Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken

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5 from 21 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 14 minutes
Marinade time: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 24 minutes

Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken is all about your senses. When you close your eyes and breathe in the delicious aroma of this chicken, your mouth will start to water. The flavor is just summer on a plate.

Lemon rosemary chicken breast pieces with grill marks, garnished with sprigs of rosemary and a charred lemon, served on a white rectangular plate.

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Why this Lemon Rosemary Chicken Recipe is a Keeper

A key component in this marinated chicken recipe is the grilled lemon. If you have never tried it, you will love it. When you grill the lemon it becomes caramelized and sweeter, making it the best lemon chicken breast you’ve ever tried.  It is not only great in this marinade but also for drinks and side dishes too!

  • 30 Minute Meal: It is a quick and easy recipe that only takes a few minutes.
  • Easy Ingredients: All find clean simple ingredients that you have on hand for an easy dinner.
  • Adaptable: Can make it with different herbs and can add it to so many different dishes and casseroles.
  • Makes Great Leftovers: Use remaining lemon chicken in salads, sandwiches or tacos. The chicken is great for parties as the recipe looks as good as it tastes.

If you’re looking for more roasted chicken recipes, try these Chipotle Oven Chicken Kabobs, Lemon Garlic Chicken and Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Strawberry Salsa.

What temperature should the chicken be done to?

Artfully arranged on a white plate, featuring perfect grill marks and garnished with fresh rosemary sprigs and a grilled lemon.

The best way to take the internal temperature of chicken is with a meat thermometer. In general, you want to probe the chicken in the thickest part of the meat. It should reach a temperature of 165 degrees.

Simple Ingredients for Roasted Chicken

The key is the simple but very fresh Mediterranean ingredients that add so much flavor. The tang of lemon and the rich woodsy flavor of the rosemary sprig are enhanced by the grilling experience.

A triptych showcasing lemon rosemary chicken: raw chicken breasts with fragrant herbs on a cutting board, surrounded by rosemary sprigs, lemon slices, and garlic cloves on a rustic wooden surface.
  • Chicken Breast: You will need skinless chicken breast for this lemon chicken marinade. 
  • Rosemary: Use rosemary to season the chicken.
  • Lemon: The fresh lemon is perfect for this rosemary lemon chicken.
  • Whole Cloves of Garlic: Fresh cloves of minced garlic will enhance the flavor of this recipe.

See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

Variations and Substitutions for this Roasted Lemon Chicken

You can make this easy chicken dinner in minutes. You will love this recipe for tender chicken. Making this dish is so easy. The lemon roasted chicken is the recipe to make when you want something quick and easy but also impressive.

  • Air Fry: You can roast in the air fryer or bake in the oven or use a grill pan to cook the chicken.
  • Different herbs: Use an fresh herbs that your family enjoys such as tarragon or fresh parsley. Kosher salt and pepper are also great for this grilled lemon chicken. 
  • Skewers: Make cubes of the rosemary chicken breast and put on skewers.
  • Use Boneless Thighs: Boneless skinless chicken thighs can replace the chicken breasts.
  • Seasonings: Dried rosemary or lemon pepper seasoning are great for this lemon-rosemary-garlic chicken. Moisten with a little chicken broth to reheat.

Special Equipment Needed

You can put directly on the grill or have the chicken in a baking dish.

  • Grill: Any type of grill. Charcoal or gas grill. Make sure that you preheat before cooking the chicken.

Chicken Breast Pro Tip

After grilling, transfer the chicken to a bowl and cover it with foil to allow it to finish cooking and rest.

How to Make Lemon Rosemary Chicken Cutlets

A key component in this marinated chicken recipe is the grilled lemon. If you have never tried it, you will love it. When you grill the lemon it becomes caramelized and sweeter, making it the best lemon chicken breast you’ve ever tried.  It is not only great in this marinade but also for drinks and side dished too!

These are the basic steps for making easy lemon rosemary chicken recipe. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions. If you made this recipe, let us know below.

Step-by-step images showing mustard in a bowl, then being mixed with salt, and finally with black pepper to prepare a perfect seasoning base for lemon rosemary chicken. Steps are labeled 1, 2, and 3.

1. Make the Flavorful Chicken Marinade

First, grill lemons, cut side down, over hot fire until deep brown and caramelized, 5-8 minutes. Next, squeeze 3 tablespoons juice from grilled lemons into a medium bowl and then stir in  sugar, salt along with, my All Purpose Seasoning and black pepper and whisk to combine. Then add fresh minced garlic and next add your fresh chopped rosemary and slowly add in oil, whisk in oil until emulsified; reserve 1/3 cup.

2. Prepare the Boneless Skinless Chicken

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and then pour the marinade over chicken in bowl or zip top bag and let marinate for 30 to 60 minutes.

Step-by-step process of making a marinade: chopped garlic and ginger added in step 1, fresh herbs in step 2, and olive oil drizzled in step 3 into a glass bowl while a whisk sits inside. Perfect for infusing flavors into your lemon rosemary chicken.

3. Preheat the Grill for the Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Next, remove chicken from marinade and discard. Grill chicken over a medium high heat until well browned and cooked through (meat should measure 160 degrees). Adjust cook time until internal temperature is reached. Finally, during the last 5 minutes brush chicken with the remaining marinade. Remove chicken from grill and place the chicken on a platter and drizzle on remaining marinade. Let the chicken rest and then garnish with lemon slices.

Three-step process for grilling lemon rosemary chicken: Step 1, whisking marinade in a bowl; Step 2, marinating chicken breasts; Step 3, grilling marinated chicken breasts on a barbecue.

Recipe FAQs

How do I store the remaining grilled chicken?

Store in an airtight container for up to four days.

Can use other citrus in this Fresh Rosemary Chicken?

