4 Tips for Best Grilled Lemon Chicken

I'm sharing today four tips for perfectly marinated, grilled chicken that you need this summer. It comes out so tender and juicy and beaming with vibrant flavor. First, I'm Yumna, aka Feel Good Foodie. I share wholesome, nutritious recipes that make your body feel good. Today, I'm sharing with you how I make my grilled lemon chicken. The marinade is super simple to make, but the success of the recipe really comes down to mindful timing, a handy thermometer, and a little bit of patience. It's a basic, versatile recipe to make for your family, your guests, or just yourself for a nice, nutritious meal. You'll need boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1⁄4 of a cup of lemon juice, and 1⁄4 of a cup of olive oil. And then we've got some lemon zest, four garlic cloves, oregano, salt, and pepper. So we're gonna start with a paper towel and making sure that that chicken is nice and dry. Just press it. And what I did here was I tried cutting them into six equal six-ounce sizes, but we're also gonna pound the chicken just to make sure that they're nice and even in thickness. We got our plastic wrap, and we're going to place it over the chicken and just pound it out until they're a nice, even thickness. You can use anything. You can use a mallet if you have. I don't have such things, so I just use a little baby frying pan. So just go ahead and take it and just pound them until they're nice, even thickness. And the plastic wrap really helps to just shield any chicken juices from flying all over the place. It's a really good way to take out your frustration on some chicken. It's harmless, and it feels really good. So, and it makes the chicken much more juicy, and everything cooks evenly. So double bonus there. And now we're ready to marinate the chicken. We'll start with a fourth of a cup of the olive oil. And you can use another oil if you want. I do think, though, that the olive oil gives it excellent flavor, so I do prefer to use that. Equal parts lemon juice. It is called grilled lemon chicken, so the lemon juice might be a little bit much for some people, but I think it really stands out in this recipe, and when you grill it, it really exaggerates that lemon flavor. Now we'll add the garlic, lemon zest. Again, exaggerating that lemon flavor. Some salt, pepper, and then really, you can use any other seasoning you want. I like to use oregano. I think it combines super well with the lemon. Now just give it all a good toss. You gotta toss it until it feels good. And now we come to tip number one. You have to marinate the chicken. I recommend marinating it for 30 minutes. Those lemon juices really get in there. The flavor really gets absorbed, and the taste is just so much better. Because we're using lemon juice, I wouldn't recommend doing it for more than two hours, because that lemon juice is really gonna break down the chicken too much at that point and make it tough. We're gonna go ahead and put this in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes, and while we do that, it's a great time to cook some sides, make a salad that you wanna throw with it, whatever it is you're gonna serve the chicken with. And you can see it's kind of changed color a little bit, because the acidity from the lemon juice has kind of broken down the chicken protein and kind of cooked it a little bit as well. So we're gonna take this and plop it onto a grill pan, and you can also grill it outside. You can add a little bit of that marinade on top of the chicken. And whatever's left over, though, be sure to toss it. And now it's time for tip number two. Once you put the chicken on the grill, don't touch it for like five to seven minutes. What that's gonna do is that it's gonna give it a nice sear all the way down, and it's also just gonna give you pretty grill marks. And if you want, you could press down on it with a spatula so that it's nice and even. All right, let's give them a flip. And now it's time for tip number three, which comes down to having a handy thermometer. This is super cheap to have, but it can really save your chicken so that you don't overcook it, because a lot of people just end up overcooking chicken just to make sure that it's well done. So this is, it still works, we're good. So now what we wanna do is make sure that the chicken is reading 160 degrees. What's gonna happen, too, is once it's done cooking, it's going to continue to cook on its own, so it'll come up to that 165 temperature. But I like cooking it up to 160. All right, it's reading at 160, so that means the chicken is ready. So now what we're gonna do is we're going to plate it, but you wanna make sure not to serve it immediately and don't cut into it immediately for at least five to 10 minutes. And that, my friends, is tip number four, which is letting the chicken rest. What's gonna happen is all those juices are really going to form to the center of the chicken, and it's just gonna make it more juicy and more tender. And here is the final grilled lemon chicken. You can also squeeze a little bit of extra lemon on top just to accentuate that lemon flavor and give it a nice freshness. And I also love to add a bunch of fresh herbs, like parsley on top. And now you can serve it with a salad. You can serve it on top of rice, with pasta, or just on its own, however you like to have it. I'm gonna serve it with a kale salad, and let's cut into it. It looks so juicy, so tender. Taste test, mm, so good. You can really taste all that lemon flavor in there, the garlic gives it a wonderful flavor, and so does the oregano. I hope you guys try the recipe and like it as well. Thank you so much for watching. Check out the video description below for a full written recipe. And be sure to like, follow, subscribe for more healthy-ish recipes with feel-good ingredients. See you guys next time.