How Long To Cook Thin Chicken Breast On Charcoal Grill

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Learn the method for how to grill chicken breasts that are juicy, and never ever dried out.

Everybody loves chicken, and all cooks love a good chicken How-To. I know this because the most popular post on this site is How To Cook Chicken Breasts From Frozen and the most popular post on my sister site, TheCookful, is How To Bake Chicken Wings That Are Sooo Crispy. With summer and grilling season coming up, I thought it would therefore be a good time to tackle that real conundrum of how to grill chicken breasts that are juicy, every time.

Juicy grilled chicken breasts piled on a white plate with lemon halves.

The thing about chicken breasts is that they are not typically of an even thickness. This means that the thinnest part tends to dry out before the thickest part is cooked all the way through. There is only one way to fix this and it involves a tiny bit of work, but not hard work. Don't worry! (Really, if it was hard, I wouldn't do it, let alone suggest it to anyone else. Never)

What you're going to do is flatten the chicken out to an even thickness, then marinate them a bit for flavor, and then grill for as short a time as possible. Here's how!

How To Grill Chicken Breasts Perfectly

Here's a video showing how to grill chicken breasts, followed by written instructions:

Step #1

Cut the chicken breast in half width-wise. Why? Because once you pound these out a bit they get pretty big.

Raw chicken breast on a plastic wrap covered cutting board, being cut in half.

These will be a nice portion size and will be easier to pound out to an even thickness and to handle on the grill.

Raw chicken breast on plastic wrap, cut in half width-wise.

Step #2

Cover one portion in plastic wrap. This just stops chicken juice from flying around your kitchen when you pound it. You definitely don't want that.

Raw chicken breast portion covered in plastic wrap.

Step #3

Now you're going to pound it to an even thickness.

So you just smack the chicken breast, focusing on where it's thickest and trying to get it to be even with the thinnest part.

Plastic wrap covered chicken breast portion being pounded with a rolling pin.

The goal is a chicken breast portion that is exactly the same thickness all the way across, like this:

Chicken breast portion pounded to have the same thickness, on plastic wrap.

Step #4

Once all of your portions have been pounded to an even thickness, put them into a ziptop bag or a large bowl. Add some marinade. It's a good idea to go with a marinade that has a high oil content and no sweetener like sugar or honey. These two factors will help keep your chicken breasts from sticking to the grill.

Refrigerate for an hour at most. You're just trying to get some flavor on there. The marinade won't make the chicken more tender or juicy, in fact, too much time in a marinade can make chicken breasts rubbery and dry.

I don't usually do this because it takes a long time but it totally works! To make the chicken even more tender and juicy, brine it. Instead of the marinade, follow the brining instructions here. Because these aren't full chicken breasts but halved and pounded a bit flatter, don't leave them in the brine for the full time. 3 hours will be enough. Note though to not use any salt to season the chicken after brining. Instead, season them with black pepper and garlic powder then brush them with a bit of oil.

Marinade being poured into a ziptop bag with chicken inside, oil and spices in background.

Step #5

Oil your grill grates. There's great info on how to do that over here. Basically, when your grill is cold, dip paper towel into an oil that has a high-ish smoking point, like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil. Then use tongs to rub that oiled towel onto your grates.

Then preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (around 400°F). If your grill doesn't have a thermometer, here's how to find out what temperature it's at.

Once your grill is at the right temperature, remove the chicken breasts from the marinade or brine, shaking off any excess. If brining, pat the meat dry. Throw out the marinade/brine.

Put the chicken breasts on the grill in a single layer, as spaced out as you can given your surface and the number of breasts you have. You can leave the grill lid open while cooking.

Step #6

They're going to take about 4 minutes per side. Test if they're done using an instant-read thermometer. You want it to read 165°F. Or you can cut into one and see if it's white all the way through, not pink. They'll be nice and brown with good char marks when they're done. Like this:

Cooked chicken breasts on grill with char marks.

Step #7

Take them off of the grill and put them on a clean serving plate. Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. This resting time is so that the juices won't rush out of the chicken when you cut in for that first bite.

Grilled chicken breasts on white plate with lemon halves.

Here are the instructions in printable form for you. Have a great day!

Christine :)

DESCRIPTION

Learn the method for how to grill chicken breasts that are super-juicy, and never ever dried out.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 and 1/2 lbs.)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. vegetable or grapeseed oil

Cut the chicken breast in half width-wise. Cover one portion in plastic wrap to stop chicken juice from flying around your kitchen when you pound it.
Pound it to an even thickness. If you have a meat tenderizer with a flat side, like this one, use that. If not, a rolling pin works. So you just smack the chicken breast, focusing on where it is thickest and trying to get it to be even with the thinnest part.
Once all of your portions have been pounded to an even thickness, put them into a ziptop bag or a large bowl. In a medium bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Pour it over the chicken breasts. Refrigerate for an hour at most. You're just trying to get some flavor on there.
Oil your grill grates: When your grill is cold, dip paper towel into an oil that has a high smoking point, like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil. Then use tongs to rub that oiled towel onto your grates. Then preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (around 400ºF). If your grill doesn't have a thermometer, here's how to find out what temperature it's at.
Once your grill is at the right temperature, remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, shaking off any excess. Throw out the marinade. Put the chicken breasts onto the grill in a single layer, as spaced out as you can given your surface and the number of breasts you have.
Cook for about 4 minutes per side with the grill lid open. Test if they're done using an instant read thermometer. You want it to read 165ºF. Or you can cut into one and see if it's white all the way through, not pink. They'll be nice and brown with good char marks when they're done.
Take them off of the grill and put them on a clean serving plate. Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. This resting time is so that the juices won't rush out of the chicken when you cut in for that first bite.

This post originally appeared in August 2016 and was revised and republished in April 2021.

How To Grill Chicken Breasts That Are Sooo Juicy