Grilled Basil Garlic Chicken Breasts

Today’s recipe for Grilled Basil Garlic Chicken Breasts is one of our go-to recipes for the summer, and it is great paired with the Grilled Balsamic Peaches recipe we shared with you yesterday!

These grilled basil garlic chicken breasts use skin-on, boneless breasts and the skin helps keep the chicken super moist as it grills. The simple coating of garlic, basil, and extra virgin olive oil adds a ton of flavor to this dish, and the skins crisps up to a wonderful golden color. Even if you choose not to eat the skin, leave it on while you grill this chicken to ensure that it stays moist and delicious!

These grilled basil garlic chicken breast along with the sweet grilled peaches, is a simple recipe that is great for a weeknight summer dinner, but it’s also delicious and impressive enough to serve for a weekend summer dinner party! Enjoy!

Grilled Basil Garlic Chicken Breasts

Serves: 4 servings

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Finding boneless skin-on chicken breast seems to be a challenge (at least where we live) so we bought skin-on bone-in chicken breasts and removed the bone. With a sharp small knife such as a boning knife, run the blade along the rib cage to separate the breast from the bone. You can freeze the bones for the next time you make homemade chicken stock.

Ingredients

4 large boneless skin-on chicken breast halves (10-12 ounces each)
3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
½ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix garlic, basil and oil. Add additional oil if necessary.
Smear the mixture on both sides of the chicken breasts being careful to leave the skins intact. Sprinkle both sides with a small amount of salt and pepper. (The chicken may be allowed to marinate for up to 6 hours if desired.)
Over a medium fire, place chicken skin side down to crisp skin, about 8-10 minutes. Watch the temperature to make sure they do not burn. We leave the tenderloin on our chicken breasts so they are fairly thick – if you are doing the same, close the cover for a few minutes to raise the heat. Flip the breasts over and cook for another 6-8 minutes, again with the cover closed part of the time to have the grill function as an oven. (If your chicken breasts are not thick, the cover should be left open.
Note: If you are not comfortable telling when meat is done, pull one off and slice into a thick part to make sure there is no pink. They will sit after they come off the grill and will cook a bit on your platter so do not leave on too long.
Remove the chicken from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve either whole or sliced for your family or guests with our Grilled Balsamic Peaches.