How Long Does Chicken Breask Take to Grill

Learn how easy it is to grill the best juicy chicken breasts on your backyard grill. From the preparation of the chicken, seasoning, grill temperature, how long to grill, and final internal temperature. We will cover it all along with some easy tips to get it right the first time, every time.

Introduction

This is something that has most grill owners struggling. Mostly they still get hockey pucks.

But it is not hard, and no magic is involved. Learn the basics, then expand from there for your own variations. You can never have too many great chicken recipes.

My Rating

A solid 5 for this technique.

🏃‍♂️How to Grill Chicken Breasts

For those in a hurry, this will get you started. More details are provided in the post below.

What grill temperature to use to grill chicken?

A grill surface temperature of 450° is best for most chicken. This is medium-high on most gas grills. On charcoal grills, you will need to close the damper a bit to avoid high temperatures.

Too high of grill temperature will dry out the chicken before the interior is safe to eat. See A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more details.

How long to cook chicken breasts on the grill

Generally, about 20 minutes of the grill temperature is correct. You can cook faster if you use a higher temperature, but your chicken will be less tender and juicy.

The exact time will vary by the grill and the thickness and starting temperature of the chicken breast.

The best answer is until the internal temperature is 165° in the thickest part.

When is chicken done and safe to eat?

The FDA recommends 165° as the minimum safe internal temperature.

Lower temperatures with specific rest times at those temperatures can be used if you want to research those. As a retired doctor, I treated many cases of food poisoning and do not recommend anything lower than 165° since people cheat on timing.

Cooking longer than this will tend to dry the chicken and is not recommended.

Are grilled chicken breasts healthy?

Yes. Grill chicken breasts (8 oz.) are about 280 calories each with 8 grams of fat and 1 gram of carbohydrates. So they will fit well in almost every diet like low caloric, low fat, and even low-carb or keto diets.

Sodium will depend on your preparation and seasoning choices.

Can I grill frozen chicken breast?

Not still frozen chicken by this method. The outside will be damaged before the inside reaches a safe internal temperature.

So thaw frozen breasts before cooking and consider brining since freezing tends to dry the meat.

Top Tips for grilling chicken.

1) Cook chicken breasts of about the same size and thickness. If thicker than ¾ inch the thin out the breast.
2) Get the grill temperature correct.
3) Cook to an internal temperature of 165°. Less is not safe, and higher will dry the meat.

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🐓Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts have become progressively bigger over the years. Forty years ago, the six to eight-ounce chicken breast was standard. Now, eight is small.

If the chicken was frozen, it must be totally thawed before proceeding. I also suggest brining if the chicken was previously frozen since they tend to be dryer.

Try to get breasts about the same size if possible. If the breasts are thicker than ¾ inches, you should flatten them with a meat mallet or heavy pan.

With grilling, the thickness of the meat will determine the cooking time more than weight.

How to Thin Thick Chicken Breasts

I usually use a meat hammer, but the bottom of a heavy pan will do nicely.

You need to protect yourself and the surrounding area from splatter. Most people will place the chicken in plastic wrap for this, but I like one-gallon freezer bags.

raw chicken breasts in bag being flattened.

See Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for more food safety discussion about chicken.

🧂How to Brine Chicken Breasts

A brine is a "salt-water bath" where the salt will go into the meat dragging water with it. It will help keep the meat moist during cooking. And in dry-heat methods, like grilling, brining can make a major difference.

You can still get good results without a brine, but you will be consistently better with a brine. Also, if the breasts have been previously frozen, they do lose some moisture, and brine will help that.

I use a brine of 2 cups of water with a tablespoon of table salt. You can add other flavors like garlic or sugar to this, but this discussion is about the basics.

With this brine, you can get fairly good results in 20 minutes. You can brine for up to 1 hour. More than that leaves too much salty taste to me.

After brining, you should carefully rinse the salt off the surface. For food safety, try not to splatter and lean up with an anti-bacterial cleaner in the sink area. See

Never use seasoning with salt if you have brined.

👨‍🍳Seasoning for Grilled Chicken Breasts

I have a suggested seasoning that you can adjust to your needs but use what you want. Most commercial seasonings are heavy in salt, and if used with a brined chicken breasts will be too salty for most tastes.

BBQ sauce will work fine the last few minutes on this, but I prefer to build up a base of the sauce and suggest you see How to BBQ Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill.

I do love a good marinade for chicken. I have two on the site and recommend either one. Garlic Lemon Marinade for Chicken (my wife's recipe and our favorite) and Easy Chicken Marinade .

♨️Grill Setup for Grilling Chicken

You can NOT cook chicken properly on high heat. You will dry the outside long before the inside is even close to done or safe.

I suggest a grill surface temperature of about 450°. A little less is fine, and a smidge more is OK but never over 500°.

