After my picky eater rant, I need some comfort food. Roast chicken. On the grill of course.
*And yes, my picky eaters will eat it. Or, at least, they'll have a few bites.
If you insist on grilling over direct heat, chicken pieces are hard. Direct heat means huge flareups as chicken fat drips onto the coals. You have to constantly move the chicken, and if your attention falters for even a second, the result is burned chicken. I prefer a more relaxed method - using indirect heat and grill roasting the chicken, with a quick sear over direct heat at the end to crisp up the skin.
Today I'm cooking chicken breasts. I usually prefer dark meat, because it has more flavor…but bone in breasts were on sale at the grocery store. That's OK - as long as the chicken breasts are not overcooked, no more than 155°F to 160°F, they will be tender and juicy.
I rubbed the chicken with my favorite dry brine, equal parts kosher salt and minced herbs. Any mix of herbs will do. I went with rosemary and thyme because the herb bushes in my front yard are growing like mad.
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📖 Recipe Card
Grill-Roasted Chicken Breasts Dry Brined with Herbs
- Total Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Bone-in chicken breasts dry brined with salt, rosemary, thyme and pepper, grill-roasted over indirect heat, then crisped over the coals.
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in chicken breast pieces (about 4 pounds), ribs trimmed
Dry Brine
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 ½ teaspoons table salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dry brine the chicken: Mix the dry brine ingredients, and sprinkle evenly over the chicken, about 1 teaspoon per piece. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Prepare the grill: Set up the grill for indirect high heat. (On a charcoal grill, light a full chimney of charcoal, and when it's mostly covered with gray ash, pour it into two piles on either side, with a drip pan in between.)
- Grill-roast: Put the chicken over indirect heat, between the coals. Cook with the lid closed until the chicken reaches 155°F, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Crisp the skin: Move the chicken over direct heat, and sear until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
- Rest and serve: Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then serve.
Notes
Use whatever herbs you have - oregano and parsley, dill and chives - and a little lemon zest never hurts.
Dark meat: Legs, thighs or drumsticks work great too. Cook them to 170°F.
No grill? Use the technique from my Sear Roasted Chicken Breasts.
See my Grill-Roasted Chicken Pieces Basic Technique. For more, try my Thai Style Grill-Roasted Chicken Breasts.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Dry brine: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Basic Technique: Grill-Roasted Chicken Pieces
Thai Style Grill-Roasted Chicken Breasts
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Cristina Ungstad Yu says
Thank you for answering the question 'do you rinse dry-brined chicken before cooking?' I was finding it hard to find an answer to that question. I'll try out this recipe:-)
Chelsea says
Do you have to rinse off the brined meat before cooking?
Mike Vrobel says
Nope! No rinsing.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Dry brine them for four hours, cook over direct medium heat (like I do here: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/grilled-boneless-chicken-breasts-with-citrus-marinade/ )
Harry says
What would you change if you were using boneless/skinless breasts?
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
It is! Didn't I mention that?I didn't mention that. Thank you for reminding me!They are drip pan potatoes. See my rotisserie drip pan potatoes recipe: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/rotisserie-pan-potatoes/ The basic idea: Cut a pound of new potatoes in half, sprinkle with salt, toss with olive oil, and microwave for six minutes to par-cook them. Then, put them in the drip pan under the chicken and let them roast in the delicious chicken drippings.
Miz Chicken Delight says
Hold on babalu, just one minute...What is that UNDER the chicken? Could it be precooked red potatoes crisping up in the savory juices of the chicken breasts above? That is brilliant, absolutely genius brilliant.