Of course, try using lime in place of lemon. Also, you can use whatever fresh herbs that you enjoy. The lemon rosemary chicken is infused with so much flavor.

What should your chicken be cooked to?

The internal temperature of the chicken that is 165°F. Therefore, keep a meat thermometer handy. It takes out the guess work and remember no one likes under or overcooked meat.

Close-up of grilled lemon rosemary chicken breasts with grill marks, served on a white rectangular plate, garnished with fresh rosemary sprigs.

Expert Tips for Making This Lemon Garlic Marinade for Baked Chicken Recipe

  • This Recipe Can be Doubled: Make as many versions of this recipe as you need, just increase the recipe card below.
  • Add Lemon Zest: Finish the dish with some fresh lemon zest and extra lemon juice.
  • Different Chicken: Bone-in chicken breasts, chicken thighs can also work.
  • Grill Pan: Cook inside using a grill pan or bake in the oven.
  • Extra: Grill more lemons and even the rosemary and use as garnish or for drinks. Reserve some of the leftover garlic lemon marinade for basting the chicken while grilling for extra flavor.
  • Try it on Everything: While this recipe works great on chicken, the lemon rosemary garlic marinade is great for steak, pork, fish or vegetables or even a whole chicken.
  • Spicy Kick: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes or extra garlic to the marinade for a touch of heat.
  • Leftovers: Use leftovers in chicken salad.

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Lemon rosemary chicken breast pieces with grill marks, garnished with sprigs of rosemary and a charred lemon, served on a white rectangular plate.

Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken

5 from 21 votes
This Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken is the perfect summer recipe.  The marinade flavor is so intense thanks to a little secret I'll share with you.  It is often said that we eat with our noses. That the smell of certain foods make our mouths water and crave to eat that tantalizing food.
Prep Time : 10 minutes
Cook Time : 14 minutes
Marinade time : 1 hour
Total Time : 1 hour 24 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Dish

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon House Seasoning Blend
  • cup olive oil
  • 4 thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Instructions
 

  • Preheat grill to medium high heat.
  • Grill lemon halves, cut side down until deep brown and caramelized, about 5-8 minutes.
  • Squeeze juice from grilled lemon halves into medium bowl.
  • Stir in mustard, rosemary, garlic, sugar and House Seasoning Blend.
  • Slowly whisk in oil until emulsified.
  • Reserve 1/3 cup of marinade.
  • Place chicken in bowl or zipper bag and pour over marinade.
  • Marinate for 30 – 60 minutes.
  • Remove chicken from marinade and discard.
  • Grill chicken on medium high heat for about 6-7 minutes per side.
  • During the last five minutes of grilling, baste chicken with reserved marinade.
  • Remove chicken when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
  • Drizzle with remaining reserved marinade.

Christina’s Notes

  • This Recipe Can be Doubled: Make as many versions of this recipe as you need, just increase the recipe card below.
  • Add Lemon Zest: Finish the dish with some fresh lemon zest.
  • Different Chicken: Bone-in chicken breasts, chicken thighs can also work.
  • Grill Pan: Cook inside using a grill pan.
  • Extra: Grill more lemons and even the rosemary and use as garnish or for drinks.
  • Try it on Everything: While this recipe works great on chicken, it is great for steak, pork, fish or vegetables.
Helpful Tips for All RecipesThese quick tips will help you get perfect results every time.

  • Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
  • Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
  • Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
  • Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
  • Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.

For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.

Nutrition

Calories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 24gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 437mgPotassium: 455mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 35IUVitamin C: 15.9mgCalcium: 13mgIron: 0.7mg
The nutritional information provided are estimates. It is recommended that you verify this information with your own trusted resource.
Did You Make This Recipe?Leave a review & star rating to let everyone know what you thought.
We love honest feedback, but to keep reviews helpful for everyone, we reserve the right to remove star ratings if it is clear the recipe has not been made, if the comment does not provide meaningful input, or if significant substitutions or alterations were made. Please note that ratings should reflect the original recipe as written to avoid confusing other readers.

27 thoughts on “Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken”

  1. My brother suggested I might like this website. He
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    Reply
  2. Following you from Someday Crafts. Would love to have you link this up at my {wow me} wednesday link up party going on right now. 🙂

    Ginger
    gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com

    Reply
  3. This sounds so summery and delicious! I love the lemon and rosemary combination. Thank you for sharing it with the Hearth and Soul blog hop.

    Reply
  4. I’m telling you… the best marinade hands down is mine!
    and the good news is that you can buy WhistleStop marinade at a lot of your local markets.
    Opps~~~ this is sounding a bit to much like an ad…
    Just sayin’ ~ mine is a friday’s favorite 🙂

    Reply
  5. I love grilling citrus! This sounds like the perfect thing for me to make for dinner tonight…and I have everything…yay!

    Reply
  6. I adore rosemary and put it in anything and everything I can. Love the grilled lemons too. Happy Foodie Friday.
    Sam

    Reply
  7. The ingredients sound great, and I have never grilled lemons but I can only imagine how it enhances the flavors. Thanks for linking to Fat Camp Friday, enjoy your weekend and see you next time! http://bit.ly/mTxy7l

    Reply
  8. This sounds and looks delicious! I’ll definitely attempt this recipe soon! Great blog-I’m looking forward to many more wonderful recipes!

    Reply
  9. This recipe looks so good. I would love it if you came over to my party “Cast Party Wednesday” tomorrow and shared some of your recipes with us.
    Thanks,
    I hope to see you there!

    Reply
  10. I love that Cook’s Country has recipes that just work! I can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Beautiful space you got here! Love it. Nice recipe..thanks for sharing. Grilled chicken is a must in my kitchen.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

    Reply
5 from 21 votes (18 ratings without comment)

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