How to Grill Chicken Perfectly and a Delicious Marinade Recipe
Standing in front of the grill with smoke billowing up around him, flames leaping high and a spray bottle of water held at the ready to save the choice meat that had been placed on the grill, described my husband oh, so many years ago.
And then, if there were guests to visit with, things got worse. No longer did he stand ready to put out any fires but had his back to the grill while he had a nice chat and our meat was consumed by the hungry flames.
Although I am exaggerating the situation, it was true enough that he eventually was retired from the grill and I became the one responsible. I wasn’t much better. When I finished, the meat would be charred and dried out.
Grill masters we were not and anytime meat was needed to be grilled for a crowd, others were asked to step in.
But I’m very pleased to say I have learned a few things over the years and just this past week grilled 130 pounds of chicken and every single piece turned out beautifully!
I think I’ve earned the badge now of Grill Boss! (at least with chicken!)
So I am here to share my tips with you that I learned from others and if you would like to serve the most delicious and moist chicken ever, I will also share my recipe with you. It’s sooo good and received rave reviews from my 230 guests this week.I made a Chipotle copycat burrito with this recipe.
I first made this chicken almost a year ago and found the recipe on Gimme Delicious. (Layla Atik, the author of the blog has beautiful pictures of her chicken that will have you drooling.)
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
- In a medium bowl, mix the lime juice, olive oil, taco seasoning and tomato paste together.
- Add chicken (that has been evenly pounded to 1/2″ thickness) and toss until chicken is well coated.
- Cover the chicken and allow it to marinate in the refrigerator a few hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat grill and grill chicken for 5 minutes on each side.
- Optional: Grill over a hard wood (mesquite is best) and you will have exceptional tasting meat.
So there you have the recipe but let me give you the tips that were passed on to me.
- Pound all your chicken breasts evenly to about 1/2″ thickness. (Having different thicknesses on the same chicken breast will cause parts of it to be dried out while the thick part will still be needing cooked.)
2. If making a day or two ahead (which I did), reduce cooking time to 3 minutes on each side. You want to leave it a little pink so that when you reheat the chicken it doesn’t dry out.
3. After removing the chicken from the grill, immediately put the lid on the container, keeping all the steam in. You want all that moisture. If you’re wanting to preslice it before your event, let it first cool down completely.
4. When reheating, heat it at a high temperature and for no longer than an hour.
I used mesquite charcoal (purchased from Costco) and the chicken had the most delectable, smoked flavor. I would definitely recommend doing this.
What has been your experience with grilling?
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2 Comments
Joane
HAHAHA!!! Um… You described ME grilling! I have also inherited the job of grilling. Last year, for Father’s Day, the kids and I bought my hubs a wonderful grill. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it also came with a chef. ME!
Most of the time I have great success grilling but then, there’s those once in a while times when everything is dry. So, thank you for those tips!
Recently, I bought a ceramic grilling basket as I wanted to try grilling veggies and fish. That has been a great hit!!! I can dice up any meat and vegetables and grill them and YUM!!!! I’ll have to try your recipe. Sounds delish!!!
One interesting grilling adventure I have been having…. When I am grilling, I have a “friend” – Mrs. Wasp, who has taken up residence in the charcoal side of the grill that rarely gets used. So far, we’ve been on good terms. When I start grilling, she comes out buzzing around me checking out what all the commotion is then, goes back to her nest a few times, flies up into the nearby lilac bush and probably watches me awhile then goes back to her nest and stays there till I’m done. It’s been kind of fun watching her build her nest. I dug out the kid’s old Nature Readers from Christian Liberty and read up on her so I could get to know her better. I hope our relationship remains friendly and that she’s informed the new members of her growing family that I’m not an enemy… or else…. I just may become one!
Lucille
I will have to try it this way to and compare with my favorite way. Pretty impressive all the food you provided and all the cooking you did. You and Russell sure have a great reward in the World to come!