This is my favorite chicken recipe ever! The recipe calls for bonlesss breasts but I think it is even better with bone in skinless breasts . . . It is really really good. Be sure and marinate at least 6 hours.

My very picky kids love it too and they don't love much - they are 5, 3, and 1 years old.

I know it calls for a ton of oil but very little is on the chicken when you grill it.

I also use a similar marinade (just a bit more salt and no thyme) for asparagus and grill them the same time.

Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) also says you can slice the chicken and serve it with a dressing of equal parts of olive oil and lemon juice and a bit of salt and pepper over lettuce - which is also delicious!

You could definitely use less oil is there is lots and lots left over, but my solution is just to grill more chicken - it is just as good as leftovers.

Obviously, if you use bone in breasts they need to be cooked longer.

Barefoot Contessa Grilled Lemon Chicken


¾ cup lemon juice
¾ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tablespoon dried)
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts


1 Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.
2 Pour over chicken in nonreactive bowl and marinate 6 hours or overnight.
3 Heat grill and cook 10 minutes per side until cooked through.
4 May be served over green salad with Lemon Vinaigrette, below.
Lemon Vinagarette
1 Whisk together ¼ cup lemon juice and ¼ cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve immediately.

How many servings, please? I sure would ditch some of the oil.

I LOOOOVE this chicken. I use it in EVERYTHING. If you make extra, you can put it on whatever you'd like - salads, sandwiches, and my personal favorite, on top of homemade pizza with lots of veggies.

Its my favorite basic chicken recipe. I only put a tablespoon of oil in, though, and it all works fine.

As far as servings go, I don't know. 2 pounds of chicken would serve 5 or 6 depending on the chicken breast size, but you can't really divide the oil by 6 or whatever because the bulk stays in the ziploc, and you throw it away. I would say you are getting, at the very most, a couple of teaspoons of oil per serving.

I would suggest that if you cut down significantly on the amount of oil that you oil the grill grate or the chicken will stick. I suspect what is left on the chicken is about the same as the amount you would use to lightly rub the chicken with oil before grilling.