30 Grilled Chicken Recipes to Make Again and Again

Chicken thighs are perfect for the grill because they stay nice and moist. Skewering them with rosemary imparts a lovely herbal flavor.

Chef Chris Lilly butterflies a whole chicken, smokes it, then dunks the bird into a vat of tangy white barbecue sauce. Home cooks can grill pieces of chicken until crispy and nicely charred, then serve them alongside Lilly's terrific white sauce.

A mixture of red-pepper flakes, garlic, thyme, lemon juice, and olive oil serves as a spicy marinade for bone-in chicken breasts. If you prefer spicier chicken, increase the red pepper or leave the breasts in the marinade for an hour or two.

This spicy lemongrass paste is also wonderful rubbed on pork tenderloin or any firm, white-fleshed fish, such as snapper, sea bass or halibut.

Roasting a whole chicken takes about an hour, but cut out the backbone and flatten the bird and it will grill perfectly in 30 minutes. Melissa Rubel Jacobson rubs the chicken all over with a very simple, Thai-inspired mix of red curry paste, coconut milk and brown sugar.

A sweet mustard glaze gives John Currence’s grilled chicken a crisp coating. The chickens need to marinate overnight, so plan accordingly.

To both maximize his grill and take full advantage of summer's exceptional produce, chef Dan Kluger combines grilled corn, grilled scallions and grilled chicken in a bright, spicy jalapeno-lime vinaigrette.

Chef Michael Symon’s grilled chicken thigh and cucumber salad comes together in just a few quick steps.

Pickling fresh peaches and then charring them on the grill adds extra flavor to this arugula salad with crispy grilled chicken thighs.

Paired with tart and tangy nectarines and earthy chanterelle mushrooms, this chicken dish is perfect for summer. Spatchcocking the chicken, or removing the backbone and cracking the breast bone, helps ensure even cooking on the grill.

The secret to this perfectly juicy grilled chicken recipe from chef Anthony Endy of The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort is twofold: One, let the chicken sit in the aromatic citrus-and-herb brine for 24 hours, and two, once your coals are hot, keep the bird moving on the grill.

At Cantinho do Aziz, a family-owned Mozambican restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal, chef Jeny Sulemange prepares a grilled coconut chicken that’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which she serves with coconut rice.

Like rice paper rolls and banh mi sandwiches, rice-noodle salad bowls—often categorized at restaurants as rice vermicelli bowls or bun (“boon”, the name of the noodles in Vietnamese)—can feature many wonderful things, like grilled lemongrass chicken skewers.

Best New Chef Katianna Hong works with nearby vineyards to get some of the components of this grilled chicken dish, made with fresh grapes, raisins, grape leaves, and verjus.

For juicy, flavorful chicken, chef Nina Compton soaks her drumsticks in a simple brine for 45 minutes before grilling. This is her summer version of the dish, which changes throughout the year: She uses butternut squash and mushrooms in the fall and fresh fava beans, English peas and fiddlehead ferns in the spring.

Instead of spatchcocking, a process that involves splitting a whole chicken along the backbone to get it to lay flat, chef José Catrimán splits the chicken through the breast. This helps the bird cook more quickly and evenly, giving you juicy, perfectly cooked light and dark meat.

Short wooden skewers are both the cooking tool and the serving utensil for these fiery chicken skewers. This riff on the piri piri marinade balances the heat of fresh chiles with sweet bell pepper, garlic, and a splash of tangy red wine vinegar.

Starting over hot coals and finishing over low heat mimics the crispy-juicy results of shawarma, kebab, and al pastor shops around the world. After marinating, some of the chicken pieces may break apart; simply tuck those loose pieces in the center of the skewered stack.

These Peruvian skewers are coated in a thick chile marinade that withstands the heat of the grill and clings to the chicken, yielding caramelized, charred bits.

At Hong Kong’s Yardbird, chicken thighs are skewered for yakitori and brushed with a delicious, umami-packed tare sauce made with soy sauce and wasabi.

Sheldon Simeon uses fresh ginger and pineapple juice to add bright heat and tang to the sweet, teriyaki-like huli huli sauce that coats the chicken wings and pineapple slices in this recipe. The marinade helps the wings get smoky-sweet on the grill and retain a delicious juicy bite.

A simple combination of lime, cumin, hot paprika and Kewpie mayo is the secret to this grilled chicken from Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple.

This delicious take on jerk chicken is fragrant, fiery hot and smoky all at once. It's from our former colleague Paul Chung, an adventurous self-taught cook who grew up in Jamaica and has sampled jerk from just about every corner of the island.

These deliciously spiced grilled chicken skewers are perfect with a sweet-and-tangy peanut sauce.

To create a wonderful glaze chicken thighs as they grill, brush them with honey-horseradish butter. For a fresh finishing touch, serve the chicken with a vibrant garlic-spiked parsley sauce.

Marinating chicken wings in a mix of coconut milk, store-bought Thai curry paste and lime lends them an alluring sweet-spicy flavor.

“The banana pepper dip in this recipe is perhaps my favorite recipe that my partner’s mother Bonnie Attea makes,” Anita Lo says. “It’s a three-ingredient wonder that makes a weeknight chicken breast exciting. Banana peppers can vary on the heat scale so taste a little before mixing, and mitigate with a little cayenne per your taste.” 

Crushed juniper berries combine with garlic and herbs to perfume this smoky chicken that makes for a stunning centerpiece for a leisurely lunch with good company. For a shortcut, substitute quality rotisserie or smoked chickens; simply cover with foil and reheat in a 200°F oven before carving and serving. Either way, smothering the chicken and crushed potatoes with a classic shallot vinaigrette means every plate will be wiped clean.

Low and slow grilling keeps these wings juicy and gives the skin time to render and and char. Jaew, a sweet and sour chile sauce, delivers a heat-packed punch in this Night + Market recipe by Kris Yenbamroong.

Grated fresh turmeric gives this grilled chicken a golden glow, while plenty of garlic, ginger, and puckery tamarind add bright flavor. Coconut charcoal burns exceptionally clean, letting the marinade shine. In Bali, Indonesia, Ibu Djelantik serves this chicken with her version of sambal matah, a bright, slaw-like condiment with chiles, shallots, and makrut lime or Key lime juice that offers a refreshing counterpoint to the chicken.