Let’s welcome in the weekend with perhaps one of the simplest and most delicious chicken recipes I’ve tried in awhile.
Marinaded in a flavorful concoction of lemon, oregano, soy sauce and garlic, this recipe is similar to the tasty lemon and garlic grilled chicken that I have waxed poetic about in the past. The difference with the Island Chicken is that it is a bit more subtle on the robust fresh lemon juice and garlic flavors which allows the soy sauce and oregano to really shine, as well.
After marinating, I grilled the chicken and don’t know if I’ll try it any other way now (the original recipe states to bake). This is definitely some of the juiciest, most flavorful chicken around and is perfect for those warm months that are creeping up when I want to avoid turning on my oven. Since making it the first time, I’ve also marinaded the chicken in large chunks and grilled them on skewers with red peppers and onions. Heavenly. And oh, so easy.
One Year Ago: Samoas Bars
Also One Year Ago: Raspberry Lime Rickey
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1-2 lemons)
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2-4 chicken breasts
Directions
- Combine all ingredients except chicken in a mixing bowl or large airtight plastic bag. Whisk or shake well until the marinade is well mixed. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl or plastic bag so that they are covered by the marinade. If using a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap. If using a plastic bag, press out all the excess air and seal the bag tightly. Refrigerate and marinate up to 10 hours (I would suggest marinading for at least 3 hours at the minimum).
- Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. Grill the chicken for 6-7 minutes per side (depending on how thick the chicken breasts are), until the chicken is no longer pink in the center (if you have a meat thermometer, the chicken should register 165 degrees). Tent with foil and let the chicken rest for about five minutes before serving.
- Alternately, the chicken can be baked using the following directions:
- When ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish and pour the excess marinade over them. Bake in the oven until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165° F, about 45 minutes (exact baking time will depend on the size of your chicken pieces.) Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Annie’s Eats
Oh…this looks SO good! Your photos are gorgeous, Mel, and always draw me in,
I have out of town guests this weekend, and I will definately make this on Saturday! I’m going to search your recipes for fabulous side dishes to serve with it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Mother’s Day!
I am in desperate need of some healthful, easy recipes to help me get this baby weight off! Can’t wait to try it! Oh and thanks for the tip about the button!
Give me some pineapple and I’m good to go! Your chicken looks delicious.
Too funny.. I just made this the other day too! I’ll won’t post mine till next week, though!! LOL Wasn’t it wonderful??
Gonna try this.. I bet its the lemon juice that tenderizes it.. Sounds good!
Yum! I’m going to try this next week. Sounds delicious.
Perfect for warmer grilling weather…if that would ever come!
We eat a lot of chicken and this sounds perfect for this weekend. Your photos make my mouth water! Thanks for a great new recipe
Glad you enjoyed it! This is definitely a staple in our house. We love this grilled but I promise, it is also super moist and tender even when baked. I prefer that in the winter when I want island chicken but don’t want to grill.
bravo on achieving grill-mark perfection! this is a great way to prepare bird, melanie.
YAY! This stuff is so ridiculously good. Congrats on having a successful chicken grilling experience. What would it be like to have a grill…I can only imagine.
The chicken looks perfect, Melanie, for a warm day like this.
Yum..this is on the menu for the week.
Yum! We made this on Saturday with grilled pineapple, wild rice and beans. What an awesome meal, thank you
Hi Mel-
I made this on Saturday (for out of town guests), and OMG…we could not believe how moist and delicious this chicken was! I marinated the chicken for about 6 hours, and it was better than brining (my usual method to ensure moist chicken). This recipe will definately be my new “go to” recipe for chicken breasts!
Thanks for sharing your love for cooking with us!
Kim – I’m thrilled that this chicken was such a hit! Thanks for trying it and letting me know.
TrishInFL – just the thought of grilled pineapple has my mouth watering. I bet it was delicious with the Island Chicken. Thanks for checking in!
I made this over the weekend and it was as good as it looks. Definitely going in our summer rotation!
Glad you liked it, Cammee!
Tried this tonight family love it thanks again.
Thanks, Rhonda!
This is such a delicious recipe! I served this to our dinner guests a couple of nights ago and it was a huge hit… Easy to prepare and DELICIOUS!
Amy – this is a perfect dish to serve for company and I’m glad it was a hit!
We had this tonight. Simple. Delicious. I only marinated it for an hour and it was good! (half of the hour it was vacuum sealed, so that helps. Thanks so much. This is by far my favorite food blog I follow.
Thanks, Celia! Your comment was so sweet and I’m glad this chicken worked out well for you.
Do you by any chance have the nutritional facts on this chicken marinade?
My friend made it last week and had my husband and I over for dinner and it was fantastic! I would love the nutritional facts if you have them. Calories/fat/carbs etc.
Liz – I don’t have the nutritional facts on this marinade. I know there are several sites online where you can put ingredients in and come out with nut. facts but I don’t do that on a regular basis.
Yet another hit recipe from your blog! My husband and I loved this tonight. Our 21 month old daughter generally won’t eat chicken, but I made a big deal over squeezing the juice and showing her how I made the marinade. When it was time to eat I reminded her about the lemon juice “sauce” we made, and she gobbled the chicken right up!
Thanks, Sarah! I’m thrilled your little daughter had fun helping you make the marinade – and then ended up loving the finished result!
I was looking for a new grilled chicken marinade and came across this one on your website. Thankfully, I had all of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry so I didn’t even need to make an extra trip to the store. I marinated my chicken for approximately 5 hours. It was delicious. It was very tastey for my husband and I, but not too strong for our two girls, ages 4 and 2. Thanks for this recipe and so many others as well!
