Herb Grilled Chicken

Yum

I use my oven as little as possible, in the summer.  Herb Grilled Chicken is a quick and easy way to enjoy the outdoors and keep the heat from cooking outdoors, as well.  The ridiculously delicious, crispy skin and moist, to die for delicious meat are just window dressing.  Sounds like a win/win to me!

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Herb Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut up (do not remove skin)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. fresh parsley, minced

Directions:

Whisk together marinade ingredients. Brush chicken pieces with marinade, liberally, on both sides.  Place chicken pieces, skin side down, on low heat over cooking-sprayed foil, with grill lid closed.  After roughly 15 minutes, when juices are starting to caramelize on the bottom, flip chicken pieces and grill for another 10 minutes, with the lid closed.  Check and remove pieces that are finished (wings will finish first), and give the larger pieces a few more minutes, if necessary.  Remove to a platter and allow to rest a few moments, covered loosely with foil, before serving.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

Herb Grilled Chicken

If you’ve ever been discouraged by grilling chicken because it came out tough, rubbery, or even, ahem . . . “blackened,” never fear.  Throwing chicken on the grill is one of the joys of summer.  And with just a few pointers, you will be enjoying chicken that is the best of the grill– crisp, savory skin, and moist, delicious meat.  All you need is a few ingredients, a little know how, and a hot summer day when you don’t feel like cooking.  Sounds like a win/win to me.

Herb Grilled Chicken

The first thing I would suggest when you grill chicken on the grill is using bone in, skin on chicken.  Normally I use boneless skinless chicken in most recipes, but when you’re dealing with higher heat, you need that bone and skin to keep the meat moist.  Cut up a whole chicken. It works really well, and that way there are a lot of different pieces for everyone to choose a favorite.

Herb Grilled Chicken

When you have all your pieces cut up (discard chicken back), use a silicone basting brush to brush both sides of each piece liberally with marinade.  Leaving the skin on the pieces ensures that you will get crisp, gorgeously grilled skin, instead of torn, blackened meat.

Herb Grilled Chicken

Preheat your grill to low heat. On my gas grill I use the lowest setting.  Put down a few layers of foil, spray the top of the foil liberally with cooking spray, and lay your chicken pieces (that you just finished brushing with the grilling oil), skin side down, on the foil. Close the lid and grill 10-15 minutes, or until you can see the juices starting to caramelize around the bottom of the chicken pieces.

Herb Grilled Chicken

After 10-15 (Ok, 12. haha) minutes, check the chicken.  By this point the first side should be nice and golden brown. If not, let it cook a few minutes longer. You want the skin to look like this picture.  When it does, flip the chicken over and close the lid for another 7-10 minutes of grilling.  The smaller pieces, like wings, won’t take as long as the larger pieces, such as breasts and thighs.  As pieces start to get finished cooking (a meat thermometer helps you to tell, for sure), remove them to a plate and cover them loosely with foil, to keep them warm until the rest of the pieces are finished.

Herb Grilled Chicken

And that’s all there is to it, really! 🙂  No more hot, overheated summer kitchens. Throw chicken on the grill and get amazingly grilled, crispy skin on the chicken every time.  Pssst.  Leftover grilled chicken works amazingly well on salads for tomorrow.  You’re welcome.

You did it. And I’m just so proud of you.


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