Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken
On September 21, 2022
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This grilled lemon pepper chicken is the perfect, kid-friendly dinner for the whole family. It’s made with a homemade lemon pepper seasoning for a fresh and flavorful chicken breast meal.
Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken
These juicy, grilled chicken breasts are cooked with a homemade lemon pepper seasoning blend that brings a great blend of tangy spice. The fresh lemon zest pairs perfectly with cracked black pepper.
This recipe works great with chicken thighs, wings, or drumsticks. You’ll just have to adjust the cook time for thicker cuts of chicken. The chicken is great as-is, but you can also jazz it up a bit. Serve your grilled chicken over buttered noodles, rice, or with a pile of my garlic Parmesan grilled broccoli for a simple weeknight meal.
Ingredients for Lemon Pepper Chicken
This lemon pepper chicken is a breeze to make, and it only requires a few ingredients. I highly recommend making lemon pepper seasoning ahead of time, so you are ready to go with all ingredients once you start cooking. Here’s what you need to make this chicken.
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 sliced lemon
For the marinade, you’ll need the following:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
You can use storebought lemon pepper seasoning for this recipe, but I think it tastes truly incredible with Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning. My recipe is awesome, and you can make it using fresh lemon zest or dried lemon zest to make it shelf stable.
How to Grill Lemon Pepper Chicken
Once you have all your ingredients assembled, you’re ready to make yourself some chicken! Here’s how to grill lemon pepper chicken.
- Marinate. Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a glass dish or zip-top bag. Add the chicken breasts and marinate in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours.
- Preheat. When you’re ready to grill your lemon pepper chicken, preheat the grill to medium-high heat (around 400 degrees F). This chicken is great cooked over charcoal, but a gas grill works great as well.
- Season. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with lemon pepper seasoning.
- Grill. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 6-8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken once it reaches 160 degrees F. I also like to stick some lemon slices on the grill with the chicken for a fun garnish.
- Rest. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil and rest for 5-10 minutes. This helps keep the chicken moist while it comes to its final temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Enjoy. Dig in! I like to serve this chicken with grilled lemon slices or fresh lemon.
Tips for Making Lemon Pepper Chicken
Now, you can surely scroll straight to the recipe and make a killer chicken dinner, but if you want to ensure your chicken is the best of the best, check out these handy tips first!
- Don’t skip the marinade. I’ve put in the recipe card that the marinade is optional for this recipe, but it tastes much better once marinated. The marinade helps to infuse the chicken with that awesome lemony flavor, and it helps to tenderize the meat.
- Use a thermometer. Chicken can be tricky to cook on the grill. One minute it’s undercooked, and the next minute it’s chewy and tough. The best way to get perfectly juicy chicken every time is to use an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the chicken from the grill at 160 degrees F, and allow carryover cooking while the chicken rests to bring it up to 165 degrees F.
- Make the seasoning from scratch. My recipe for lemon pepper seasoning is beyond good, and it’ll knock the socks off this chicken. If you have the time, be sure to make this homemade seasoning vs. using a store-bought brand.
More Grilled Chicken Recipes
The chicken party doesn’t have to stop here! If you’re in need of more grilled chicken recipes, look no further than Hey Grill Hey! Each one of my recipes is tested and oh-so good. Check out a few of our favorites below.
Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
Did this grilled lemon pepper chicken recipe turn out to be everything you needed and more? If so, let us know in the comments below. You can also catch more behind-the-scenes content from Hey Grill Hey on social media by searching @HeyGrillHey.
Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Pepper Seasoning homemade or storebought
Lemon Pepper Marinade
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Instructions
- Marinate. In a gallon zip-top bag, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon pepper seasoning. Add your chicken breasts to the marinade, press out any excess air, and seal. Massage the bag to distribute the marinade evenly across the breasts and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 8 hours.
- Preheat. When you’re ready to grill your chicken, preheat your grill to medium-high heat (around 400 degrees F).
- Season. Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off any excess pieces of garlic. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with additional lemon pepper seasoning.
- Grill. Place the chicken on the grill, close the lid, and grill for approximately 6-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Use an internal thermometer to track your doneness and remove the chicken from the grill at 160 degrees F.
- Rest. Set your cooked chicken on a plate and cover tightly with foil. Rest for 5 minutes. The foil wrap will help the chicken stay moist as well as finish the cooking process.
- Enjoy. Serve the chicken with grilled lemon slices as a garnish and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made the marinade as directed plus I used the lemon zest and it flavored the chicken beautifully. I have made this twice in the last week it’s so good and my kids like lemon pepper chicken. The first time I marinaded bone in chicken thighs and grilled them perfectly. Yummy. Today I am marinading boneless, skinless thighs cut for skewers/kabobs that I will grill tonight. Each time I only had 4 hours or so to marinade and it is really delicious. Thank you.