Whether you’ve been grilling for years or are new to grilling, you’ll love this super simple and goof-proof approach to grilled chicken! Few ingredients, very little prep time, and an absolute succulent, tender, perfectly crispy charred result, these are truly the best grilled chicken thighs!
Seasoned grillers, grilling newbies, all skill levels in between, let us unite in our mutual love for grill marks and delight in this insanely simple yet incredible approach to finger lickin’ GREAT grilled chicken!
My fellow chicken lovers and everyone who loves a char grilled crispy bite of deliciousness, you’re bound to love this easy chicken recipe.
Seriously, this may just be the only grilled chicken thigh recipe you’ll ever need due to its simplicity and great flavor.
The ingredients? You probably already have them. The prep time? Minimal. Cook time? Low. The difficulty? Not!
Grilling chicken thighs adds that classic smoky char flavor that we can only achieve from the barbecue. Whether you’re entertaining guests or making a quick main dish for the whole family to enjoy, this easy recipe is a winner every time.
While I designed this to be a chicken thighs recipe, you can easily use any cut of chicken depending on whether you prefer white meat or dark meat.
If you enjoy cooking in the air fryer, I also recommend my Lemon Garlic Air Fryer Boneless Chicken Thighs or my Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Thighs for bone-in.
Let’s dive right into this incredible situation, as we have a lot of grilling to do!
Ingredients for The Best Grilled Chicken Marinade:
Here are the ingredients for my favorite grilled chicken thigh marinade:
Avocado Oil: Every great marinade includes oil for three purposes. It adds fat to the meat, which translates to flavor, it prevents the meat from sticking to the grill grates, and it helps prevent the meat from burning as it serves as a sort of lubricant.
Lemon Juice: Some form of acidity works wonders in chicken marinades, as it provides a tangy nuance to complement the savory flavors. I typically use fresh lemon juice, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar to accomplish this.
Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce: Bringing savory, umami flavor to the chicken, liquid aminos, tamari, or soy sauce is a magical ingredient to boost the richness of flavor.
Fresh Garlic: In my humble opinion, the best chicken marinades include fresh mined garlic cloves to bring a big blast of flavor. You can scale the amount up or down according to your personal taste.
Pure Maple Syrup: To offset the savory flavor and complete the flavor profile, we need a little sweetener. I use pure maple syrup, but brown sugar works just as well. You won’t notice the chicken tastes sweet, but you will notice your palate enjoys the overall flavor of the chicken.
Dijon Mustard: Mustard gives a slight tang to the marinade and provides that classic mustard flavor. We only use a little bit for just a small hint, but you can either omit it or add more depending on your relationship with mustard.
Seasonings: onion powder, paprika, sea salt, black pepper. This combination of seasonings boosts the flavor of the chicken, making for an unforgettable meal. If you don’t like salty food, omit the salt, as soy sauce already has a high sodium content.
This combination of flavors yields an all-the-flavors marinade. Tangy, slightly sweet, rich, well-seasoned…it’s all there!
Feel free to use creative license here, incorporating your own favorite flavors. My Best Steak Marinade recipe works marvelously on chicken too!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Swap the fresh garlic for 2 teaspoons of garlic powder if you prefer.
- For a soy-free version, use 1/4 cup of coconut aminos and omit the pure maple syrup.
- While you can use olive oil if need be, I recommend sticking with avocado oil because it has a high smoke point, ideal for grilling at high temperatures.
- If you enjoy herby flavor, add 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning.
- Use any seasoning mix you enjoy instead of the seasonings listed in the recipe card. Cajun seasoning, chili powder, and lemon pepper are all great additions.
What Type of Chicken to Use:
The short answer is any cut of chicken works here, depending on what you’re going for. I use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which always yield a crazy flavorful result. Bone-in chicken thighs turn out tender with crispy skin for a whirlwind experience for your taste buds. You can swap for drumsticks or wings as well!
Want to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs? No problem! They take less grill time than bone-in thighs, and a lower temperature. Sear boneless chicken thighs for 2 to 3 minutes per side before moving them to indirect heat and covering the grill.
Can you use boneless chicken breasts? Absolutely. Follow The Best Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe for the chicken breast instructions as the recipe is slightly different.
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients, let’s make some bbq chicken thighs.
How to Make The BEST Grilled Chicken:
Add all of the ingredients to a large zip lock bag.
Seal the bag and shake it around until the chicken thighs are well-coated in oil and seasoning.
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, ideally several hours or up to 24 hours. Note: you can also marinate chicken in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap instead of a plastic bag if you prefer.
If you use a gas grill: Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (about 450 degrees F).
If you use a charcoal grill: Prepare your coals in a charcoal chimney to heat the coals quickly. Once the coals are hot, arrange them either in the very center of the grill or off to one side (below the grill grate of course), so that there is a “cool” part of the grill where you can cook on indirect heat. If you don’t have a charcoal chimney, arrange the coals in a pile on one side of the grill.
Place the chicken thighs on the grill grate over direct heat (the hottest part of the grill) and grill for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the skin turns golden brown. Flip and sear on the other side for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden-brown as well.
