With Nicole’s help, you’re about to take your grilled dinner to an entirely different level. In this video, Nicole shows you the best ways to prepare and grill boneless-skinless chicken breasts. For the juiciest and tastiest chicken breasts, it all comes down to the marinade. Using her combination of salty, sweet, acidic, fatty, and seasoned ingredients to marinate the chicken, the results speak for themselves once you take the flavorful chicken breasts off of the grill.
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00:00There's nothing worse than dried, chewy, burnt chicken on the grill.
00:03Well, I have cracked the code on how to get juicy grilled chicken that's tender and flavorful
00:07every single time. I'm gonna cover four steps to getting juicy chicken from the selection
00:12to the prepping, the cooking, and the serving.
00:17What I'm showing you how to grill is the boneless, skinless chicken breast because I think it's the
00:21most popular cut, the most crowd-pleasing, and it's also very versatile. I also think it can be
00:26sometimes the most challenging. When I'm choosing my boneless, skinless chicken breast,
00:30I really like to choose something that is from the more hormone-free, organic, natural selections,
00:37if you can, because they're just going to be a little more tender and usually a little more
00:43smaller in size. I also love choosing the organic chicken because it just has a more natural kind
00:49of pink color. To me, that signifies a little more freshness. Some of these that are just
00:54more commercialized just don't look quite as appealing. People are gonna get mad that I'm
00:59not rinsing my chicken. I only rinse my chicken sometimes or wash it, as you say, if it's like
01:06really slimy or packed in like a bunch of juice, but this is pretty clean and dry on its own. So
01:11the first step is to just kind of trim it and clean it up. So I'll just kind of trim off these
01:15little end pieces. These are just going to burn on the grill anyway. What we're looking to do in
01:19this step is to create a chicken breast that is more uniform in size. So you'll notice it's just
01:25the natural way they're shaped. There's a fat end and a really skinny end. If this skinny end is
01:31really long, like on this one, I'm going to go ahead and just trim that off and save it for stir
01:37fry or stock or something like that. It's just going to create a better experience on the grill.
01:42So I just like to keep the same shape of the chicken and just kind of cut off that little
01:48tail end. A lot of what I'm teaching today you can also do with a bone-in piece of chicken breast.
01:54The main thing to remember when you're cooking with bone-in versus boneless is that it's going
01:58to take a little bit longer to cook. If you still have one end that's significantly larger, what we
02:04want to do is try to get it to a little more of a uniform thickness. So I'm just going to
02:08kind of pound this end to match the thickness of this end.
02:18And now you see it's just a lot more uniform in thickness. So the purpose of that is to promote
02:23even cooking and also it tenderizes it just a little bit more. Chicken breasts are really low
02:30in fat, so it takes a lot to kind of keep them tender. You know, fattier cuts of meat, as it
02:35cooks, that fat kind of permeates through and kind of, you know, softens it up, keeps it really
02:39moist. We have to kind of help that along. So even though it's large all the way through, it's even
02:45now. That's what we want. It's worth this extra two seconds to do at home, okay? Part two of the
02:50prepping stage is marinating. Now because chicken breasts are lower in fat, they lack a little bit
02:56of flavor. When you're talking about burgers and steaks, they have a higher fat content,
03:00so they can easily be just seasoned on the outside and thrown directly on the grill. With
03:05chicken breasts, we're not going to do that. I think marinating is key. And when it comes to
03:09marinating, I like for it to all happen in a plastic bag. I think it is key to maximizing
03:15the efficiency of this process. And that's because air can't get inside. Once we create this marinade
03:22in here, we're going to squeeze out all the air and it just allows for it to happen faster and
03:26more effectively. If you don't remember anything else from this episode, remember this formula. I
03:31want you to remember kind of the concept and not necessarily the specific ingredients. So to me,
03:36a perfect marinade consists of five elements. The first is something salty. I usually stand at the
03:41refrigerator with my bag of meat open and I just start pouring stuff in, but I'll tone it down a
03:47little bit. So I always first look for something salty. So for me, it's, I'm just going, you know,
03:53old school classic here, a little bit of soy sauce and Worcestershire, but you could also do
03:58something like liquid aminos or fish sauce, or even just like the brine from pickles or capers.
