Perfectly Grilled Chicken Breasts

For my non-vegetarian, vegan and raw friends, I offer up a “can’t fail” recipe for grilling chicken. Chicken is one of the mostly widely consumed meats on the planet and is a great source of low-fat protein.

I find this particularly useful when I can’t get my children to eat other forms of protein.

At breakfasts in my house, I have even been known to serve left over chicken breast because I think it’s critical that children have a healthy breakfast with both protein and low-sugar carbohydrates to help focus at school. They will even eat cold chicken in their lunches!

Some suggestions on ways to use left-over grilled chicken:

Chicken salad
Chicken sandwich melts
Chicken and rice stir fry
Shredded chicken for tacos or enchiladas
Shredded chicken and hash browns for breakfast
Chicken-stuffed baked potato
Cold chicken for a snack
Chicken and gluten free pasta

Chicken breasts can be tricky to grill because it seems all too easy to end up with either bland, chewy chicken, uncooked chicken or “burnt offerings” of an over-cooked, burned BBQ coated piece of meat.

Although there are many ways to avoid this (including brining, marinating and ALWAYS putting BBQ sauce on for the last five minutes so it doesn’t burn), this recipe is just focused on a very simple rub.

Turns out, if you start with boneless chicken breasts, pat them completely dry with a paper towel and cover them in a rub, they will cook with a crispy outside and juicy tender inside.

I always grill about two pounds of chicken with this rub at the same time. This approach gives me a very versatile cooked chicken in the refrigerator for snacks or as an ingredient in other meals throughout the week. It also saves time and money.

As always, if possible, look for organic, free range, hormone-free chickens who were raised with a happy life and a view of free-roaming cows in green pastures with blue skies.

If the package doesn’t say that, or you don’t have access to previously happy, well-treated chickens, then at least try and find organic and hormone-free.

The key here is to slow cook the chicken over indirect heat, after browning briefly over medium/high heat.

Okay. And the fact that if the chicken isn’t moist when you put the rub on it, the spices will provide a “skin” as you grill it.

Perfectly Grilled Chicken Breasts

Servings
6-8 servings

Ingredients

3 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp black pepper

2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

For gas grill: Heat half the grill to medium/high heat and the other half to low/medium. If there are more than two burners, leave one off all together.
For a charcoal grill, move the coals to one half of the grill and heat the coals as normal. They're ready to go when they're white and ashy. Leave the other half of the grill with no coals in order to be able to cook with indirect heat.
Stir the salt and pepper together in a small bowl.
Pat the chicken completely dry with a paper towel and rub the spices all over each piece. (gonna have to use your hands here for the best coverage)
Lightly oil the grill (can use a paper towel dipped in oil and rub on grill with tongs)
Place chicken over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes each side until lightly browned.
Move chicken over indirect heat (no longer over burner or coals), cover grill and cook for another 20-25 minutes, turning once at the half way point.
The chicken is done when the juices run clear and there is no more pink. (check the thickest part of the meat)
Let rest five minutes and serve.