Grilled Lemon-Parsley Chicken

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This is why I love having this blog.  I was going through pictures of recipes I needed to put up, and I had forgotten about this one!  It was so delicious and if I hadn't snapped this picture I may never have made it again.  What a tragedy.  We made this one night shortly before we moved to Alabama for the summer and with all the changes I had forgotten about it.  The recipe was in an actual cookbook I have that I didn't bring with me, so it wasn't something I could just look up online.  Anyway, in short, I didn't forget about it because it wasn't delicious - because it was.  It was some of the best grilled chicken I've ever eaten.  It's getting pretty chilly here in Pittsburgh, but if it's still warm where you are, or if you're brave enough to man the grill outside, then go ahead and make this one!  It's delicious!



The original recipe is for boneless skinless chicken breasts, but I used a whole chicken that I cut up into pieces (bone-in).  I used the recipe more for the marinade/sauce than anything else so I've made comments on how you'll have to adjust for bone-in, but it's delicious either way you do it.  Any piece of chicken will work!

Grilled Lemon-Parsley Chicken

6 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. minced fresh parsley
1 1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
2 T. water
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed; (or whatever chicken pieces you prefer to use for grilling)

Whisk 3 T. oil, 1 T. lemon juice, parsley, 1/4 tsp. sugar, mustard, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper together in bowl and set aside for serving.

Whisk remaining 3 T. oil, 1 T. lemon juice, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, water, and garlic together in bowl.  Place marinade and chicken in 1-gallon zip-lock bag and toss to coat.  Press out as much air as possible and seal bag.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, flipping bag every 15 minutes.

For a charcoal grill: Open bottom vent completely.  Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts).  When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill.  Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely.  Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

For a gas grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes.  Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s).

Clean and oil cooking grate.  Remove chicken from bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off. Place chicken on cooler side of grill, smooth side down (or skin side down if using bone-in), with thicker sides facing coals and flames.  Cover and cook until bottom of chicken just begins to develop light grill marks and is no longer translucent, 6-9 minutes.

Flip chicken and rotate so that thinner sides face coals and flames.  Cover and continue to cook until chicken is opaque and firm to touch, 6-9 minutes longer*.

Move chicken to hot side of grill and cook until dark grill marks appear on both side and chicken register 160 degrees (175 for legs & thighs), 2-6 minutes longer (again, total cooking time will be longer for bone-in chicken).

Transfer chicken to carving board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  Slice each breast on bias into 1/4" thick slices and transfer to individual plates (or serve whole if desired).  Drizzle with reserved sauce and serve.

*If using chicken pieces with skin and bone in, you'll need to cook the chicken longer. 

Source: Cook's Illustrated Cookbook