Ginger Lime Grilled Chicken Thighs

If you want amazingly delicious and easy grilled chicken dinner, these ginger lime chicken thighs are for you! This fresh and vibrant chicken marinade features fresh lime zest and juice, fresh ginger, vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce. This is the perfect grilled chicken recipe for your summer dinners.

Grilled Chicken Thighs

Do you grill a lot of chicken? If you do, this grilled chicken recipe will be one of your favorites with the first bite!

Chicken is one of those meats that absolutely everyone loves, unless you are a vegetarian, but in that case, you wouldn’t be reading about a chicken recipe. It’s incredibly easy to cook and versatile. Chicken is also a meat that will go great with any flavor thrown at it. So let’s throw some great flavor!

Fresh ingredients are key to great taste and in this recipe, you get fresh lime and ginger flavors that shine. To balance out and enhance the flavors, we add something salty, like soy sauce, something sweet, like brown sugar, and something tangy, like vinegar. Altogether, it’s a wonderfully aromatic marinade that you can also turn into glaze while grilling the chicken.

Ingredients for These Grilled Chicken Thighs

Chicken thigh meat – get about 2-3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat and try to choose ones with less fat. Of course, you can always trim off the excess fat.

FOR THE CHICKEN MARINADE:

Ginger – definitely get fresh ginger. If you have any leftovers, wrap it in an air-tight plastic bag, get all the air out, and freeze for later use.

Limes – you will need lime zest and lime juice, so get some nice and ripe limes for the best flavor and the most juice.

Oil – use canola or vegetable oil. You can also use another high smoke point oil.

White wine vinegar – if you need to substitute, use apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, or sherry vinegar.

Brown sugar – either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work. Dark brown sugar just had higher molasses content.

Garlic – opt for fresh garlic for the best flavor. Pre-peeled or minced and jarred garlic does have a different flavor.

Soy sauce – you will want to use low sodium soy sauce for a less overpowering taste.

Salt and pepper – add some salt and pepper to taste.

How To Grill Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are super easy and fast to grill. Since they are skinless and boneless, they only take a few minutes on the grill. Give them a few hours to marinade and then cook. You can start them over direct heat to get some beautiful color and then move them over to the cooler side if they are getting dark fast.

Marinate chicken:

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in the large zip-lock bag and add chicken thigh meat. (Cut off excess fast from the chicken meat first, if you need to.)

Let chicken marinade for at least 4 hours but you can do it for up to 8 hours. Since chicken thigh meat is naturally soft and tender, you don’t want to exceed 12 hours of marinating.

Grilling chicken thighs:

Whether you’re use charcoal grill or gas grill, prepare the grill to have two temperature zones. Boneless chicken thighs cook fast but if the grate is too close to the direct heat, you may need to move it over to the cooler side.

Take chicken out of the marinate, let the marinade drip off back into the bag. Place the chicken on the grate over direct heat. You can pour half or all of the leftover marinade into a grill-safe sauce pot or a skillet and place the skillet over direct heat. Let it come to simmer first and then use it to brush the chicken as it cooks. The more marinade will simmer, the thicker it will get so you can use it as a glaze at the end of cooking time.

Cook chicken over direct heat for 5-7 minutes per side. If you notice that the chicken is getting dark too fast, move it over to the cooler side to finish cooking.

Because boneless thigh meat is so thin, it might be hard to take a temperature but you can try to measure the center of the thickest part. Chicken is done when it reaches 165° internal temperature.

CAN I MAKE THIS CHICKEN INTO KEBABS?

Absolutely! You can cut each chicken thigh into 2-3 pieces and marinate it the same way. Skewer the chicken pieces onto the metal skewers and grill for about 4 minutes on each side, turning the skewers 1/4 of the way each time. (If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them first for 30 minutes.)

You can even add some vegetables onto the skewers, in between the chicken.

CAN I USE BONE-IN CHICKEN?

Of course! You can use bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe but you will need to cool it longer.

Start by grilling the chicken over direct heat for about 4 minutes per side and then move it over to the cooler side to finish cooking. Cover the grill with the lid and let the chicken cook for another 6-8 minutes. Flip each thigh, take the temperature and finish cooking until it reaches 165° internal temperature.

What Sides Go Great With Grilled Chicken:

Chicken is extremely versatile so you can serve just about any side with it. This grilled chicken will be great with rice, potatoes, vegetables, or even on top of a salad. Try it with coconut rice, the flavors will work great together!

For easy grilled vegetable options, try grilled zucchini or green beans. If you want potatoes, serve it with mashed potatoes, or grilled potatoes. Feel free to make any of your favorite sides.

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