04:04You know, this is when having that condiment door stocked up really comes in handy. It's also a way
04:10I just kind of use stuff up. Okay. So I'm going to go in with a few tablespoons of Worcestershire
04:15and then a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. I am doing the lower sodium. I don't like to add
04:20my salt, my literal salt in at this step, because sometimes I think it makes the meat a little
04:25tough. I like to season the salt just before it hits the grill. That's the salty. The second
04:30component would be to balance that out with something sweet. So for me, it's almost always
04:36honey and the sweet serves an important purpose here. Also besides flavor, it's going to help
04:44create that caramelization on the grill. So that's why a piece of grilled chicken is a lot more
04:49flavorful than just a plain one baked in the oven. So for me, it's usually honey. It's just
04:55easy. I always have it, but another good choice would be maple syrup or brown sugar, salty, sweet,
05:02acid. The acid is very important. It also helps tenderize and kind of break down, you know, the
05:07tissue in the meat, but you have to be careful with the acid because too much of it can actually
05:13cook the meat. If you think about ceviche, where it's cooked, where it kind of cooks the outside
05:17of the fish with, you know, a lot of citrus, we're not trying to cook anything. We're just
05:20trying to flavor and tenderize. So I'm going in with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice,
05:26probably the juice of a whole lemon. Other good choices here are vinegars like, you know, your
05:33rice vinegar, your red wine vinegar. You could also add wine as an acid, sometimes salad dressings.
05:40Another acid that I usually always add is some mustard. This just adds great flavor. So I go in
05:45with about a tablespoon of Dijon. Fourth component is a fat. If you think about a salad dressing,
05:51it does have a fat to balance out that vinegar usually in it. So I'm adding in some just plain
05:57olive oil. This also helps because that chicken is so lean. So we need a fat in there to keep
06:04it moist. You could stop there, but I think the fifth component is also important and that's just
06:08your flavorings, your aromatics, your seasonings. This is where you do you, boo. For me, it's always
06:14garlic, about two or three cloves. The smaller your garlic is chopped, the more flavor it has.
06:20So I love pushing it through a garlic press. I can just do like some lemon pepper, a little ginger,
06:26a little onion powder. You could also just chop up some onion if you've got remnants left in your
06:30fridge. Chili peppers would be good to add. And then herbs, that's the formula. Salt, sweet, acid, fat,
06:38and flavor. So now you've got to get it all up in there.
06:48We haven't even started a bowl yet, people. Now after I
06:52toss it, I like to squeeze out any extra air.
07:00An important part of the marinating process is time. The longer you have, the better, okay? I
07:06love at least four hours. If you're going to cook that night, prep it up in the morning. Even better
07:11if you can do it the night before. You just know this is going to be flavorful. If you do not have
07:15the time, something you could do is kind of make little slits in the chicken to allow that marinade
07:20to, you know, seep in more or pierce it with a fork before you put it in the bag. If you don't
07:24have time, don't skip this step, okay? There are ways around it. And then we're just going to leave
07:29it in the fridge until it's time to go grill. Lucky for you, I did one. Same exact measurements.
07:38So now get yourself some tongs, get yourself a pan, and hit the grill. I'm going gas grill because
07:47it's just the easiest. It's really easy to control. It doesn't take as long because you
07:53don't have to set up the coals. But there's one main point when it comes to the actual grilling,
07:58and that is for me. Start high and fast and finish lower and slower. So that's what I do. I get my
08:05grill fired up. If you are doing this on a charcoal grill, you'll want to set up a direct heat section
08:11and an indirect heat section. So you'll want to push all your coals to one side, get one side
08:15really hot, and then you can move it to an indirect side. When you're working with a gas grill, it's
08:20just a simple turn of a knob. You want to get your grill real hot. Once your grill is hot, you want
08:26to oil the grates. This is going to prevent the sticking. Again, that chicken does not have a lot
08:31of fat in it. I like to kind of get an old towel that's clean, of course. Put some oil down on it
08:41and using your tongs, just run them over the grates.
