The trick to Martha Stewart’s Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lemon-Thyme Sauce is pounding the boneless chicken breasts flat to a half inch thick so they cook through in just 8 to 10 minutes on a hot grill. The lemon chicken sauce, whisked together from fresh lemon juice, chopped thyme, olive oil, sugar, and red-pepper flakes, gets poured over the charred grilled chicken breast while it is still warm.
This grilled chicken recipe is one of the easiest Martha Stewart chicken breast recipes I make all summer. The lemon chicken comes out juicy every time because you pound the breasts thin and cook them fast on high heat. If you need a simple Martha Stewart chicken recipe for a weeknight, this is one of her best chicken dishes to have in your back pocket.
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Why You Will Love This Grilled Chicken:
- The sauce does all the work: Lemon juice, thyme, olive oil, sugar, and red-pepper flakes get whisked together while the chicken rests. No cooking the sauce. No reducing. Just whisk and pour.
- Pounding means even cooking: Every piece is the same thickness, so nothing dries out on one end while the other side is still raw in the middle. You get an even char across the whole breast.
- Ready in under an hour: Twenty minutes of actual work, thirty minutes of the chicken resting at room temperature, and about ten minutes on the grill. Most of that time you are just standing around.
Grilled Chicken Breasts With Lemon-Thyme Sauce Ingredients
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (each about 8 ounces)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grill
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
How To Make Martha Stewart Grilled Chicken Breasts With Lemon-Thyme Sauce
- Pound the chicken: Place the chicken breasts between two layers of plastic wrap and lightly pound them to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Make the sauce: While the chicken rests, whisk together the lemon juice, thyme, sugar, red-pepper flakes, olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Do not use the sauce as a marinade. It can drip on the grill and cause flare-ups that burn the chicken.
- Season the chicken: Season both sides of the chicken breasts generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Prepare the grill: Prepare the grill for direct-heat cooking. Let the grates get very hot so you get a good sear without drying out the meat.
- Cook the chicken: Oil the grates and cook the chicken, turning occasionally, until charred in places and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total. Space out the chicken so it cooks evenly.
- Serve: Transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Pour or spoon the lemon-thyme sauce over the pieces while they are still warm and serve immediately.
Recipe Tips
- Pound to an even half inch: This is the key to even cooking. If one end is thicker than the other, the thin side dries out before the thick side finishes. Take the extra minute to get them flat.
- Do not marinate with the sauce: Martha specifically warns against using this sauce as a marinade. The oil drips onto the flames and causes flare-ups that char the outside before the inside is cooked. Pour the sauce on after grilling.
- Start with less salt in the sauce: The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of salt in the sauce. I start with 1 teaspoon and taste before adding more. You can always add salt, but you cannot take it back.
- Let the grates get very hot: A hot grate sears the chicken quickly so it develops color without sitting on the grill long enough to dry out. If you put the chicken on a cold grate, it will stick and steam instead of sear.
What Goes Well With This Grilled Chicken
The lemon-thyme sauce is bright and herby, so I keep the sides simple. A bowl of scalloped potatoes straight from the oven is rich enough to balance all that acidity, and a few buttermilk biscuits on the side soak up every last drop of sauce on the plate.
For something lighter, I toss a big green salad with one of these easy salad dressings and call it done. If I am feeding a bigger group, I throw some baked potatoes on the grill while the chicken cooks. Two birds, one grill.
How To Store Leftovers
Store the chicken and sauce together in an airtight container. The olive oil in the lemon-thyme sauce actually helps keep the chicken moist in the fridge, which is a nice bonus. It keeps well for 3 to 4 days. I would skip freezing this one because the fresh thyme and lemon juice lose their punch once frozen and thawed.
To reheat, warm the chicken gently in a skillet over medium-low heat with a lid. The sauce will loosen up and coat the chicken again as it heats. If I am being honest, I eat this cold over arugula with a squeeze of extra lemon more often than I reheat it. The cold sauce almost works like a vinaigrette.
FAQs
- Why does Martha say not to use the sauce as a marinade? The olive oil in the sauce drips through the grates and causes flare-ups on the grill. Those flames char the outside of the chicken before the inside cooks through. Martha says to pour the sauce over the chicken after it comes off the grill instead.
- Can I use dried thyme instead of fresh? Fresh thyme is really what makes this sauce special. Dried thyme will work in a pinch, but use about 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon. The flavor is more concentrated when dried, and it will not have that same bright, herby taste.
- How do I know the chicken is done? Martha suggests inserting an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. When it reads 165 degrees, it is fully cooked. The chicken should also look charred in places and have no pink in the center.
- Is 2 teaspoons of salt in the sauce too much? It can be, depending on your taste. I start with 1 teaspoon, whisk it in, and taste. You can always add more. Martha calls for 2 teaspoons, but salting to your own preference is never wrong.
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Nutrition Facts
(1 serving, serves 8)
- Calories: 380
- Total Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Cholesterol: 130mg
- Sodium: 680mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 1g
- Protein: 50g
Martha Stewart Grilled Chicken Breasts With Lemon-Thyme Sauce Recipe
Description
The trick to Martha Stewart’s Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lemon-Thyme Sauce is pounding the boneless chicken breasts flat to a half inch thick so they cook through in just 8 to 10 minutes on a hot grill. The lemon chicken sauce, whisked together from fresh lemon juice, chopped thyme, olive oil, sugar, and red-pepper flakes, gets poured over the charred grilled chicken breast while it is still warm.
This grilled chicken recipe is one of the easiest Martha Stewart chicken breast recipes I make all summer. The lemon chicken comes out juicy every time because you pound the breasts thin and cook them fast on high heat. If you need a simple Martha Stewart chicken recipe for a weeknight, this is one of her best chicken dishes to have in your back pocket.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pound the chicken: Place the chicken breasts between two layers of plastic wrap and lightly pound them to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Make the sauce: While the chicken rests, whisk together the lemon juice, thyme, sugar, red-pepper flakes, olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Do not use the sauce as a marinade. It can drip on the grill and cause flare-ups that burn the chicken.
- Season the chicken: Season both sides of the chicken breasts generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Prepare the grill: Prepare the grill for direct-heat cooking. Let the grates get very hot so you get a good sear without drying out the meat.
- Cook the chicken: Oil the grates and cook the chicken, turning occasionally, until charred in places and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total. Space out the chicken so it cooks evenly.
- Serve: Transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Pour or spoon the lemon-thyme sauce over the pieces while they are still warm and serve immediately.
Notes
- Pound to an even half inch: This is the key to even cooking. If one end is thicker than the other, the thin side dries out before the thick side finishes. Take the extra minute to get them flat.
- Do not marinate with the sauce: Martha specifically warns against using this sauce as a marinade. The oil drips onto the flames and causes flare-ups that char the outside before the inside is cooked. Pour the sauce on after grilling.
- Start with less salt in the sauce: The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of salt in the sauce. I start with 1 teaspoon and taste before adding more. You can always add salt, but you cannot take it back.
- Let the grates get very hot: A hot grate sears the chicken quickly so it develops color without sitting on the grill long enough to dry out. If you put the chicken on a cold grate, it will stick and steam instead of sear.