These grilled boneless chicken thighs recipe is the best-grilled chicken you will ever make. Moist, tender and bursting with flavours! These boneless chicken thighs were smothered in the best chicken marinade. I can bet you that you will find yourself making this grilled boneless chicken thigh over and over again.
This grilled chicken thigh is a winner all the time and one of my arguments for saying so is because of how easy it is to make. The marinade ingredients are kitchen staples and easily available. What more can a girl ask for? I cooked these chicken thighs on coal barbeque and delicious was an understatement, it was juicy too.
Grilled chicken thighs can be eaten with almost anything. It is great with salad, rice and wraps. This chicken is not only a perfect recipe for summer it can be served as weeknight dinner too.
Best Chicken Thighs Marinade
Just as I mentioned earlier, the flavour from this simple marinade is insane. You don’t need to do much with the chicken thigh marinade. Mix the ingredients together, add the chicken, leave to marinate for a few minutes then grill. Scout honour, you will love every bite.
Smoked Paprika Substitute with Sweet Paprika
Chilli flakes
Worcestershire sauce substitute with 1tsp brown sugar
Sage
Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Olive oil
Dried parsley
600g boneless chicken thigh fillets: you can use bone-in chicken thighs but note that they wouldn’t cook quicker as the boneless one.
How To Marinate Chicken Thighs
Add all the ingredients into a bowl or ziploc bag and mix to combine, add the boneless chicken thighs and massage with the marinade. Leave the chicken in marinade to rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge or 3 to 4 hours before use for the flavour to marry with the chicken thighs.
How To Make Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Preheat the grill to high heat (It is very important that the grill is hot before adding the chicken) to at least 350⁰C
Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming any visible fat
These chicken thighs were grilled on an outdoor coal grill (barbeque), but it can be done on stove stop or in the oven.
Remove the chicken thigh from the marinade and place on the hot grill (grease the grill grates with oil). If you are using chicken thigh with skin, place the skin side on the hot grill first.
Leave to cook for about a minute on the side before flipping, then cook on the other side for another minute or two. Flip a couple of times then place the chicken thighs on the side of the grill that doesn’t have direct heat. Cover the grill and leave to barbeque for another 5 to 10 minutes.
I haven’t used a meat thermometer to check for the doneness of this chicken, what I did was to slice into one piece of chicken to see if it is done. A well-done chicken is white and with clear juice running through it.
If you will be using a meat thermometer, the general rule is to insert the thermometer to the thickest part of the chicken and the internal temperature of the chicken should read at least 165°F/74°C
What to serve this with
You can never go wrong with a side of salad, rice or chips. Below are a few of my favourites;
Tips to remember when grilling chicken thighs
Marinade: Choose chicken thigh over chicken breast as it is a lot juicier than the breast. It can soak up flavours easily and overall it is just a better-tasting part in chicken. It is important to choose the right spices and herbs and you also need a liquid like oil, vinegar or Worcestershire sauce. That being said, you can make a delicious tasting chicken using dry rub, especially if you are cooking the chicken with the skin on.
Rest the chicken: Marinate the chicken for at least half an hour if it is boneless then for up to 3 hours with bone-in but preferably overnight.
Grill on medium-high heat: Ensure the grill is hot before placing the chicken on it. You can grill the chicken indoors too
Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Grilled boneless chicken thigh can be eaten with almost anything. It is great with salad, rice and in wraps. This is not only a perfect recipe for summer it can be served as weeknight dinner too.
Equipment
- Barbeque or oven grill
Ingredients
- 600 g boneless skinless chicken thighs substitute with other chicken parts, bone-in or boneless
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika substitute with sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil substitute with any other flavourless oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce substitute with 1tsp brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sage
- ½ teaspoon salt use according to preference
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to high heat (It is very important that the grill is hot before adding the chicken) to at least 350⁰C
- Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming any visible fat as much as you can
- Add smoked paprika, sage, salt, parsley, chilli flakes, garlic powder, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and onion powder into a bowl and mix to combine to make a marinade. (Reserve some marinade for later)
- Add the chicken thighs to the marinade and rub it into the chicken making sure it is well coated (You can add the chicken to a Ziploc instead of a bowl if you don’t like touching raw chickeLeave the chicken to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. If using chicken thigh with bone-in, you might want to marinade for longer than 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken thigh from the marinade and place on the hot grill (grease the grill grates with oil). If you are using chicken thigh with skin, place the skin side on the hot grill first.
- Leave to cook for about a minute on the side before flipping, then cook on the other side for another minute or two. Flip a couple of times (baste with the remaining marinade) then place the chicken thighs on the side of the grill that doesn’t have direct heat and let the heat from the barbeque continue cooking the chicken. Cover the grill and leave to barbeque for another 5 to 10 minutes.
- The total time for mine was less than 20 minutes, the grilling time should depend on the size of the chicken. A well-done chicken is white and with clear juice running through it.
- If you will be using a meat thermometer, the general rule is to insert the thermometer to the thickest part of the chicken and the internal temperature of the chicken should read at least 165°F/74°C
- Rest the chicken for about 10 minutes before serving and if you can't wait to dip in, this succulent grilled chicken thighs can be eaten immediately.
If you made this grilled boneless chicken thigh recipe, don’t forget to leave me feedback. Tag me @myactivekitchen on Instagram and save away to your Pinterest.
ATB
Ajoke x
I found that this was not enough marinade for a batch of chicken thighs.
You can double the marinade to suit your need. Thanks
You are an amazing woman,gifted byGOD to help in your own little way to help other women and also make money for your self.Thank you for doing what you do.Thank you.
This was so delicious and so easy!! Thank you for this recipe!!!
This was a great recipe, my husband loved it. I have made this a few times already. I believe this will be one of our favorite chicken recipes. The marinade is one if the best I have tried.
Yay, I am glad you liked it, thank you for the feedback
This was excellent! I wasn’t sure I could do it on the barbecue without drying it out or burning but it was great
Thank you for the feedback, Jennifer, I am glad you enjoyed it.
Great recipe that my family really enjoyed.
Thank you!
That is good to hear that, I am glad it was family approved.
I love to cook. I am always looking for different marinades to try out. This is by far one of the best I’ve ever had. Well done!! I have now made this dish 4 times in the last month.
Wow! thank you so much Mike, for your feedback, I am glad you are loving the marinade.
Am I missing something, or is the oil measurement missing from the recipe?
Hi Teresa, Thank you for your observation and I am sorry about the oversight. I used 2 tablespoons of olive oil. The recipe will be updated accordingly.