The Best Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
If you’re looking for a flavorful, versatile and simple grilled chicken thigh recipe, hi hello, you’ve come to the right place. These grilled boneless chicken thighs are juicy, smoky, and packed with flavor. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, an impressive backyard dinner party, or high-protein meal prep lunches.
Erica’s Thoughts
Let’s be real, chicken kinda sucks. 😬
I hail from the land of nutrition geeks and gym cronies and I have seen waaaay too much boring chicken in my time. Plus, chicken just isn’t my favorite protein. It’s a great source of lean protein, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t always gravitate towards it because… meh.
But we’re changing things. I hope you’re familiar with my baked meal prep chicken breast (which is chicken I do genuinely love) because today’s chicken recipe is similar-ish. The goal was for a chicken thigh recipe that is flavorful and crave-able but not caged into being one thing like ‘BBQ chicken thighs’ or ‘buffalo chicken’ or ‘herb chicken’. I wanted it to taste delicious but be versatile enough to go with anything. And so that’s what we’ve got going on! Simple grilled chicken thighs that you can serve with your favorite sides, slice and put in tacos or salads, wrap in a burrito, stuff inside sandwiches or sliders, throw on pizzas or pasta.
Now, my girls are also not ‘chicken people’, but they both ate like five slices of a chicken thigh and that is a WIN in my book. We’ve eaten this chicken three times in the past two weeks and I love to pair it with garlic bread and a simple tomato and peach caprese salad. Late summer dinner-ing at its finest!
Oh and guess what – if you really have your ish together, prep and marinate the chicken thighs the night before and you’ll cry with relief when 5pm rolls around the next day. You’re welcome.
Simple Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs: About 1 ½ pounds of boneless, skinless thighs. I buy the organic ones from Costco!
Olive oil: A good-quality extra virgin olive oil adds richness and helps carry all the spices into the meat. Olive oil also protects against potentially harmful carcinogens that may occur when grilling.
Low-sodium soy sauce: You don’t really taste the soy sauce, it moreso adds baseline flavor to the marinade.
Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice or 100% lemon juice not from concentrate for the best flavor.
Mayonnaise: Yep, mayo. It keeps the chicken moist and helps the marinade stick.
Honey: Honey provides the sweetness to balance the marinade and helps the chicken caramelize beautifully on the grill.
Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves or lately I’ve been loving the shortcut of fresh garlic paste, you can find it in the produce aisle near the herbs at any regular grocery store.
Spices: Kosher salt, black pepper, dried oregano, smoked paprika or your favorite meat or chicken seasoning blend.
How to Make this Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs Recipe
Prep the chicken: Trim away any large pieces of fat. Pat the thighs dry and place them in a shallow dish or Ziploc bag.
Make the marinade: In a small blender or jar, combine olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, mayo, honey, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and smoked paprika. Blend or whisk until creamy and emulsified. Reserve 3 tablespoons of marinade in a small bowl for basting (before adding the chicken).
Marinate: Pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken, making sure it coats evenly. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
Grill: Preheat your grill to high (about 450°F / 232°C). I use our gas grill, but you can also use a charcoal grill. Oil the grates. Place chicken thighs on the preheated grill, laying thighs flat. Close the grill and cook for 4 minutes. Rotate 90 degrees without flipping to get nice grill marks, cook 2 more minutes. Flip, brush with reserved marinade, and cook another 5 minutes until the thickest part of the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) when checked with a meat thermometer. Flip once more, brush again, and remove grilled thighs to a serving platter.
Serve: Let chicken rest a couple minutes, then serve hot with your favorite side dishes. I love balsamic asparagus, caprese salad and garlic bread!
Variation Ideas
- Brown sugar or cane sugar will work in lieu of honey
- If you don’t have lemon, use lime juice, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- Other proteins that work well with this marinade: skinless chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, shrimp
- Use your favorite spice blend or all-purpose seasoning mix if desired
FAQs
Yes! Grill over medium heat with a two-zone fire. Start skin side down, then finish indirect until 165°F. It will take longer for bone-in chicken thighs to cook, about 25-30 minutes.
I promise you can’t taste it but if you really have problems with it you can try the recipe with full-fat Greek yogurt instead.
