These juicy 20-minute Mediterranean grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs are infused with rosemary, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. The rosemary and garlic chicken marinade is the same as these grilled lamb chops, and it's so delicious!
Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Thighs
My holy grail Mediterranean marinade is simple: lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, and herbs (optional). It's the same marinade I use for slow-roasted chicken thighs and potatoes, and spatchcock lemon chicken.
Ingredient Notes
Use boneless skinless chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breasts. I recommend fresh garlic cloves pulverized into a paste using a mortar and pestle or crushed using a garlic press. I prefer fresh rosemary rather than dried, but dried can be substituted. Lemon juice is best from freshly squeezed lemons.
How To Make Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Make the marinade. Mash the peeled garlic with a pinch of salt using a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, use a garlic press.
Add the chopped rosemary, crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice to a small bowl. Mix the chicken marinade ingredients well.
Pour the chicken marinade over the chicken thighs in a large bowl and mix.
Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Add the chicken thighs to a preheated grill. Avoid the grill hot spots. You don't want to cook these too quickly.
Flip the chicken thighs after about 4 to 6 minutes. The cooking time depends on the temperature of the grill.
Serve with a bright salad like fattoush or shirazi salad, or butter-roasted potatoes.
Tips and Tricks
- For juicy chicken thighs, don't overcook the chicken. Many articles on the web talk about cooking dark meat to an internal temperature of 165℉ (or greater), which will result in dry chicken. I referenced The Food Lab book (by Kenji Lopez-Alt), and it gives a time vs. temperature curve for when chicken is safe: an internal temperature of 155℉ for 45 seconds, 160℉ for 14 seconds, and 165℉ instantaneously. So if the thickest part of the meat reads 155℉ for greater than 45 seconds, it's safe and juicy!
- Marinate the chicken. I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but you can marinate for longer if desired. Also, you can batch-marinate these chicken thighs and freeze them for a later date.
📋 Recipe
Mediterranean Grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken dark meat or white meat, see note 1
- 5 cloves garlic fresh
- 1 large lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary optional
- 1 sprig fresh oregano optional
Instructions
- Peel and mash the garlic using a mortar and pestle. You can also crush the garlic using a garlic press. Add the olive oil, chopped rosemary, chopped oregano, crushed garlic, lemon juice, and salt to a bowl. Mix well.
- Pour the chicken marinade onto the boneless chicken. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Grill the chicken on a preheated grill for about 6 to 8 minutes per side until cooked through.
Notes
- Six servings of this marinade make enough to marinate 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken or 3 to 4 pounds of bone-in skin-on chicken, like bone-in chicken thighs or a whole chicken.
- Choice of meat: use chicken tenders, chicken breast, butterflied chicken, whole chicken cut up into pieces, bone-in chicken thighs, or a whole chicken. This marinade also goes well with lamb.
- My favorite ways to cook chicken:
- Oven: My favorite way to cook bone-in chicken is a slow-roast in the oven. I normally do 2-2.5 hours at 325℉.
- Stovetop: Another quick and easy way to prepare boneless/skinless chicken is on the stovetop with a large frying pan. Heat olive oil in the pan, and pan sear the chicken on both sides for about 6 to 8 minutes until cooked through.
Dennis says
Great marinade for the chicken thighs. Made these on a propane grill and didn’t have the heat so hot so they took a tad longer to grill. Might use a meat thermometer to check them or cut into them and make sure cooked through
Lily says
Thanks for the comment Dennis! How long did they take on a propane grill?