By pre-cooking in the oven (low and slow) before using the grill, you can learn how to grill chicken to perfection. Thus, you can relax and enjoy your guests without worrying that you’ll serve them undercooked or dry chicken because you’ll know it’s fully cooked and juicy.
Recently I found a way to make grilled chicken foolproof. What I mean is that it’s a method of grilling chicken where you can be certain that the meat is cooked through and that it will be juicy and tender, never dry.
This approach is great if you’re having friends over because you can complete the majority of it in advance. If you have a lot of friends, this recipe is for you because you can make a large batch of it!
The Key To Perfectly Grilled Chicken:
To ensure that it is fully cooked and prepared for the grill, precook it in the oven ahead of time. You can cook it slowly by preparing it in advance, which results in nice, juicy, and tender meat. And since most of the work is done in advance, it gives you time to relax during grilling season.
How To Grill Chicken Video:
For this recipe, we’re using bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks. I prefer skinless but skin-on works too. No matter what I do, I can never get the skin on the meat really crispy on the grill. Skinless meat, however, can be more difficult to come by or more expensive.
Chicken breasts are not ideal for this method. However, chicken breasts with the bone in and skin on are best if you really want to. I’ve written a separate post about grilling boneless, skinless chicken breasts for you over here. They require a different method.
Want to grill a whole chicken? Get the instructions here.
Finally, if it’s wings you’re craving, you can learn how to grill chicken wings here.
How To Grill Chicken, Step-By-Step
Purchase large quantities of bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks for a large gathering. See the tip in Step #2 after cooking it in the oven with the skin on.
Season the chicken with a spice rub up to two days before the event (see printable recipe below) and bake at 300°F for roughly an hour.
Tip: After an hour of baking, test with an instant-read thermometer. The chicken should be at least at 165°F internally. If it’s over that, it’s ok. It’ll still be juicy!
The chicken is then taken out of the oven and allowed to cool slightly on the counter.
Just pull the skins off if you don’t want them on after the chicken has cooled down a bit but before adding sauce, I just learned this and had to edit this recipe to tell you about it. Although I prefer skinless, as I stated in step 1, this is a great trick to use if you can’t find any or there’s a deal on skin-on!
Extra Hint: Remove any skin that is attached to the bone by snipping it away with a pair of clean kitchen shears, also known as scissors.
Extra Extra Tip: These kitchen shears come apart for better washing, which is especially good for when we use them on chicken to make sure they’re sanitized.
The skin helps the chicken retain some moisture and adds flavor to the meat while cooking, and this method of removing the skin after cooking is much simpler than skinning the chicken before cooking. Win-win!.
Brush the chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce. I love this homemade basic barbecue sauce. It only requires three basic ingredients, but there are instructions for modifying it in various ways so you can add extra spices like paprika and garlic powder to make it your own.
Refrigerate chicken until dinner time.
Use tongs to transfer the chicken pieces to a grill at medium heat that is prepped for direct heat cooking. Cook, turning occasionally (I use nice, long tongs like these so that my hands don’t get too close to the heat), until there are grill marks on all sides and the meat is heated through, about 8 to 10 minutes total. You can baste them with sauce halfway through if you’d like but note that this can dislodge or hide the grill marks. I don’t usually baste midway through for this reason.
Note that you can instead broil the chicken. Place the chicken in a safe pan under your broiler. Pre-heat the broiler. Place the chicken on the broiler pan about six inches from the heat. After flipping the chicken, continue to broil it until dark spots start to appear on the other side. Taste some chicken to make sure it’s heated through. 8 to 12 minutes should be needed overall (about 4-6 minutes per side).
Serve with lots of napkins and your favorite side dishes.
How To Grill Chicken Perfectly
Before going on the grill, this grilled chicken is first precooked (low and slow) in the oven. Thus, you can relax and enjoy your guests without worrying that you’ll serve them undercooked or dry chicken because you’ll know it’s fully cooked and juicy.
By clicking the play button below, you can hear me briefly describe how to make this chicken and pick up some helpful tips along the way:
*Note: You can instead broil the chicken. Place the chicken in a safe pan under your broiler. Pre-heat the broiler. Place the chicken on the broiler pan about six inches from the heat. After flipping the chicken, continue to broil it until dark spots start to appear on the other side. Taste some chicken to make sure it’s heated through. 8 to 12 minutes should be needed overall (about 4-6 minutes per side).
This recipe was originally published in July 2014. It was revised and republished in June 2022.
FAQ
How long does it take to cook chicken breasts at 300 degrees?
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put the chicken in a shallow pan on a broiling rack. Apply 1 teaspoon of olive oil to each breast, then generously rub in the herb mixture. Bake 40 minutes, covered with foil, basting occasionally.
How long will chicken take at 300 degrees?
Pour a little water over chicken to prevent drying. Bake for three hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius), baste as necessary.
How long do you grill chicken at 325?
Then, continue to grill the chicken covered, without turning, for an additional 30 to 45 minutes, or until the thigh juices run clear when pierced. (Cooking takes between one hour and one hour, fifteen minutes. ) Add coals if needed after 30minutes of grilling. Grill temperature should maintain about 325 degrees.
Can I grill at 300 degrees?
True barbecue and indirect grilling at medium-low heat (275 to 300 degrees) Good for ribs and pork shoulder.