Grilled BBQ chicken breasts that are moist and juicy are easy with a few simple steps. Fire up the backyard grill and enjoy one of our favorite and simplest grilled chicken recipes.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—skinless boneless breast
BBQ sauce—your choice or use my Memphis Style BBQ Sauce
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Featured Comment from Basil :
"Best bbq'd SBCBs we've ever eaten. Perfect!"
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Everybody wants to grill juicy skinless boneless chicken breasts, but they all get dried-out hockey pucks. Let's get it right; it is not that hard to keep it moist and tender on your gas or charcoal grill with my simple step-by-step photo instructions.
👨🍳How to Grill BBQ Chicken Breasts—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Trim chicken breasts.
2. Thin to ¾ inches if thicker.
3. Optional brine if you wish.
4. Clean and preheat grill to 450° to 500°.
5. Pat dry the chicken and brush lightly with the BBQ sauce of your choice.
6. Place over direct heat. Flip every 5 minutes.
7. About 3-4 minutes before done, brush both sides with sauce. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165°—about 30 minutes of total grill time.
8. Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏲️How long to cook BBQ chicken breasts on the grill?
About 30 minutes of total grill time at the recommended grill surface temperature of 450°.
But total time will vary by the exact grill temperature and thickness of the breasts. The thinner breasts may be in the 25-minute range, and those huge thick ones may take 35 minutes.
🌡️When is chicken done and safe to eat?
According to the USDA, any chicken or poultry like turkey must reach 165° internal temperature to be safe. Chicken breasts are done at that temperature. Chicken thighs and drumsticks are more tender at 185°+ when the fibrous tissue has melted.
Should you brine
The brine will moisturize and tenderize the chicken and is recommended if you have time, especially if the chicken has been previously frozen, which may dry the chicken.
The recommended brine is relatively heavy in salt. According to Cooks Illustrated, this brine concentration is recommended for chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours. The chicken gets saltier if over 1 hour, so I'm suggesting 1-hour maximum. Even 20 minutes of brining will do a reasonably good job of brining.
While we no longer recommend rinsing chicken, you should always rinse carefully after brining. Also, don't add any more salt after the brine is used. You can grill a chicken breast and keep it moist without the brine, but it requires attention and skill.
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Chicken Breast Recipes
For more grilled chicken breast options, see the complete guide to Grilled Chicken Breasts. For extra moist and juicy try Reverese Seared Chicken Breasts,
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with chicken filets, and Grilled Honey Chicken Breasts for a fast and easy change of pace. For more oven chicken breast recipes, check out fast and juicy Convection Baked Chicken and super easy and fast Pan Seared Oven Baked Chicken Breasts.
How to serve BBQ chicken breasts
They can easily be served on a bun with condiments and more Memphis Style BBQ sauce. Served with chips or Grilled French fries. Other side dishes like a green salad, corn on the cob, or Grilled Mixed Vegetables.
How to store and reheat leftovers
Store any leftover BBQ chicken breasts in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days or frozen for 3 months.
Reheat them in the microwave, oven, or grill. If frozen, thaw first.
❓FAQs
Yes, but the final internal temperature for thighs should be 185°+ and will take a few minutes more grilling time.
A very light coat of BBQ sauce at the beginning creates a base for the last coat. You do not have to do that, but I recommend it. The sauce will adhere much better. It does not burn if you have the grill temp correct and don't overcook the chicken.
♨️Grill setup
A grill surface temperature of about 450° is best for any grilled chicken. A little less is fine, and a smidge more is OK, but never over 500°. You can NOT cook chicken properly on high heat. You will dry the outside long before the inside is even close to done or safe.
To get the grill temperature correct, you should use a grill surface thermometer. The hood thermometer is ALWAYS wrong. Please see my guide to controlling your Grill Temperature for more discussion.
If you don't have a surface thermometer (you should), medium to medium-high heat will be about 400°-500° on most gas grills. The cooking time will be different, but you will do OK if you get the end-point of an internal temperature of 165° correct with an instant-read thermometer.
Charcoal Grill
With charcoal grills, you need to be very careful about surface temperature. And, of course, times will vary. On most charcoal grills, you will need to adjust the venting and the amount of charcoal. And it is a good idea to have a cooler area on the grill surface to use if needed.
📖 Recipe
Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts
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Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoon BBQ sauce of choice
Brine (optional)
- 3 cups water - cold
- 1 ½ tablespoons table salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
Instructions
- Trim skinless boneless chicken breast of any trimmable fat. Try to use chicken breasts of about the same size. And if you get some that are very plump, flatten them down a little with a meat mallet or the bottom of a pan to about ¾ inch thick.
- Optional Brine: Mix brine of 3 cups water, 1 ½ tablespoons table salt, 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar, and ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional). Add chicken, submerge, and refrigerate for 30 minutes (no more than 1 hour). Remove chicken from the brine and rinse lightly under running water. Please be careful and wash up the surrounding area and your hands.
- Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of 450°-500°, which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
- Pat dry the chicken breasts with paper towels.
- Brush lightly with the BBQ sauce of your choice.
- Place over direct heat.
- Flip about every 5 minutes. About 3-4 minutes before done, brush both sides with sauce. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165°—about 30 minutes of total grill time. But total time will vary by the exact grill temperature and thickness of the breasts. The thinner breast may be in the 25-minute range, and those huge thick ones may take 35 minutes.
- Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
- This brine is relatively heavy in salt, so a maximum time of 1 hour please. Rinse to remove extra salt. The brine is optional but recommended.
- Total grilling time will vary by the exact grill temperature and thickness of the breasts. The thinner breasts may be in the 25-minute range, and those huge thick ones may take 35 minutes. But 30 minutes is average.
- If you have a breast that has a large variation in thickness, using a meat mallet to even things out a bit is a good idea. Try for about ¾ inches thick.
- I like a very light coat of BBQ sauce at the start to create a base for later. It does not burn, but omit if you wish.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editors Note: Originally published August 1, 2011. It was in need of a rewrite, some better photo editing, and some clarification of technique.
Fae says
Hello- First let me say YELLOW DOG!!! Everybody loves a yellow dog <3
Secondly, let me say thank you for addressing the size variables of BSCB
And finally, I am making this as we speak...so to speak. The recipe looks great and the instructions for the brine were very clear. This is the first time I have tried it. I went looking for recipes because grilling BSCB can be tricky.
Thanks bunches!
Basil says
Best bbq'd SBCBs we've ever eaten. Perfect!
Thank you.
Kris says
So the reason you use table salt instead of Kosher salt in this brine is to speed up the process? I always use Kosher salt in my brines.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kris,
I don't think it matters as long as the equivalent amount of salt is used. It is all sodium chloride.
1 teaspoon table salt = 1 1/4 teaspoon Morton kosher salt = 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Dan
Chuck says
Used siracha instead of cayenne and also did a honey brown sugar glaze, So Good !
DrDan says
Hi Chuck,
Welcome to the blog.
I love sriracha sauce, especially on tuna sandwiches but also with chicken. It adds something special. My wife does not share my enthusiasm so it doesn't appear in the "cooking for two" recipes.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan