Grilled Chicken Thighs
on Jul 03, 2022, Updated Jul 08, 2025
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Learn how to grill marinated chicken thighs to crispy perfection. A perfect summer dinner!
If you’re only grilling chicken breasts, we have to talk. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the sleeper hit of the grill — juicy and much harder to mess up than their leaner counterparts. They have all of the juicy meat/crispy skin appeal of roasted chicken, plus that inimitable grilled food flavor. The simple marinade provides deep flavor. Please don’t think for a moment that cooking these is any harder than grilling chicken breasts; just pay a bit of attention to the fire and mind any flare-ups.
During non-grilling months, definitely bake chicken thighs in the oven — another way to get perfectly tender meat and crispy skin.
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What's In This Post?
Grilled bone-in, skin on chicken thighs are juicy, flavorful, and incredibly forgiving on the grill. The skin crisps up beautifully, the meat stays tender, and the result is a no-fuss, crowd-pleasing summer dinner that can be seasoned a dozen ways.
Grilled Chicken Thighs Marinade
This marinade is simple but not shy, rather bursting with flavor. It’s based on a favorite grilled turkey breast marinade, and like that one, I decided to use a combo of melted butter and olive oil for richness. There is also some vinegar for acidity, shallots, and garlic for the invaluable support from the onion family, and Worcestershire sauce, honey, and oregano to round it out. Use whatever herb you have around or like best.
You can marinate the chicken in a container or a large, sturdy zipper-top sealable bag. Marinate the chicken between 12 and 36 hours; the longer it marinates, the deeper the flavor will be.
How to Cook Chicken Thighs on the Grill
When cooking chicken thighs, you’ll want to heat the grill to medium. This will allow the outside to get nice and crispy and browned but not burned while the meat cooks to tender, juicy perfection.
If you can, use a two-zone grilling system with one half of the grill at medium-low and the other at medium. Then, you can move the chicken pieces back and forth as needed, hotter when you feel they need more browning, or cooler if the outside seems to be cooking too quickly. This will allow the skin to crisp up nicely and the interior to cook completely and evenly.
How Long to Grill Chicken Thighs
The total cooking time will be around 30 minutes. The skin should be browned and crispy, the underside of the thighs should be golden brown, and when you slide a knife into the thickest part, the juices should run clear. Flip the chicken as you see fit, and keep moving it about if there are flare-ups or if a particular area of the grill seems too hot or too cool.
Start checking the thighs at 30 minutes. Also, consider using an internal meat thermometer; remove the chicken from the grill when the internal temperature in the thickest part reaches 165 degrees F. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving so the juices redistribute in the meat.
How to Stop Grill Flare-ups
If there are flare-ups (which there likely will be), just move the chicken away from the flames to a cooler spot in the grill, and move them back when the flames subside. If you want to keep a little spray bottle of water near the grill, that can be handy for quashing a persistent flareup.
What to Serve With Grilled Chicken Thighs
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Grilled Bone-In, Skin-On Chicken Thighs
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter (melted)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons finely minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 8 to 12 pieces)
Instructions
- Make the marinade: in a container with a lid large enough to hold the chicken thighs, combine the butter, olive oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, honey or brown sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken thighs, turning to coat them well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, up to 36; the longer the marinating time, the deeper the flavor.
- Heat the grill to medium, trying to leave some of the grill (gas or charcoal or pellet) a bit cooler. Carefully oil the grates. Place the thighs skin side down one the grill, reserving the marinade. Cook for about 8 minutes (turn them earlier if they start to catch fire or smoke a lot), then baste the chicken, and turn the pieces over, and cook for another 6 or so minutes. Flip every few minutes, basting once more, until they are cooked through, with an internal temperature of 165 F on an instant-read thermometer and the juices run clear when pierced with a sharp knife.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board or a serving platter. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
I’m honestly useless with the grill, but your instructions helped me to get these chicken thighs just perfect. They were so juicy, crispy and flavorful. Thanks for saving my bbq night. :-)
Such an easy and flavorful chicken recipe! These are a weeknight win – easy to prep and so tasty. I served it with a nice salad for a light dinner. Perfect.
delicious and juicy chicken recipe – perfect for a quick weeknight meal every loves.
These chicken thighs turned out perfectly! Jucy and full of flavor! Yum!
Wow, what perfect Summer Sunday dinner! The leftover chicken and peppers are going into your Greek Pasta Salad for dinner tomorrow
Directions say brown sugar, ingredient list has honey. Correction?
thanks for pointing that out! you can use either!