This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken is easily made with just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, healthy meal! Packed with so much flavor thanks to tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic, and fresh thyme!

This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken is easily made with just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, healthy meal!  Packed with so much flavor thanks to tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic, and fresh thyme!
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

This lemon herb grilled chicken is a recipe that has been on rotation in our home for over 10 years and I’ll tell you why. Simple, fresh ingredients that make the most flavorful chicken! This lemon herb marinade is absolutely delicious made with a mixture of olive oil, tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic along with fresh herbs!  This lemon herb marinade also makes a great salad dressing as well!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

  • Super flavorful, versatile and easy to throw together.
  • Only 5 simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen!
  • This marinade also tastes great on steak, fish or shrimp and works as a salad dressing.
  • Great for weekly meal prep served over rice, with roasted veggies or on a salad.
This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken is easily made with just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, healthy meal!  Packed with so much flavor thanks to tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic, and fresh thyme!

Ingredients You’ll Need

This easy lemon herb chicken requires just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have at home in your pantry or fridge!  Here’s what you’ll need:

  • chicken – this recipe calls for 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you could use boneless skinless chicken breasts or even chicken wings as well.
  • olive oil – this helps infuse the flavors into the chicken and prevents it from sticking to the grill.  I like to use a good olive oil that doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavor.
  • lemon juice – this adds such a bright, fresh taste and you’ll need about 2 lemons. Feel free to add in a little lemon zest too if you want even more lemon flavor!
  • garlic – you can use fresh chopped garlic or minced garlic from the jar.
  • fresh herbs – fresh thyme and rosemary really add such a fresh taste to the chicken marinade, but you could use dried thyme or dried rosemary as well.
  • salt + pepper – needed to season the chicken and add flavor.

How to Make Lemon Herb Chicken

  1. Make the marinade.  In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper until all combined.
  2. Prepare chicken.  Place chicken in a shallow dish or a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and pour most of the lemon herb sauce over the chicken (I always suggest reserving a little bit of the sauce to brush on the chicken later while grilling!)
  3. Marinate!  Place chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours (lemon is very acidic and will start to breakdown the chicken’s texture so you don’t want to marinate this too long).  When ready to grill, remove chicken from the dish or bag, shake off any excess and discard leftover marinade.
  4. Grill and serve.  Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat and brush grill with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.  Grill the chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through and no longer pink (cooked chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees). Remove chicken from grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

  • Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours as the acidity from the lemon juice will breakdown the chicken’s exterior texture resulting in mushy, tough chicken so make sure you don’t exceed 2 hours.
  • Make sure to add a little oil to the grill or grill pan so that the chicken doesn’t stick.
  • If you don’t want to grill the chicken, you can bake it in the oven at 400 degrees F for 22 to 28 minutes, or until chicken is completely cooked through.
  • Chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees to ensure that it’s cooked through, but not dry.
  • Reserve a little bit of marinade (before it touches the chicken) to brush on it while the chicken is grilling for even more flavor.
  • This lemon herb marinade would taste amazing as a salad dressing as well!
This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken is easily made with just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, healthy meal!  Packed with so much flavor thanks to tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic, and fresh thyme!

How to Serve

Prepping and Storage

Leftovers can be stored in a sealed, airtight container for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.  I love adding this leftover chicken to my salads for easy lunches!  You can also freeze these chicken breasts for up to 4 months in the freezer and defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.  If you are already using chicken that has been previously frozen and thawed out, I do not recommend freezing again.

More Chicken Recipes

Hope you all enjoy this Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken and if you love this as much as we do, please leave me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

5 from 2 votes

Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken

This Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken is easily made with just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, healthy meal! Packed with so much flavor thanks to tangy lemon juice, tons of garlic, and fresh thyme!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients 

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh thyme and fresh rosemary
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Instructions 

To Make the Marinade:

  • In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper until all combined.

Prepare the Chicken:

  • Place chicken in a shallow dish or a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and pour most of the lemon herb sauce over the chicken (I always suggest reserving a little bit of the sauce to brush on the chicken later while grilling!)
  • Place chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours (lemon is very acidic and will start to breakdown the chicken’s texture so you don’t want to marinate this too long).  When ready to grill, remove chicken from the dish or bag, shake off any excess and discard leftover marinade.
  • Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat and brush grill with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.  Grill the chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through and no longer pink (cooked chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees). Remove chicken from grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6th of recipe | Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 1.9g | Protein: 29.5g | Fat: 12.9g | Saturated Fat: 1.7g | Sodium: 153.7mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

As a self-proclaimed foodie and fitness enthusiast, I have a passion for cooking and a huge desire to show that living a healthy lifestyle can actually be easy and fun!  Feel free to use the meal guide above to find your new favorite meal ideas or the dietary guides to the right to narrow things down even more!

5 Easy Dinner Ideas!
Fill out the download form to get this exclusive collection of recipes that aren’t available anywhere else!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Related Recipes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

58 Comments

  1. Sheba says:

    Just made this and it was DELICIOUS, nutritious, and SO easy!!!! Thanks Kelly!

    1. Kelly says:

      I’m so glad! 🙂

  2. Kalpana says:

    Hi Kelly ! Thank you for sharing this lemon chicken with thyme recipe. It would taste delicious I am sure. Can I use ginger paste in it to increase flavour ?? TIA

    1. Kelly says:

      Absolutely! 🙂

  3. Maha says:

    Thanx for the recipe😍 I tried it, it was really delicious 😋

  4. Melissa Green says:

    I made this for the first time last week. My husband loved it so much, he asked for it again for dinner tonight! Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Kelly says:

      Yay I’m so glad Melissa! 🙂

  5. Amelia P says:

    Loved this! Made it the other week and it was great! Sharing it on my blog!

  6. omlet przepis says:

    hmmm….an interesting recipe – i’ve got to try this one!