This grilled chicken breast recipe is boneless skinless chicken breasts soaked in a flavorful garlic and herb marinade, then grilled to golden brown perfection. An everyday recipe that’s perfect for summer entertaining!

We eat grilled chicken at least once a week, everything from grilled chicken tenders, to chicken kabobs, to this simple yet versatile grilled chicken breast.

Sliced grilled chicken breast garnished with herbs and lemon.

You can never go wrong with making chicken breast for dinner. It’s quick, easy, inexpensive and relatively healthy. This grilled chicken breast is packed full of flavor. The chicken comes out perfectly tender and juicy every time!

For a fantastic meal try some of my favorite side dishes like black eyed pea salad, tomato salad, cornbread casserole and hasselback potatoes. They are perfect with this grilled chicken!

Grilled Chicken Breast Ingredients

For these grilled chicken breasts you will need chicken breasts, olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon zest, parsley, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.

Chicken breasts coated in garlic, herbs, lemon, soy sauce and olive oil.

How Do You Make Grilled Chicken Breast?

The first step to make grilled chicken breast is to prepare a simple marinade of olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar and herbs. The chicken should marinate for at least an hour, but you can leave the chicken in the marinade for up to 24 hours. Then grill your chicken either on an outdoor grill or inside on a grill pan until cooked through. Finally, slice and serve the chicken.

Chicken breasts cooked on a grill pan.

Tips For The Perfect Grilled Chicken Breast

  • Choose chicken breasts that are all about the same size and shape so that they’ll cook evenly. I stay away from the overly thick chicken breasts because they take a lot longer to cook.
  • The marinade can be made up to one day before you plan to use it.
  • You can make a double batch and use the leftovers in other dishes. I like to add diced grilled chicken to salads, pasta dishes and pizza.

Quick Tip

It’s best to cook this chicken over medium heat, as you don’t want the exterior to burn before the inside is cooked all the way through.

Grilled chicken breast served with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Recipe FAQs

How long do you grill chicken breast?

Chicken breast needs to grill for about 6-8 minutes per side. The grill time depends on the size of your chicken breasts. A medium sized (4 ounce) chicken breast will typically cook in 10-12 minutes total. A larger breast (6-8 ounces) can take 20 minutes or longer to be done.

How do you know when chicken is done?

The best way to gauge whether your chicken is done is to use a meat thermometer to test the thickest part of the breast. The thermometer should read at least 165 degrees F.

How long will grilled chicken breast stay good in a refrigerator?

Grilled chicken breast leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. It’s a great choice for meal prep.

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A platter of grilled chicken breast served with parsley and lemon.

Grilled Chicken Variations

You can add other ingredients to your chicken marinade to customize it to your tastes.

  • Spicy: Add crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce to taste.
  • Fajita: Try marinating your chicken in my chicken fajita marinade.
  • Herb Lover’s: Add additional tablespoon of fresh chopped herbs such as green onions, rosemary, sage or dill. Scrape off the large pieces of herbs before you cook your chicken.
  • Jerk Style: Marinate the chicken in my jerk chicken marinade.
  • Asian Style: Use a blend of olive oil, toasted sesame oil, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic. Omit the thyme leaves.
  • Chili Lime: Use the chicken marinade in my burrito bowls with chicken recipe.

Grilled chicken breast is always a total crowd pleaser, and this version is the best of the best! Serve this chicken at your next barbecue and watch the rave reviews come in.

More Grilling Recipes

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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.

5 from 31 votes

Grilled Chicken Breast

AuthorSara Welch
Sliced grilled chicken breast garnished with herbs and lemon.
This grilled chicken breast recipe is boneless skinless chicken breasts soaked in a flavorful garlic and herb marinade, then grilled to golden brown perfection. A staple recipe that's perfect for summer entertaining!
Time
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Marinating Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine American
Serves 6

Ingredients 

  • 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon parsley leaves chopped, plus more for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon thyme leaves chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

Instructions 

  • Place the chicken breasts in a bowl or resealable gallon sized bag.
  • In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon zest, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic.
  • Pour the marinade over the chicken. Marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
  • Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to medium. Add the chicken in a single layer.
  • Cook for 6-8 minutes per side, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165 degrees F.
  • Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional parsley for garnish, then slice and serve.

Notes

  1. Choose chicken breasts that are all about the same size and shape so that they’ll cook evenly.
  2. I stay away from the overly thick chicken breasts because they take a lot longer to cook.
  3. It’s best to cook this chicken over medium heat, as you don’t want the exterior to burn before the inside is cooked all the way through.

Nutrition

Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 757mg | Potassium: 582mg | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 2.7mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Hello! I’m Sara!

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I love the marinade you chose. Usually people just toss them on the grill with salt and pepper. I like this version way better!

  2. 5 stars
    Your grilled chicken looks so juicy and tender. I can’t wait to make these for dinner this weekend. Thank you for sharing.

  3. 5 stars
    This is a great complete meal. It’s a real crowd pleaser and tasty too. This is going in my regular rotation.

  4. I saw this on FB and was blown away by how beautiful it is!! Such vibrant and pretty colors!!! Looks delish!

  5. I’m so sad that summer is coming to a close and want to use my grill as much as possible. This looks so good—it incorporates everything I love into one meal that you can make on the grill. Amazing! Can’t wait to try this.

  6. I love those meals in the summer where you can just cook everything together on the grill, so nice to have no dishes! This meal looks amazing!

  7. This is a beautiful dish! I love that everything can be made in one pan. Those are defiantly my kind of dinners!!

  8. That is literally like one big happy dinner family! The colors, simple flavors and grill together is just perfection!

  9. What a fantastic looking dish (and the photos are amazing!) Simple and quick! I love the little blue/purple potatoes 🙂

  10. I love the name. It is perfect. I love having a fully grilled meal. My husband does the grilling so it feels like a night off. Plus there are very few dishes to wash. It is the flavor that is really impressive though. This is a dinner that needs to go on our menu.

  11. Grilled chicken is just the perfect meal! One grill meal! 😉
    So simple, fresh, nothing not to love!

  12. One dish dinners are the best and this one looks particularly delicious, and I love that it is on the grill so that my house doesn’t have to heat up along with my oven!

  13. I feel like it would be a happy summer everyday with this very tasty one-dish grilled dinner! Al fresco dining is what I imagined when I saw this delicious spread! 🙂