Grilled Chicken Thighs

We grill chicken thighs for a budget-friendly weeknight dinner. I love many things about chicken thighs—the meat is delicious, moist, and flavorful because the fat keeps it that way.

But the fat is also the problem, causing flare-ups and burning when grilling. I first trim the fat as much as possible. Second, I suggest "uneven grilling," where the skin faces up more than down during cooking to prevent burning, and I move around the grill to avoid fat flair-ups.

⏲️How Long to Grill Chicken Thighs

It takes about 25 to 30 minutes grilling time to cook bone-in chicken thighs, but the exact grill temperature, the thickness of the thighs, and their temperature at the start of grilling will make the exact time variable.

Boneless skinless thighs will be about 10 minutes less and tend to be thinner, so watch your internal temperature starting at 15 minutes.

Always cook to a final internal temperature. Please, never by time alone. Use an instant-read or meat thermometer.

Seasoning options

Kosher salt and black pepper would do, but use the seasoning of your choice. We use All Purpose Seasoning (7:2:2) with kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Other herbs and spices may also be used.

To make BBQ grilled chicken thighs, use a BBQ rub and brush lightly with your favorite BBQ sauce or our Memphis Barbecue Sauce for the last 5 minutes to make great BBQ thighs. Give them a second brush of sauce when you remove the thighs from the grill.

Another good option is a marinade, like my lemon chicken marinade.

🌡️The best final internal temperature for chicken thighs is 185°

The best final internal temperature for grilled chicken thighs is 185° to 195° when the connective tissue melts, and the meat becomes moist and tender. According to the FDA recommendations, chicken's minimum safe internal temperature is 165° for chicken, but thighs will be tough and stringy from connective tissue.

At 175 °, the connective tissue will start to melt 175°. By 185°, you will get moist and tender results. America Test Kitchen takes it further for both thighs and drumsticks, suggesting 190° to 195° as the target internal temperature range.

Grilling boneless skinless chicken thighs

While this recipe assumes skin-on bone-in chicken thighs, the meat is all the same and will cook. You can also use skinless boneless chicken thighs. The bone absorbs heat, and I find boneless skinless thighs will cook about 10 minutes faster since they are usually thinner, so pay attention to the internal temperature.

I suggest brushing vegetable or olive oil before seasoning and grilling. Since you have no chicken skin to protect, you can skip the uneven timing of the flipping but still move them around the grill surface to avoid flair-ups.

Other Great Chicken Recipes

For drumsticks, see Grilled Chicken Drumsticks or Oven Baked Chicken Legs. For chicken breasts, see Grilled Chicken Breasts or Convection Baked Chicken. And if you are cooking for a large group, see Chicken for a Crowd.

Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs

Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs are roasted perfectly in 30 minutes and seasoned to your taste. Using a convection oven for crispy skin, these moist and tender chicken thighs will become a family favorite.

♨️Grill temperature

The grill should be 450°-500° surface temperature. That is usually about medium-high heat on most gas grills. Preheat the entire grill, not just a section, so you can move the thighs around to prevent flair-ups.

Other grills, like pellet or charcoal grills, may be used as long as you can control the grill temperature and have a larger surface area.

If you have questions about grill setup, see A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.

🍴Serving suggestions

Serve with a fresh green garden salad and potatoes of some type, like Grilled Red Potatoes or potato salad. Grill vegetables or Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glazed Grilled Pineapple are also great side dishes.

Storing leftovers and reheating

Store in an airtight container refrigerated for 3-4 days. They will freeze well for 4 months.

To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in an oven or air fryer. A microwave will adversely affect the texture.

What is uneven grilling—The secret to grilled thighs

Uneven grilling is my method to avoid flare-ups from draining fat and burnt skin. So, it's only needed in skin-on thighs.

1. The skin side of the thighs can burn quickly, so you should have less time facing the flames. Start with skin side up for the first period and grill for 5-6 minutes. Flip to skin side down for 4 minutes. Continue to go back and forth using the same timing until done.
2. Alternate sides of the grill surface with each flip. You will get fat drainage flare-ups. Moving the chicken to the other side of the grill at the flips will allow hot spots from fat drainage to burn out.

You can skip the uneven grilling times for skinless thighs—you have no chicken skin you are trying to protect. But you will still need a large surface area to move around and avoid flare-ups from the fat drainage.