Chicken breasts, especially when grilled, tend to dry out. Not these! Read on to learn three tips for making delicious, perfectly seasoned, and juicy grilled chicken breasts. This recipe is simple, and the breasts are always a massive hit with adults and children alike.

Simple grilled chicken breast on a plate aside, bread, peppers, and salad.

Chicken breasts do not excite me. Before posting the recipe below, there was only one chicken breast recipe on this site, and while I love it, my children do not. Thanks to Cook’s Science, I’ve added another breast recipe to the archives, and I really, really love it. The breasts emerge from the grill juicy and perfectly seasoned, and everyone I serve them to gobbles them up.

Here’s how to make actually delicious grilled chicken breasts:

3 Tips for Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts

  1. Pound. Pounding tenderizes the meat and makes the breasts even in thickness, which makes for more even cooking on the grill.
  2. Brine. (optional): If you have time, brining the breasts before grilling them will help keep them moist and will help season the meat throughout. It’s not hard: simply dissolve 1/4 cup each of salt and sugar in cold water, submerge the breasts, and leave them for 30 to 60 minutes or up to 4 hours.
  3. Marinate. The simple marinade below is an adaptation of a reliable favorite — olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon pepper — with the addition of a teaspoon of honey for flavor and to encourage browning. You can marinate for as few as 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Simple Grilled Chicken Breasts, Step by Step

Place your chicken breasts on a clean work surface.

Three chicken breasts on a cutting board.

Cover with wax paper, parchment, or plastic wrap; then flatten them with a meat mallet.

A mallet over a sheet of parchment paper over chicken breasts on a cutting board.

You want the breasts to be roughly 1/2-inch thick.

Three flattened chicken breasts on a cutting board.

Optional brining step: dissolve 1/4 cup each salt and sugar in 1.5 quarts of cold water.

A large glass bowl filled with 1/4 cup each salt and sugar.

Add the breasts and leave for 30 to 60 minutes. I’ve brined them for longer, too, with no adverse effects.

Brined chicken breasts in a large glass bowl.

Pat dry.

Chicken breasts drying in a tea towel.

Whisk together a simple marinade: olive oil, Worcestershire, honey, and lemon pepper.

Ingredients to make the grilled chicken breast marinade: olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, honey, lemon pepper.
Marinade for grilled chicken whisked together in a large bowl.

Add the breasts and let them marinate for as few as 15 minutes or as long as 24 hours.

Chicken breasts marinating in a large bowl.

Place a grill pan (or heat an outdoor grill) over medium-high heat, brush with 2 teaspoons of oil, and grill the breasts for roughly 3 minutes a side.

Chicken breasts grilling on a grill pan stovetop.
Grilled chicken breasts in a grill pan.
Grilled chicken breasts in a grill pan.

Transfer to a plate to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Grilled chicken breasts on a plate.

Serve aside whatever you like. Pictured below: balsamic-roasted mini peppers, kale salad with the addition of ribbony carrots, cucumbers, and toasted sunflower seeds, and focaccia.

Simple grilled chicken breast on a plate aside, bread, peppers, and salad.

So juicy!

A sliced grilled chicken breast.
Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Grilled chicken breast on a plate aside bread, peppers, and salad.

Simple, Moist and Delicious Grilled Chicken Breasts

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 26 reviews

Print Recipe
Save Recipe

Description

Chicken breasts, especially when grilled, tend to dry out. Not these! Read on to learn three tips for making delicious, perfectly seasoned, and juicy grilled chicken breasts. This recipe is simple, and the breasts are always a massive hit with adults and children alike.

The brine recipe is from Cook’s Science. The marinade comes from this Dead Easy Steak Marinade. 

Notes: 

  • Update: Recently, for time purposes, I skipped the brining step, and the breasts came out as juicy as ever — I pounded them, cut them in half (so I had 6 small-ish breasts), and let them marinate for several hours in the fridge. I do think brining is a wonderful technique for breasts, but perhaps pounding is more of the key to tenderness here. 

  • Bell & Evans chicken is my favorite brand, so I was delighted to read in a sidebar in Cook’s Science that it’s their favorite, too, specifically for its tender texture. The reason this brand of chicken is more tender than others is that it’s given time to “age.” Once the chicken is broken down into parts, the breasts are aged on the bone for 12 hours before the bones and skin are removed. While the breasts age, enzymes are at work: “The natural protease enzymes break down the contracted muscle fibers, making them more tender.”

Ingredients

For the brine (optional, see notes above):

  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar

For the chicken:

  • 3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • lemon pepper, salt-free if possible, to taste
  • 2 teaspoons neutral oil or olive oil 
  • kosher salt to taste

Instructions

  1. To make the brine (note I do not do this in anymore… see notes above): In a large bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in 1.5 quarts of cold water. 
  2. Prep the chicken: Place the chicken breasts on a clean cutting board. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, parchment paper, or wax paper. Use a meat mallet to pound the breasts to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Submerge the breasts in the water and leave for 30 to 60 minutes. I’ve also left the breasts in the brine for 3 to 4 hours without any adverse effects. I brine the breasts at room temperature if the brining period is going to be brief (under 1 hour), and I refrigerate the breasts if it’s going to be longer. 
  3. Remove the breasts from the brine, and pat dry.
  4. Make the Marinade: In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and lemon pepper to taste — I use at least a teaspoon in the marinade. Let the breasts marinate for 15 minutes or up to 24 hours. 
  5. Prepare the grill: Heat a grill or a grill pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, brush with 2 teaspoons of the neutral oil or olive oil. Remove the breasts from the marinade, letting the excess marinade drip off. Place the breasts on the grill or grill pan — if you are using a grill pan, you’ll likely need to do this in batches. Season the top side of the breasts with salt. I like to sprinkle on a little more lemon pepper at this step. Cook 3 minutes. Flip. Season the cooked side with salt, and cook for 3 minutes more or until the chicken is cooked through. 
  6. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. 
  • Prep Time: 60 minutes
  • Cook Time: 6 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Grill
  • Cuisine: American