Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts

Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts has been the recipe of the summer at my house, often served with Spicy Mexican Slaw, and this tasty chicken is low-carb, Keto, low-glycemic, gluten-free, Paleo, Whole 30, and South Beach Diet friendly! Use the Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one.

Click here to PIN Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts!

Chicken breasts cooked on the grill are always on the summer menu at my house, and my post on How to Make Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts has been hugely popular on the blog.  Early this summer I made these Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts for a family dinner.  It was really just a riff on my recipe for Grilled Chicken and Veggie Kabobs with Garlic and Basil, but sometimes you don’t want to bother with kabobs, and the chicken was such a hit with the family that I made it several more times for other guests.  My friend Mary’s granddaughter even said “This chicken is GOOD,” which I thought definitely qualified it to be called kid-friendly.

Every time I served this people asked for the recipe, so I decided I should take some photos and share the recipe as a separate post.  This uses ingredients you probably always have on hand, and I made the recipe for 6 servings, because this chicken makes great leftovers to go on top of a salad, in a lettuce wrap, or inside whole-wheat pita bread.  If you make this recipe, Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts might become your favorite recipe for grilled chicken; hope you enjoy!

Trim the chicken breasts so they’re the same thickness and any visible fat or undesirable parts are removed, and then cut shallow slits going crosswise down each chicken breast.  (I save the scraps in the freezer to make homemade chicken stock, so I don’t mind trimming.) Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken in the fridge for 8 hours, turning occasionally if you’re home.  (A slightly shorter or longer marinating time won’t matter much, but I usually start marinating mid-morning for chicken to cook for dinner that night.)

When it’s time to cook, spray grill with non-stick spray or brush with oil, preheat grill to medium-high, and drain the chicken.  (If you don’t drain off the marinade, it will flame up when the oil drips down on the grill.) Here’s the secret to perfect grill marks.  Cook the chicken on an angle to the grill for about 3-4 minute, then lift up the edge of each piece of chicken and look to see that the grill marks are as dark as you’d like before you rotate the pieces. When the first set of grill marks are nice and dark, rotate the chicken pieces going at the opposite angle on the grill and cook 3-4 minutes more, again checking the grill marks before you turn the chicken over. When you have nice grill marks, turn the chicken completely over and cook 4-6 minutes more, or until chicken feels firm but not hard to the touch.  (Thinner breasts will take less time.)

Serve Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts hot.

Make it a Meal:  World’s Easiest Grilled Vegetables or Spicy Mexican Slaw like you see in the photo would be a perfect side dish with this for a low-carb meal.

More Tasty Chicken for Dinner:

Chicken Recipes Index Page ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
Very Greek Grilled Chicken ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Grilled Lemon Yogurt Chicken ~ Food Wishes
Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken or Zucchini ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Print Recipe

Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 35-39 minutes + 8 hours to marinate

Prep Time: 25 minutes + 8 hours to marinate

Cook Time: 10-14 minutes

This Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts is a great recipe for  summer grilling!

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 T garlic powder
• 2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use another all-purpose seasoning blend)
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Trim any visible fat from the chicken breasts, and if some breasts are a lot thicker than others trim some of the underneath part to make them about the same thickness.  (I save the scraps in the freezer to make homemade chicken stock.)
2. Cut short shallow slits crosswise going down each chicken breast.
3. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, Spike Seasoning (or other all-purpose seasoning blend), dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder, dried sage, and pepper to make the marinade.
4. Put the chicken in a single layer in a Ziploc bag (or a plastic container with a snap-tight lid).
5. Pour in the marinade, and marinate in the fridge for 8 hours, turning occasionally if you’re home.  (A slightly shorter or longer marinating time won’t matter but I would marinate at least 5-6  hours if possible.)
6. When you’re ready to cook, dump the chicken breasts into a colander and drain off the marinade.  (If you take it directly from the marinade and place on the hot grill, it will flame up from the marinade that drips down.)
7. Make sure the grill is clean; then spray with non-stick grill spray or brush with oil and preheat the grill to medium-high.
8. Lay the chicken top side down on an angle to the grill grates and cook 3-4 minutes; then lift up the edge of each piece of chicken to see if the grill marks are showing as much as you’d like.
9. When you have nice grill marks, rotate each chicken breast so it’s at the opposite angle to the grill grates and cook 3-4 minutes more (again lifting each piece of chicken to check the grill marks.)
10.  When you have good criss-cross grill marks, turn the chicken over and cook 4-6 minutes on the other side.
11.  Actual cooking time will depend on how thick the chicken breasts are and how hot your grill is, but chicken should feel firm but not hard to the touch when you press down on it with your finger.
12.  Chicken should be cooked to 165F/74C to be safe; if you have an Instant-Read Meat Thermometer, that’s a perfect way to tell when it’s done.)
13.  Serve hot.

Notes:

I use my fresh-frozen lemon juice for this recipe. This chicken is great for leftovers.  Refrigerate until needed; then cut up and serve over a salad, in lettuce wraps with avocado and salsa, or inside whole-wheat pita bread with some Tzatziki sauce.

This chicken could also be cooked in a stove-top grill pan with ridges or a George Foreman Grill with good results.

recipe created by Kalyn as a variation to Grilled Chicken and Veggie Kabobs with Garlic and Basil.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Garlic, Lemon, and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts are a perfect main dish for any low-glycemic, low-carb, Keto, or Paleo eating plan, and also for any phase of the South Beach Diet. (Use another seasoning blend instead of Spike for Paleo.)

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.