of contamination from raw chicken.)

Notes

My dad always dipped the chicken pieces in the sauce one at a time before putting them on the grill (instead of using olive oil), then brushed them during the grilling process. Jay prefers to be able to use some of the sauce at the end, so he uses the method above!

Also, please don’t freak out about the quantity of butter. A lot of it drips off, and adds more flavor than fat to the finished chicken!

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Dinner, Recipes, Summer Recipes Chicken, Dinner, Grilling, Party Food

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barb Ingram (Bet's mom) says

    September 9, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    Love this chicken…and the good memories! And it really is the best way to do grilled chicken — every time. Why mess with success?

    Reply
    • Bet says

      September 10, 2015 at 12:54 am

      Agreed. We need to bring back the marshmallow tradition!

      Reply
  2. Kara says

    September 10, 2015 at 12:47 am

    This looks great! We will definitely try this recipe the next time we grill, and I love that you don’t have to plan ahead with the marinade (unless of course, you forget to thaw your chicken like I often do!). What meat thermometer do you recommend?

    Reply
    • Bet says

      September 10, 2015 at 12:52 am

      Ugh, yes, hate when I forget to thaw! Jay likes using a digital meat thermometer – we have this Weber one. It’s nothing fancy but it’s only $10 and works great!

      Reply
  3. Laura K. says

    September 10, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    OK – basic question – do you think limes would work as well as lemons? Thanks for great recipes! I made your pizza crust for kid lunches (and easy leftovers) this week. Yum.

    Reply
    • Bet says

      September 10, 2015 at 2:02 pm

      I think limes would work great! Embarrassingly, even though I normally love to experiment with recipes, it’s never even crossed my mind to shake this one up! Please let me know if you guys try it with the lime! :o)

      Reply
  4. Alissa says

    August 29, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Made this a once a week summertime staple. I do think you should update your pictures to get one of Jay grilling chicken with a similar outfit as your dad’s…a side by side is definitely needed 😉

    Reply
    • Bet says

      August 30, 2016 at 3:40 am

      Yessss, why haven’t I thought of that! ;o) So glad you guys are enjoying the chicken!

      Reply
  5. Jennifer Winslette says

    January 19, 2018 at 1:33 am

    We grilled a ton of this chicken Sunday. Sooo yummy! Anyway, I planned to use it for my meals all week! We did it on a bun as a grilled chicken sandwich with broccoli, chopped up on my salads for lunch all week, on a salad with a baked potato for dinner, and tonight on a tortilla with just shredded cheese, chopped chicken and slices of avacado. Just saying, that last one was yummy!!!

    Reply
    • Bet says

      January 20, 2018 at 3:24 pm

      Yay!! We’re doing the same thing today – I love having easy leftovers!! 💛

      Reply
  6. Christine Wise says

    July 9, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    My mother used to roast chicken under the broiler with this sauce and we loved it growing up. I’m talking 65 years ago! I don’t think she even used lemon juice.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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About Me

Hey, I’m Bet! I love food and welcoming family and friends to the table with it. This is where I share what we’re eating – mostly “real”, family-friendly, doable dinners, plus breakfast foods, snacks, and of course, my favorite homemade sweet treats. I love to meal plan, hoard freezer meals, and include my girls in the cooking process as much as I can (while still preserving a little sanity). Thanks for visiting – I hope you find some new favorite recipes here!

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