Let’s face it: boneless, skinless chicken breast can be tricky to cook. If you overcook it or cook it the wrong way, you end up with dry, bland meat. Or rubbery; or hard. Or all kinds of other ways chicken breast can go wrong! It can be so frustrating to cook chicken. And grilling chicken always SEEMED easy, but I just couldn’t figure it out! It kept coming out dry and gross.
Until I figured it out! Following this method, you will consistently have juicy, delicious chicken that is wonderful fresh, as well as making perfect leftovers that can be eaten cold or reheated in the microwave or air fryer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of chicken breast do you buy? I see a marked difference in the quality of the chicken when I get air chilled chicken instead of the more common method of dunking the raw chicken in a bleach bath after defeathering.
Does it matter what kind of salt you use? Nope! We have tried it with regular table salt, kosher salt, and sea salt. They all worked well!
Do I have to use mayo as the coating? No, that is just works best for us. It stays put better when cooking and is a lower cost option. You can also use ghee, coconut oil, butter, or oil. Any kind of fat really, so you can play around with what works for you.
What spice mixture do you use? My favorite all purpose spice blend to use on tons of things is this one with pink sea salt, black pepper, and garlic from McCormick.
Is there such a thing as “too long” for brining? YES! Unlike marinades, which meat can sit in for quite some time, meat should not sit in very salty water for more than an hour. If you leave it for longer than an hour, the meat begins to break down. I find the sweet spot is 30 minutes.
Grilled Chicken – Perfect Every Time
Boneless, skinless chicken breast doesn’t have to be dry and bland! This method of preparing grilled chicken breast will give you consistently delicious, juicy chicken that is great served fresh or as leftovers for meal prep.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 2 lbs cooked chicken breast 1x
Ingredients
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1/2 cup salt
8 cups water
Mayonnaise (I prefer avocado oil mayo) – usually about 1 TBS per side of chicken breast
All-purpose spice blend or just salt and pepper (I like this one)
Instructions
- Mix the water and the salt until salt is thoroughly dissolved. Place the whole chicken breast into the brine. Let rest for 20 – 30 minutes, and you can let rest longer if you have the time, up to one hour.
- Near the end of the chicken brining, preheat your grill.
- When the chicken is done brining, remove it from the water and dab it dry with paper towels.
- When dry, take a meat hammer or rolling pin and hammer the chicken breast to even out the thickness of the chicken a bit. Don’t hammer too hard; just enough to even it out a bit. This helps the chicken cook more evenly, which prevents the thinner part from overcooking while you wait for the thicker part to finish.
- Coat the outside of the chicken breast in a layer of mayo. You don’t want to make the coating too thin because you will lose a lot to the grill. Sprinkle the seasoning on top of the mayo. Flip and repeat on the other side.
- Cook the chicken on the grill. You want to cook to an internal temperature of 158 – 160 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken.
- Remove from grill and let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.
- If saving for leftovers or meal prep, allow the chicken to come to room temperature prior to storing in refrigerator.
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