Move chicken pieces to unlit side of grill (indirect heat) and cover the grill. Cook, flipping occasionally, until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a cookie sheet or plate. Let chicken rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This allows the juices in the chicken to distribute throughout the meat, producing an even more tender result.
Serve with your choice of side dishes and enjoy! If you enjoy barbecue sauce, feel free to brush your favorite bbq sauce over the meat at the end of cooking.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Meal preppers, this is a great recipe to put on repeat and make in bulk for weeknight meals.
How Long to Grill Chicken Thighs:
The exact grilling time for chicken depends on what cut of meat you’re using, the size and thickness of the meat, and its temperature before hitting the grill.
For bone-in chicken thighs: Grill for 3 to 5 minutes per side over direct heat (or 450 degrees F for a gas grill), or until you get amazing grill marks, and move the thighs to indirect heat for the rest of the cooking process, or until the internal temperature of the thighs reaches 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
For boneless thighs: Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side over direct heat (or 450 degrees F for a gas grill), or until the internal temperature of the thighs reaches 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and the outside of the chicken has nice grill marks.
For chicken breasts: Grill for 3 to 5 minutes per side over direct heat (or 450 degrees F) then move the breasts to indirect heat (a cooler part of the grill) and continue grilling for 2 to 4 minutes per side, or until the breasts reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
For the best results, be sure to use an instant-read thermometer to ensure you end up with juicy chicken thighs (or breasts).
Side dish suggestions? In addition to my Mayo-Free Pea Salad, here are some of my favorite summer sides for serving with grilled meat.
Summer Side Dishes:
- Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
- Grilled Sweet Potatoes, Zucchini and Yellow Squash with Pesto and Feta
- Grilled Zucchini, Corn, and Beet Quinoa Salad with Lime Dressing
- Balsamic Ginger Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
- Stuffed Grilled Avocados with Shrimp and Mango Salsa
- Greek Potato Salad
Also check out my Grilled Chicken Kabobs and my Orange Ginger Grilled Chicken for some more grilling inspiration!
Grill it up!
The BEST Grilled Chicken Thighs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 ½ to 4 lbs bone in skin on chicken thighs or 1.5 to 2 lbs boneless thighs
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice or rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or brown sugar, optional
- 1 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce, optional
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard optional
- 2 cloves garlic minced, or 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large zip lock bag. Seal the bag and shake it around until the chicken thighs are well-coated in oil and seasoning. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, ideally 8.
- If you use a gas grill: Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (about 450 degrees F).
- If you use a charcoal grill: Prepare your coals in a charcoal chimney to heat the coals quickly. Once the coals are hot, arrange them either in the very center of the grill or off to one side (below the grill grate of course), so that there is a “cool” part of the grill where you can cook on indirect heat. If you don’t have a charcoal chimney, arrange the coals in a pile on one side of the grill.
- Place the chicken thighs on the grill grate skin-side down over direct heat (the hottest part of the grill) and grill for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the skin turns golden brown. Flip and sear on the other side for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden-brown as well.
- Move chicken pieces to unlit side of grill (indirect heat) and cover the grill. Cook, flipping occasionally, until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a cookie sheet or plate. Let chicken rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This allows the juices in the chicken to distribute throughout the meat, producing an even more tender result.
- Serve with your choice of side dishes and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Hey! Couple questions. When using charcoal grill and cooking on indirect heat, how often is flipping occasionally. Every 15 min? 30 min? I don’t want to release too much heat from the grill. Also, how long would it usually take? Like 1hr or 2 hrs? I know these things are hard to predict, internal temp is the way to go! I’m extremely beginner though and still learning basics on a grill
Hi Brooklyn! In this context, flipping occasionally would mean every 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Boneless chicken thighs cook pretty quickly, so the best way of getting a phenomenal result is using a meat thermometer to check the temperature. If the thighs are 185 or higher, they’re ready to come off the grill. Happy grilling! xo
Thank you so much!! Very happy to find this recipe. I may have put too much salt this time, but otherwise- this will be on rotation.
I love hearing that, Tal (minus the salt part)!! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! xo
Delicious recipe with well balanced flavours. Cooked in my Ninja Foodi Grill in AF mode for 25 mins. Will be making this often. Thank you, Julia, for so generously sharing your mouth watering recipes with the rest of us!Love your website and your helpful notes.
I’m so thrilled you enjoy the recipe, Audrey! Thanks so much for swinging back around to share your experience! xo
Great recipe, family liked it. Let overs did not make it through the night.
Aww I love hearing that! Thanks so much for letting me know, Joel!
I have skinless boneless thighs. Will that work also?
Hi Renee! It sure will! Hope you enjoy! xoxo
These did not cook. Perhaps the grill lid needed to be closed for the first direct part?
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reporting back. There are many factors that go into the exact cook time, including the temperature of the grill and the temperature and the size of the thighs before they hit the grill. In addition, whether the thighs are boneless or bone-in play a role as well. The best way of ensuring the thighs are fully cooked it spot checking the internal temperature using a meat thermometer periodically. Chicken is considered fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. I hope this helps! xoxo
I made these tonight and you did not mis-represent. These are absolutely the best grilled chicken thighs that I have ever had. A definite recipe keeper!
JIM! I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks so much for the sweet note! xoxoxo