This balsamic grilled chicken recipe is flavorful, tender, and absolutely delicious! Start it on the grill and finish it the oven for a crisp outside and juicy inside!
Every family has go-to family recipes. Almond chicken, pizza loaf, and zuppa toscana are some of ours.
And this balsamic grilled chicken. It’s one of the easiest recipes yet has tons and tons of flavor because of the balsamic marinade.
I know some people aren’t huge fans of balsamic so if you’re one of those people, I recommend trying something else like maybe this orange chicken recipe or these teriyaki chicken bowls.
But if you do like balsamic, you are going to love this balsamic chicken breast recipe – promise!
Balsamic Chicken Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to make balsamic grilled chicken! Make sure to check out the recipe at the bottom of this post for all of the details, measurements, and more specifics!
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar – make sure it’s good stuff, not just a cheap kind. Since the balsamic is such a big part of the chicken flavor, you want it to taste good!
- Dried parsley – you could also use fresh parsley instead if you have it on hand
- Dried thyme – fresh thyme works if you have it on hand
- Garlic cloves
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Kosher salt
How to Make Balsamic Grilled Chicken
While I’m calling this balsamic grilled chicken, it’s really a combination of grilled and baked balsamic chicken – although you could probably just finish it on the grill instead of baking in the oven as well.
When we created this recipe, we didn’t have an actual grill outside, just a grill pan, and the grill pan + oven baked finish give you an incredible moistness inside while still keeping the skin nice and crispy.
Here’s our preferred method of cooking! You can watch the video in this post to see how easy it is to cook as well!
1 – Make the marinade
First things first, you need to make your balsamic marinade. Combine the olive oil, balsamic, parsley, thyme, and garlic in a large plastic bag or a bowl and mix well to create the marinade.
2 – Salt the chicken
Season both sides of the chicken breast with the kosher salt. This step is important and will really help you get flavor and tenderness in your chicken.
3 – Marinate the chicken
Once the chicken is salted, place the chicken breasts in the bag (or bowl) with the previously made marinade and coat them well.
Want to know how long to marinate chicken? Let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 20 minutes, preferably longer if you have time. You could even do it overnight if you want to prep this ahead of time!
4 – Preheat the oven
I put this specifically as a step here because you need to preheat your oven before you go any further. You’ll be transferring the chicken directly to the oven after just a few minutes of grilling so it needs to be ready to go.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees then move onto the next step.
5 – Grill and Bake the Chicken
Heat a grill pan over high heat on the stove.
Place the chicken on the grill hot and grill over high heat for 3 minutes or until the chicken breasts get a nice grill mark.
Flip the chicken after 3 minutes and immediately transfer the chicken breasts to the oven to finish cooking, for about 20 minutes.
See why I told you to preheat the oven first? Three minutes isn’t long at all!
6 – Let the balsamic chicken rest then slice
Remove the chicken from the oven and let them rest for about three minutes before serving. This will help the chicken not dry out.
How to Cook Balsamic Chicken Just on the Grill?
If you don’t have a grill pan or you’d rather just cook these on the grill and not use the grill + oven baked method, here’s how we normally do it.
Make the marinade then salt and marinate the chicken just like explained in the steps above. This doesn’t change at all.
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
Once it’s heated, grill the chicken for six minutes on one side then flip and grill for another six minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside. This may vary slightly depending on how thick your chicken breasts are.
Once you think your chicken is cooked, cut open your thickest piece to make sure it’s totally cooked.
How to Make Balsamic Chicken Sliders?
Another of our favorite ways to use this recipe is to make balsamic grilled chicken sliders.
If you want to do this, all you need to do is cut the chicken breasts into quarters before you marinate. Then just grill + bake on a grill pan or grill using the method directly above.
Once the chicken is cooked, turn them into sliders by putting individual pieces of chicken on your favorite rolls such as King’s Hawaiian rolls.
What Goes Well with Balsamic Chicken?
Since balsamic chicken is heavier on the acidic side, I recommend going with sides and other things that are a bit less acidic. Here are some of the things we normally serve with this recipe!
- Instant Pot white rice
- Easy mashed potatoes
- Twice baked potatoes
- Strawberry spinach salad
- Cauliflower puree
Balsamic Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3-4 boneless chicken breast skinless chicken breast halves
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine the first five ingredients in a plastic bag or bowl to make a marinade.
- Season both sides of the chicken breasts with kosher salt and place them in the marinade.
- Marinade for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Once preheated, heat the grill pan over high heat.
- Grill the top side of the chicken breasts over high heat for 3 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are marked.
- Flip the chicken breasts and transfer them to the oven to finish cooking, for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let them rest for 3 minutes before serving to allow the juices to redistribute.
Nutrition Info
More Chicken Recipes
- One pan teriyaki chicken
- Easy Greek lemon chicken
- Homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup
- Buffalo chicken dip
- White chicken chili recipe
- White chicken enchiladas
Don’t forget to pin this balsamic grilled chicken recipe for later!
April Grant says
I love balsamic, but have not made a balsamic chicken. That’s a great idea.
christine says
I love to lighten things up by adding a salad during the winter. I love the sound of this paired w/ the balsamic chicken.
Cathy says
I saw the salads at the store this evening and almost bought one… You’ve convinced me! It will be on my list next time.
Rachael says
This looks so yummy! I love balsamic.
Becky says
Love a grilled chicken salad and this one sounds amazing!! Kale is one of my favs!
Lori Vachon says
I adore balsamic and this looks delicious!
Shauna Smart says
This looks so delicious. That chicken seriously looks like the perfect chicken!
shannah Coe says
Wow this looks extra yummy!
Renee Goerger says
I’ve tried this recipe several times. It’s one of our very favorites!!
Tara Kuczykowski says
I love a good balsamic chicken recipe! It’s so versatile and perfect with this sweet kale salad.