Don’t underestimate the glavor of grilled chicken. These Grilled Chicken Thighs are cooked over direct heat, finished with a quick sauce, and are tender and packed with flavor. Most importantly the steps and the ingredient list is super simple.
Table of Contents
Cooking chicken thighs is one of our easiest weekday meals. Many people think chicken is bland or often overcooked. Chicken, especially good quality chicken, can be amazing on the grill. With a few key steps, you can master perfect chicken thighs on the grill and change the minds of your naysayer friends who think it’s boring.
So what’s the secret to perfectly grilled BBQ chicken?
- Use a two zone method of cooking
- Don’t over cook it.
That’s it!
Grilled Chicken Thigh Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs -You can use bone-in skin-on or boneless-skinless chicken thighs. The primary difference is that boneless-skinless will take less time to grill. You can also substitute this recipe with chicken breasts as well.
- Olive Oil – Used as a binder to allow seasoning to set. You can use any liquid like Dijon mustard for additional flavor.
- Chicken Seasoning – We like a simple seasoning without any sugar because we are cooking hot and fast. Our chicken rub is a mix of kosher salt and herbs like thyme for a balance of flavor. You can also spice it up with our Blackened Seasoning or our Cajun Seasoning.
- BBQ Glaze – A glaze is simply a BBQ sauce that is brushed onto the chicken thighs right before they are done cooking. We use our Kansas City BBQ Sauce. Alternatively you can use our Red Wine BBQ Sauce which is a great way to finish on chicken.
Tips For Buying Thighs
We’re using bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this dish. Grilling chicken thighs is much easier with the bone intact. When looking at the packaging, we try to select even sized thighs on the larger end so they can handle the heat.
Chicken Thighs are also what is commonly referred to as the “dark meat” of chicken. Dark meat is the muscle of the chicken that require a lot of movement and work, thus the reason for its density and texture. Unlike the breast, the dark meat has a little more texture to it.
After being grilled, thighs are very tender and flavorful. It also tends to be a cheaper cut than breast, which is leaner. And you get slightly more meat with a chicken thigh compared to a leg or wing.
Preparation
Remove excess fat from the thighs. This is most commonly extra skin that is on the underside and on the extreme sides of the chicken. I like to refer to this as making a blanket for the thighs. By trimming off the excess fat, you avoid an unpleasant bite, and it minimizes the amount of fat dripping into the grill over direct heat (i.e. avoiding flare ups).
Coat the thighs with a small amount of olive oil and then liberally season them with the poultry rub. It’s that easy. You can do this right before you cook, or let the poultry dry brine overnight with the seasoning on it. If you do season for a few hours, be sure it stays covered in the refrigerator.
If frozen – Remove the thighs from the freezer and thaw in the fridge for 2 days. If you need to quick thaw then run the chicken under cold water for up to 2 hours.
How To Grill Chicken Thighs
The following steps are intended for a charcoal grill. We have some modifications below for other grill types. You can also modify this and use a grill pan on your stovetop just flip the chicken more often to avoid burning.
- Set up the grill for two zone cooking. This means charcoal on one side of the grill, and then no charcoal on the other. The target temperature under the charcoal will be 450 – 500 degrees F, while over indirect side it will be closer to 350 – 375.
- Start the chicken over the direct side on the grill grates after the charcoal is at the target temp and grill for 3 – 5 minutes or until you see a nice crust form. Flip the thighs and continue grilling for an additional 3 – 5 minutes until you see a nice crust on the chicken.
- Move the chicken to the indirect side, skin side up, close the grill and when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 155 degrees F, glaze the tops of the chicken thighs with the BBQ sauce. We wait until 155 so we avoid the sauce from burning and to keep the texture and slight crispiness of the skin.
- Finish cooking until the chicken thighs reach an internal temperature of 165 – 170 degrees Fahrenheit using a good meat thermometer. This should take an additional 8 – 12 minutes (depending on the size of your thighs). Then remove, glaze the thighs one more time and then let rest a few minutes before diving in to allow for carry over cooking.
Gas Grill Modification – We still recommend using medium-high heat on a gas grill and two-zone grilling. Turn on two adjacent burners while leaving one off for the indirect heat. Then follow the recipe instructions. You can also explore our article on how to grill chicken on gas grill.
Pellet Grill Modification – Pellet grills do not commonly have a direct grilling feature. But we also have a recipe for pellet grilled chicken thighs.
Pitmaster Tip
Always add the glaze at the end of the cooking process. This prevents the glaze or BBQ Sauce from burning or over caramelizing which will turn the flavors bitter. Also be sure you cook your chicken to the proper chicken temperature.
Variations
You can use this chicken marinade prior to the seasoning. Add cayenne or other heat for adding some spice.
You can also use the same glaze technique for chicken breast. Apply the BBQ glaze at the end.
Chop up the chicken thighs and add to salads. If you have leftovers add to a stir fry or your favorite soup.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Bone-in grilled chicken thighs should take roughly 14 – 20 minutes (total time), until the thighs reach 165 – 170 degrees Fahrenheit. While the USDA says the internal temperature of chicken (thighs) should reach 165 degrees for a safe temperature, thighs hold up to higher internal temperature and not drying out. At this range, the skin is still nice and the meat is very tender.
Yes, in between grilling stages, close the lid.
Use a two-zone grilling method to control the impact of direct heat. And only glaze toward the end so the glaze does not burn.
Our Favorite Side Options
Explore all of our side recipes or from some of our favorites.
- Grilled Sweet Potato
- Coleslaw
- Potato Salad – Exclusively available in our cookbook.
Other Great Grilled or Smoked Chicken Recipes
About Vindulge
Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.
Now on 2nd edition
Fire + Wine Cookbook
“This book is a one-stop guide for anyone truly interested in elevating their BBQ experience into a culinary work of art.”
5 out of 5 Stars
San Francisco Book Review
Grilled Chicken Thighs Recipe with BBQ Sauce Glaze
Equipment
- 1 Sauce Brush
Ingredients
- 8 whole bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chicken seasoning
- ⅓ cup Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Preparation: Prepare the grill for two zone cooking with the charcoal on one side, and an area of no charcoal on the other. Target 450-500 degrees over the direct charcoal.
- Season: Trim the excess fat off of the chicken, coat with olive oil and then sprinkle the chicken seasoning over the thighs. Place the thighs over direct heat and grill for 3 – 5 minutes or until you see some nice char marks and crust form.
- Grill: Flip the thighs over and grill over direct heat again an additional 3 – 5 minutes or until a nice crust forms. Move the thighs to the indirect side of the grill skin side up and close the grill lid.
- Glaze: After a few minutes check the temperature of the chicken with an instant read thermometer. When the temperature is 155 degrees (when not touching the bone) brush the thighs with the barbecue sauce. Close lid and continue cooking until the thighs reach 165 – 170 degrees F.
- Rest: At that point the chicken thighs are done, remove them from the grill onto a plate/tray. Glaze the thighs on more time and let them rest. A total of 10 minutes. The serve. We like 2 to a plate per adult.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking so delicious! I’ll must try this recipe.