Say goodbye to dry or bland poultry – learn how to make incredibly juicy and flavorful grilled chicken breasts. This is a basic method for bone-in skin on breasts that works like a charm with any spice blend.
Rub the bone-in breasts liberally on both sides with the spice blend. Using your fingers, work to get the spice blend under the skin. Gently pull the skin back to cover as much of the breast as possible.
Prep the grill:
Prep the grill for a two-zone fire by igniting all of the burners and allowing the gas grill to preheat.
Clean and oil the grill grates.
Turn off 2 of the 4 (or 2 of the 3) burners to create a hot side and a cool side of the grill.
Close the lid and allow the grill to preheat to 350-375 degrees F.
Grill the chicken:
Place the chicken breasts, skin side down on the cool side of the grill grates.
Close the lid and let the chicken cook for 15 mintues.
Rotate the chicken, still skin side down, moving the furthest back piece to the front and so on. Close the lid to cook for another 15 minutes.
Flip the chicken, bone side down and cook for another 10 minutes or until the thickest part of the breats internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F with an instant read thermometer.
The times will change based on the size of the chicken breast, but with chicken, although you want to keep the lid closed to lock the heat in, it’s best never to go too far from the grill.
For the last 3 to 5 minutes, use long grilling tongs to transfer the chicken to the hot side of the grill, skin side down to add a little char to the skin. Rotate the chicekn as needed to avoid flareups from the dripping fat from the skin.
If using bbq sauce, baste the chicken before this step to allow the sauce to set.
According to the USDA, chicken is safe to eat at 165 degrees F. Always use a digital meat thermometer for the most accurate results.
Rest and serve:
Transfer the chicken to a serving platter or cutting board, tent loosely with foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Prep the chicken as directed in the recipe card and your charcoal grill for a 2-zone fire by arranging lit coals on one side of the grill. If using smoking wood, add it to the hot coals now. Close the lid, adjust the air vents to allow the grill to preheat to 350-375F, and wait until the smoke runs clear blue before adding the chicken and cooking as directed in the instructions until the chicken reads 160 F with an instant-read thermometer.We love Cowboy lump charcoal. It’s real wood, so we find that we don’t have to add wood for juicy grilled chicken to get that authentic barbecue flavor. However, we love hickory or oak with BBQ chicken if you’re using wood. Check out our shop page for more of our favorite grills, fuels, and tools.FOR A PELLET GRILL: Prep the split chicken breast recipe as the full recipe card instructed, and set your pellet smoker to 375 degrees F. Because a pellet smoker doesn’t have a cooler or hot side, you will want to keep an eye on the chicken breasts, rotating them as needed until they reach 165F.For the best flavor, we love Jack Daniel’s pellets. We pair this with a few wood chunks in the hot corners of our Traeger to get more grilled flavor.