You know what I love most about The BEST 3 Ingredient Grilled Chicken Recipe? Besides it being extra moist and juicy, it only has 3 super simple ingredients I’m sure you already have on hand! Grill extra for leftovers and you’ll have a headstart on so many meal options!
One of the most common requests I get from readers is asking for quick and easy recipes that let you get dinner on the table day after day. You guys like simple recipes that are made with normal ingredients that most people already have in their pantries and fridges and so do I.
A hack on making dinner preparation easier.
Here’s my #1 time saver, get the dinner on the table day in and day out hack. If I have meat thawed and ready to go I know I can easily come up with something for dinner.
You know what is even more helpful? Having meat already prepared and sitting in the fridge all ready to go. If I have meat cooked, sliced, or diced and in the fridge I can turn it into a hundred different semi homemade meals.
It’s a make ahead trick that makes life easier!
Hacks for planning your prepping for meals in advance.
- Think ahead and be sure you have meat already thawed for the next day.
- Whenever you grill meat be sure to grill extra for leftovers.
- When you slow cook meat be sure to make a extra for another day.
- Before you put away leftover meat slice it, dice it, shred it, or whatever you need to do to it so it will be ready to go as soon as you pull it out of the fridge.
What can I make out of leftover grilled chicken?
I’m going to start sharing ideas for cooking once and repurposing the leftovers a couple times. My family eats leftovers, or semi leftovers, several times a week and they never complain.
As I create more leftover grilled chicken recipes I’ll come back and add them to this list, but this gives you quite a few ideas to start with!
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Quesadilla
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Braid
- Alice Springs Chicken Quesadilla
- Italian Chicken Bacon Sandwich
- Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Chicken Tacos
- Chicken Burritos (like these Quick and Easy Beef Burritos except use chicken)
- Pasta with added grilled chicken
- Pizza with grilled chicken (Chicken Bacon Ranch, Chicken Alfredo, etc)
- Grilled Cheese with Chicken
- Add it to green salads
- Chicken Pasta Salad
All purpose grilled chicken is a basic chicken to start with.
This Grilled Chicken Recipe I’m sharing today is a bit like that black pencil skirt, or those favorite blue jeans that you can wear with anything. It’s the piece you go back to over and over again because you know it works every single time.
Some grilled chicken recipes have Mexican, garlic, citrus, or some other defining flavor. Although a Mexican flavored grilled chicken would work well in Chicken Burritos it wouldn’t be so great in a Chicken Cordon Bleu Quesadilla.
This make ahead grilled chicken recipe is neutral enough you can spin it anyway you want later on in the week and it will work!
Don’t misunderstand though. It’s packed with flavor and is incredibly juicy. Not only is it my staple leftover chicken recipe it’s AMAZING grilled and served with a nice salad for dinner!
Hacks for grilling the perfect chicken breast.
- Don’t overcook. I think this is the biggest chicken mistake of all time! My husband always wants to grill it until it’s jerky!
- Chicken breasts are cooked through when the juices run clear, if you don’t have juices you cooked it way too long!
- 160 degrees is the safe temperature for white chicken. It should rise to 165 degrees as it rests.
- I like grilling my chicken at 400 degrees
- I usually grill a chicken breast for about 10 minutes. The amount of time really will depend on how thick the chicken is and how hot your grill is.
- After removing chicken from grill cover it with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. This gives the juices a chance to redistribute and makes it even juicier!
The BEST 3 ingredient Grilled Chicken Recipe
This recipe really is the BEST grilled chicken recipe because it’s so stinking easy! There’s no need to buy those expensive marinade packets. Don’t worry about marinating the meat ahead of time (although that is handy sometimes. See Honey Citrus Chicken Marinade)
Liberally season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Just as I promised, you already have the ingredients in your cupboard! Don’t skimp though!
This chicken can be grilled on an outdoor grill or an indoor grill. Obviously grilling outdoors adds that smoky flavor. Grilling indoors is great for cold days when I just don’t want to plow through the snow to get to my grill!
How to get criss cross grill marks on chicken.
To get criss cross grill marks set chicken breasts on the grill for about 1-2 minutes. Rotate chicken 45 degrees and grill another 3-4 minutes, basting chicken with melted butter after a couple minutes. Flip and repeat the process be sure to baste with melted butter after the chicken is seared.
Basting chicken.
Why baste grilled chicken with butter?
Basting with melted butter helps lock all the juices in the chicken. It also adds incredible flavor, because you know butter has a way of doing that!
Baste the chicken a couple times on each side. Make sure the chicken is seared before you baste it. This prevents contaminating the butter with raw chicken stuff!
Be sure to discard butter after basting chicken.
What’s happening on the farm.
Today we are starting to harvest our hay. That means we need more tractor drivers than usual. I have a feeling if I’m not driving today I will be driving tomorrow. I better go do some laundry and clean my bathrooms before I’ve gotta head out to the field. Hey, at least dinner is halfway ready!
How easy is that? Three super simple ingredients and only a few minutes later and you’re going to be set for dinner tonight and ready to tackle a weeks worth of meals! It’s such a relief knowing you have chicken all prepped and sitting in the fridge ready to go. Somehow it makes dinner time feel like a task you can actually tackle!
Here’s the printable recipe
- Chicken breast
- Salt and pepper
- Butter, melted
- Preheat grill, indoor or outdoor, to 400 degrees.
- Generously season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Be generous!
- Set chicken breasts on the grill for about 1-2 minutes. Rotate chicken 45 degrees and grill another 3-4 minutes, basting chicken with melted butter after a couple minutes.
- Flip and repeat the process on the other side. Be sure to baste with melted butter after the chicken is seared.
- Once chicken is cooked through, 160-165 degrees and juices run clear, remove from grill and cover with foil. Let rest covered for 10 minutes.
- Serve chicken immediately. To save chicken for later slice, or dice and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
YUM, so versatile!
It’s a great foundation for so many other easy and tasty recipes!
I love the idea of grilling chicken for meal prep during summer! So easy!
When I’m organized I get to spend so much more time doing what I love! It helps me soak up every last minute of summer with my family!
Such a great way to prep ahead and make dinnertime easy!
It’s such a relief knowing I have the beginning to dinner already to go! Meal time is so much less stressful that way!
Love how you can use this for so many things! Fantastic recipe!
We’ve been transforming the leftovers into new meals ever single night since I grilled chicken!
This would be a great idea to do on a Sunday night to use throughout the week. Looks delicious!
Yes! It makes weeknights that much smoother and more enjoyable!
Gotta love easy! And you’re right…I have everything I need right in the house!
It’s so simple! That’s the kind of recipes we go back to over and over again!