I forgot to mention that we paired ours with some grilled pineapple…yummy!
Kim – I’m glad this marinade worked for you and I think serving it with fresh grilled pineapple is a brilliant idea!
[...] http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/05/grilled-island-chicken-2.html [...]
Sorry but this chicken didn’t work out for me or my family.
I marinated boneless chicken breasts for 8 hours and baked them….they weren’t dry but didn’t have much flavor, tasted bland….I love your recipe for the breaded garlic chicken in lemon butter sauce so I guess I’ll stick to that one!
Bobbi M – sorry you didn’t like this! Thanks for letting me know either way, though.
Hi Melanie- I wanted to check in once again regarding this recipe. I am hosting a Luau themed party in less than two weeks and I have been driving myself nuts about what chicken recipe to serve. I had a “duh” moment, and remembered your fabulous Grilled Island Chicken recipe today! I made it again tonight, and it was so darn amazingly delicious that I had to comment again! I marinated it for about 6 hours, and grilled until 165 degrees (and rested for 10 minutes). I can’t tell you with words how amazing this is! I am serving this to 35+ people at my party and I can’t wait! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy life to share your passion for cooking with the world!
Hi! I made this recipe on Saturday–It was SO tasty. Everyone kept asking, “what’s in the marinade?!” I have sent a large handful of my friends to your site.. I’ve had awesome luck with all of your foods! And you are my go-to website usually when it comes to the question, “hmmm, what’s a good recipe for this?” Thanks!!
Hi Mel! I finally tried this recipe (took a long time, bc I was admittedly skeptical that it would ever compare to your divine Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken which has been my go-to for a long time!). Let me just say to those of you who might be hesitating simply bc you have found another recipe that you love…you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this Island Grilled Chicken! I won’t wait so long to try new stuff from Mel again! I pan-seared the chicken breasts (which were cut in half horizontally to help marinate & stretch the chicken servings). I can’t wait to grill these next time, but it’s been so hot here in the midwest. Pan-searing worked great! P.S. Love your site!
I have a 6 year old who despises chicken. Served this tonight and he says “is this a new kind of chicken?” Me: “Yes, why did you like it?” Him: “Yeah, it’s pretty good” That’s high praise from him! Oh, and the rest of us really liked it too
Served with your Simple Orzo Pilaf and corn on the cob – perfect summer bbq dinner. Thanks!
The only thing I changed was adding the zest of the lemons & it was WONDERFUL! Love your site! Thanks -
[...] http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/05/grilled-island-chicken-2.html [...]
[...] Grilled Island Chicken (haven’t made yet but looks awesome) [...]
[...] Grilled Island Chicken, Honey Citrus Glazed Carrots and Sauteed Broccoli [...]
This is marinating in the fridge right now! Looks delicious!
It’s was delish!! Loved the flavor, super moist. Best part, low calorie and easy!! Paired with grilled pineapple and rice. Thanks Mel!
[...] Grilled Island Chicken [...]
Can olive oil be substituted for the vegetable oil?
Andrea – sure, it will impart a different flavor but it should work just fine to sub the olive oil.
This looks great! Can this be used as a chicken wing marinade?
Missy – I’ve never tried it as a wing marinade but it’s probably worth a try!
Is this for bone-in chicken breast?
Anna- I always use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe.
I am SO glad I found this on Pintrest! Made it for supper tonight and my husband absolutely loved it! After his first bite, he had to pause the movie we had on to rave about how wonderful the chicken was! Thanks so much for sharing, we’ll be enjoying this often at our house!
Mine is marinating in the fridge right now! Can’t wait to try it!
I made this tonight for dinner and everyone loved it! Even my picky 8 year old, who normally hates all things chicken!! We had it with a spinach and pear salad and baked potatoes. It made for THE perfect summer meal. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
[...] Grilled Island Chicken [...]
I made this marinade for dinner tonight for my husband and guests. Will never make it again! Chicken was do bland, I ended up just passing around BBQ sauce I was so embarassed!! I followed the recipie step by step too. Don’t know how it’s getting such good reviews..
Lisa, how long did you marinate it for? I find I have the best results if I let it marinate for almost a whole day!
Love the recipe. It is now my go to for chicken. I have marinated for just a few hrs or over night all works very well for me. I did use olive oil instead of vegi oil, healthier and it is great. If reminds me of the way outback used to do their chicken
[...] original grilled island chicken recipe is from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe — thanks to Mel for the inspiration! Category: Recipes — Tags: Chicken, Chicken [...]
Adding to next weeks gluten free meal plan on innercirclechic.soluckygifts.com
made this tonite and I got a “Damn! that is good” from my husband. This is a keeper recipe.
[...] Grilled Island Chicken from http://www.melskitchencafe.com. Be sure to substitute gluten free soy sauce or tamari. Serve with [...]
I only had time to marinate for 2 hours but it was still very good, and so easy:))
i cant seem to get the oil to blend into the other items, the oil stays sperate , any ideas ? or what am i doing wrong
ty
Ty – I always just whisk really fast and it comes together. You could always pop the marinade in a blender and give it a whirl, too.
[...] recipe contributed by Page Strong and Mels Kitchen Cafe. It was really good, but the lemon overpowered it a bit. I didn't have soy sauce, so I used [...]
[...] and haven’t had it since.) It’s also a great addition to green tea or plain water. Grilled Island Chicken – Since our grill is broken and we need to buy a new one, I broiled the chicken after letting it [...]
This recipe is so good! We’ve made it multiple times for people and everyone loves it.
This chicken is so good. It is incredibly moist and flavorful, not to mention so easy. I’m looking forward to making this chicken all summer long! Yum!