Summer Grilled Chicken Recipes

Chicken is the bird of summer. It’s relatively healthy, grills up fast, and changes its character, depending on what you marinate it with, and how you sauce or glaze it. Here, to inspire three months of grilling, are 7 of our favorite ways to make the most of this most seasonal of proteins.

1. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lime Cilantro Marinade

Some of the same stuff that flavors good guacamole—lime, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro —goes into the marinade for these. It’s a dish as laidback as guac, too, whether cut up fajitas-style or served whole. Get our Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lime Cilantro Marinade recipe.

2. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Easy Lemon Marinade

Light and zesty as summer itself, the marinade gives these boneless and skinless chicken breasts a bright hit of lemon, chile, and black pepper. This is a recipe you’ll lean on often. Get our Grilled Chicken Breasts with Easy Lemon Marinade recipe.

3. Spicy Yogurt Chicken

In vivid style, yogurt, lemon, fresh ginger, garlic, smoked and hot paprika, cumin, and cayenne flavor cubes of boneless chicken thigh. Thread the pieces onto skewers, fire up the grill, and enjoy a perfect taste of summer. Get our Spicy Yogurt Chicken recipe.

4. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Rosemary Marinade

The high-flavor marinade combines balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, black pepper, and fresh rosemary, giving the grilled breasts an unusually bold flavor profile. Get our Grilled Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Rosemary Marinade recipe.

5. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Honey-Dijon Marinade

Honey and Dijon go into a time-honored dip for fast-food chicken nuggets, why not apply them to the marinade for grilled breasts at home? Sweetness and pungency in perfect balance, to give chicken breasts the oomph they need. Get our Grilled Chicken Breasts with Honey-Dijon Marinade recipe.

6. Grilled Chicken Thighs with Soy Marinade

Simpler and lighter than teriyaki, this marinade of soy sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, and garlic is a three-ingredient wonder for making grilled chicken thighs taste delicious. Since you probably already have the marinade ingredients in your pantry, it’s good for impromptu meals, too. Get our Grilled Chicken Thighs with Soy Marinade recipe.

7. Grilled Chicken Thighs with Miso Marinade

Sweet, earthy yellow miso blends with fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy, and chile garlic sauce to make the fullest-flavored marinade imaginable for chicken thighs. Get our Grilled Chicken Thighs with Miso Marinade recipe.

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