Use tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
No. Make sure to reserve several tablespoons of marinade before pouring the rest on the raw chicken.
Oven: Bake at 450°F for 18-22 minutes, flipping and basting 1-2 times throughout cooking process.
Cast-iron indoor grill pan: medium-high 5-6 minutes per side.
Air fryer: preheat air fryer to 375°F. Place chicken thighs in a single layer and cook for 14-17 minutes, flipping halfway through and basting with the reserved marinade.
Yes. Pound to an even thickness, marinate as directed, and grill for 5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Generally about 6 thighs, depending on size.
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat gently in the microwave or air fryer.
Yes, freeze in an airtight container or vacuum-sealed bag for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge and grill as directed.
Do you have ideas for how to use any leftover chicken?
Well yeah, of course! 👇🏼
Broccoli and chicken pasta bake
Street corn chicken rice bowls
Dry chicken be gone! I hope you enjoy this chicken thigh recipe as much as my family does.
If you try and like this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating down below! If you love more lifestyle, behind the scenes and ‘eating in real life’ type of content come find me over on Instagram, @itsaflavorfullife, I love connecting with you all there!
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The Best Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes + time to marinate
- Total Time: 21 minutes + 30 minutes – 24 hours for marinating
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
My go-to grilled chicken thigh recipe! – easy, crowd-pleasing and perfect for summer cookouts, weeknight dinners, or meal prep.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons garlic paste or 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon EACH kosher salt, black pepper and dried oregano *see note
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Instructions
- Prep the chicken: Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim away large pieces of excess fat from the chicken thighs. Pat thighs dry with a paper towel and place in a shallow dish or Ziploc bag.
- Whisk or blend the marinade: In a small blender or jar, combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, ¼ cup mayo, ¼ cup honey, 2 teaspoons garlic paste or minced garlic, 1 teaspoon EACH kosher salt, pepper, and oregano, and 2 teaspoons smoked paprika. Blend, shake or whisk vigorously until creamy and emulsified. Set aside three tablespoons of marinade in a small bowl for basting.
- Marinate: Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken thighs, ensuring they are evenly covered with marinade on all sides. Marinate for 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
- Grill the chicken: Preheat grill to high, about 450°F (232°C) and oil the grill grates with a pastry brush or oiled paper towel. Use tongs to place chicken on the grill, making sure to fully unfold each thigh so it is as flat as possible. Close the grill and let cook for 4 minutes. Without flipping them over, rotate the chicken thighs 90 degrees and continue cooking on this same side for 2 more minutes (this creates the desirable cross-hatch grill marks). Flip chicken and use a pastry brush to brush on the reserved marinade, close grill and cook another 5 minutes, until chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) internally. Flip one more time, brush with marinade, then remove chicken thighs to a plate.
- Serve hot with your favorite sides! I’m loving a simple peach caprese salad and hunk of garlic bread. Mmmmmm.
Notes
Spices: You can use 2-3 teaspoons all-purpose meat or chicken seasoning like this Kinders blend in lieu of the salt/pepper/oregano/paprika. If you use a blend without salt, be sure to keep ½-1 teaspoon kosher salt in the marinade.
Serving thoughts: this chicken is great in just about anything. Use it sliced on salads, in tacos, rice bowls, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, soups or casserole.
Refer to above blog post for variation ideas, expert tips and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 chicken thigh
- Calories: 276
- Sugar: 9.1 g
- Sodium: 428 mg
- Fat: 17.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.3 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 19.1 g
- Cholesterol: 92.6 mg
As usual, SO good! Definitely nailed an all around marinade. Approved by a four year old and a picky spouse 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Yaaaay happy to hear it Lisa thank you! You are ON IT haha!
Delicious! I couldn’t stop tasting the extra marinade after I made it. The marinade alone is so good! The chicken was a hit with my family – husband and 3 kids all loved! I used brown sugar instead of honey.
I marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs for only 1 hour with this recipe last night and wow! What a hit with my husband and 4 year old.
The whole family (11 people, 5 of them being children) loved this recipe!
Woot woot! Thanks for making it Tessa, so glad you and the fam enjoyed it!
Everyone in my family loved the flavor of this chicken! Would absolutely recommend, and it’s found a home on our regular rotation!