To get this right, you usually should have a grill surface thermometer. The hood thermometer is ALWAYS wrong.

If you don't have a surface thermometer (you should), medium will be about 400°-450° on most gas grills. The cooking time will be different, but as long as you get the end-point of 165° correct with an instant-read thermometer, you will do ok.

Please see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for more discussion.

Can I do this on a charcoal grill? Yes, but you need to be very careful about surface temperature. And, of course, times will vary. On most charcoal grills, you will need to adjust the venting.

⏲️How Long to Grill Chicken Breasts

Most chicken breast, when properly prepared, will take about 20 minutes on a grill with a surface temperature of 450°. Smaller breasts may be a bit less, and larger may be a bit longer. Remember to never cook by time alone—cook to the final safe internal temperature of 165°.

The chicken should rest off of the heat for about 5 minutes before serving. If longer, tent lightly with foil to keep warm.

When is chicken done and safe to eat?

According to the FDA, chicken is done at 165° internal temperature in the thickest part. A higher temperature will dry, and a lower temperature is unsafe. An instant-read thermometer is required to get this right.

Chicken Safety

A complete discussion of preparation safety is beyond the scope of this discussion, but remember we no longer recommend rinsing routinely, although we do careful rinse brine off ( Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse?).

For more poultry safety discussions, please see Summer Food Safety or Thanksgiving Food Safety and Food Help .

📖Grilled Chicken Breast Recipes

How to BBQ Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill

Super Moist Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts

Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken Breasts

Grilled Blackened Chicken Breasts

Grilled Chicken Tenders For the Kids

Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

raw chicken breast with spices and oil on red board.

Trim chicken breasts.

If the breasts are thick, use a meat mallet and flatten the thickest part of the breasts to ¾ inch.

If brining, combine 2 cups cold water with 1 tablespoon table salt. Submerge the chicken in the brine for up to 1 hour. As little as 20 minutes will help moisture a lot. Be sure to carefully rinse off the salt when done brining.

Clean and oil grill. Preheat to a surface temperature of 450°.

Use the seasoning of your choice. I suggest ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. If not brining, add ½ teaspoon kosher salt. If you use a different seasoning, be sure not to add more salt if you have brined.

Give them a light coat of vegetable or olive oil. Sprinkle all sides with a light coat of seasoning.

Place over direct heat with closed lid. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°. About 20 minutes most of the time, but remember you are cooking to final internal temperature and not by time, so check the temperature a few times early.

Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

📖Recipe

Grilled Chicken Breasts on a blue plate

How to Grill Chicken Breasts

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 2 8 oz breasts

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

▢ 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts - two
▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil - or other vegetable

Optional Brine

▢ 2 cups water
▢ 1 tablespoon salt

Suggested Spices

▢ ½ teaspoon granular garlic powder
▢ ½ teaspoon paprika
▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper
▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Trim chicken breasts.
If the breasts are thick, use a meat mallet and flatten the thickest part of the breasts to ¾ inch. Cover with plastic wrap or use a gallon Ziplock to prevent splatter.
If brining, combine 2 cups cold water with 1 tablespoon table salt. Submerge the chicken in the brine for up to 1 hour. As little as 20 minutes will help moisture a lot. Be sure to rinse off the salt when done brining carefully.
Clean and oil grill. Preheat to a surface temperature of 450°.
Use the seasoning of your choice. I suggest ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. If not brining, add ½ teaspoon kosher salt. If you use a different seasoning, be sure not to add more salt if you have brined.
Give them a light coat of vegetable or olive oil. Sprinkle all sides with a light coat of seasoning.
Place over direct heat with closed lid. Flip every 5 minutes until an internal temperature of 165°. About 20 minutes most of the time, but remember you are cooking to final internal temperature and not by time, so check the temperature a few times early.
Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

Pro Tips

It is impossible to get good results without a good instant-read thermometer. Extra points for a grill surface thermometer.
Use fully thawed chicken breasts if frozen.
The breasts should be about the same size if possible. Flatten to ¾ inch thick if needed.
Brine if you have time. Be sure to have the breasts completely covered by the brine.
Use seasoning of your choice but not with salt if you brine.
BBQ sauce is ok, but I suggest seeing the referenced BBQ recipe in the post.
Cook over direct heat with a grill surface temperature of about 450°.
Cook to 165°. Not higher (it will dry) or lower (not safe.)
Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Smaller breasts may cook faster.
Obviously, an easy recipe to adjust the number of servings.
Good refrigerated for up to 3 days. Good frozen for 3-4 months but slice, shred, or dice before freezing is suggested.

To adjust the recipe size:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course : Main Course

Cuisine : American

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Editor's note: Originally published June 7, 2019. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

How Long Does Chicken Breask Take to Grill

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