08:47Since it's so lean, it doesn't have that fat to help it keep from sticking. You could also
08:53just take a heat-proof brush and brush the grates. And then on goes the chicken. You want
08:58to put it presentation side down first. I like to put it down a little bit at a diagonal so I can
09:04make those beautiful crosshatch marks that you love.
09:09Earlier I told you I like to finish the salt part when it's on the grill,
09:14and so that's what I'm going to do now. Just a little sprinkle just for some extra flavor.
09:17You want to be careful for flare-ups because we don't want to really burn the outside. I think a
09:22lot of mistake people make is they cook the outside before the inside is cooked, and that's
09:27why you end up with this, you know, jerky style exterior to your grilled chicken. Chicken also has
09:33an internal thermometer that will tell you when it's time to move it. If it sticks a little bit
09:39to the grates, it's not ready to be touched. But since it's so high, it's going to happen
09:43kind of fast. So to get those crosshatches, we're going to take it from one diagonal to the other.
09:53At this point, I'm going to crank the heat down a little bit. Look at that.
10:07Okay, once they're flipped, this is when I like to add a little of the marinade.
10:11It'll have time to finish cooking. This is just extra flavor.
10:17Now you want to move it off the direct heat.
10:22Now I like to close it and just maintain your grill temperature to about like medium. So what
10:27would be like the equivalent of like 325 to 350 in the oven. This will climb up pretty fast after
10:32you close it. The main thing here is you don't want to overcook it. So if you need a little
10:37extra insurance, let's take our thermometer. Close. We want to get to like 162 to 165.
10:46Just maintain the temperature and let it cook without burning on the outside. For funsies,
10:52I'm throwing on a piece of chicken that's breaking all the rules.
10:56An unpounded, huge piece of chicken, salt and pepper, no marinade, high heat.
11:05The final rule, and this is just as important as the actual cooking process, is when they're done,
11:10you have to let them rest. You've worked so hard to keep those juices in. Let them live.
11:16Gorgeous. I'm going to kind of tent it to keep it warm.
11:27We're going to let it rest and I'm going to show you the fourth and final step
11:30on how to serve it up. While this chicken is going to be juicy enough to eat without a sauce,
11:34I'm gifting to you the perfect sauce for grilled chicken or anything off the grill,
11:40for that matter. And guess what? You don't have to cook it. I give to you my Italian
11:45salsa verde. This is like the Italian version of a chimichurri sauce and it's so easy. You just
11:50mix it all together, okay? You don't have to use a food processor but we're saving time.
11:55And I'm also going in with a couple of green onions, a couple tablespoons of capers,
11:59a couple cloves of garlic, a little squeeze of anchovy paste or a couple filets of anchovy.
12:04And you want to pulse this up until it's really fine or you can just chop it up really finely.
12:09That's what you want, just super finely chopped. Now we transfer it to a bowl.
12:15Okay, so then you just stir in the remaining ingredients. Crushed red pepper. And then this
12:19has a really nice bright lemon flavor so you want to use a couple teaspoons of zest and a
12:23couple tablespoons of juice. A little splash of red wine vinegar. And that's how you just
12:28stir in the olive oil. Oh man, that's so good. It's just so fresh and bright, okay? The moment
12:36you've all been waiting for. Time to serve up the perfect juicy chicken. Here's what it looks like
12:42after it's taken its little nap. It's not swimming in a puddle of juice but it has,
12:50you know, rested a little bit so we know that the juice is still inside the chicken. That's
12:54a good thing. You can tell how moist it is and you saw how easy it was to cut so we know it's tender.
13:01How does it taste? It's so good. It's so tender. It's flavorful. It's the perfect piece of grilled
13:09chicken. And here's how you can create the perfect bite with the perfect piece of grilled chicken.
13:18I just want to show you what happens when you break the rules. This is the chicken that broke
13:22all the rules. This was not made even to start with. It was cooked at the higher temperature
13:29until it was fully cooked through.
13:35No juice.
13:39Follow my four steps to grilled chicken and I promise it'll be perfectly juicy every single
13:43time. I think that's why people say they don't like chicken breast because they don't know how
13:46to cook a chicken breast. Exactly what I said. Okay, so y'all need to get together and watch
13:52this money's TV. Take the lesson. Right. A lesson.