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This is my sister’s famous juicy BBQ chicken breast recipe. The marinade is simple with just 3 ingredients. She made this chicken recipe for a great big family gathering (I’m talkin’ ’bout 35+ people) and everyone was smitten. It was the most tender and juicy barbecued chicken breast I’ve tried.
I’m sharing all of my sister, Sveta’s, tips and tricks for her scrumptious grilled chicken. You know what’s awesome? Since it marinates overnight, all of your prep is done in advance! I love that I can just toss it on the grill (more like have my husband throw it on the grill) before my party starts; giving me time to focus on other details.
Ingredients for the Best BBQ Chicken:
3-4 lbs whole, boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup ranch
6-8 medium cloves of garlic, pressed
*1 1/2 Tbsp Johnny’s seasoning, added to taste (store-bought or make your own with recipe below)
1/2 cup your favorite BBQ sauce + more to serve
*You can make your own Johnny’s seasoning easily:
1 ½ Tbsp sea salt
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
How to Make the best BBQ Chicken breast:
1. Rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a casserole dish (no need to get extra dishes dirty), combine 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup ranch and press in 6-8 garlic cloves.
3. Add chicken and turn several times to coat generously in the marinade.
4. Season each individual side of the marinated chicken breasts with Johnny’s seasoning to taste (I used about 1 1/2 Tbsp or half of the seasoning mix recipe above). Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to marinate. Marinate 10 hours or up to 24 hours.
5. Preheat your grill to 400˚F. Brush the grates with oil. Place chicken on the grill then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook approximately 10 minutes per side (rotating the chicken 90˚ after 5 minutes to create criss-cross grill marks). When you turn your chicken over, generously brush the grilled side of the chicken with BBQ sauce. Repeat; grilling your second side, rotating 90˚ after 5 minutes. Brush the second grilled side generously with BBQ sauce.
Notes:
When done, chicken breast should have an internal temp of 165˚ and should be firm but still soft. Juices will run clear when you cut into it. Our chicken breasts were pretty large and took about 25 minutes total on the grill. Don’t overcook them or they will turn rubbery and keep in mind they will continue cooking even off the grill.
6. Remove from grill, place on a platter and immediately cover tightly with foil. Let chicken rest under foil for 15 minutes before cutting into it.
Serve with more BBQ sauce, these mashed potatoes and this cucumber tomato salad (or this creamy cucumber & tomato salad), and you’ll want this to drink. Over and out. Enjoy! It really was amazing.
Juiciest Barbecued Chicken Breast
Ingredients
Ingredients for Juicy BBQ Chicken Breast:
- 3-4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup ranch
- 6-8 medium cloves of garlic, pressed
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Johnny's seasoning, store-bought or make your own with recipe below, added to taste*
- 1/2 cup your favorite BBQ sauce + more to serve
Homemade Johnny’s Seasoning:
- 1 ½ Tbsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- In a casserole dish (no need to get extra dishes dirty), combine 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup ranch and press in 6-8 garlic cloves.
- Add chicken and turn it several times to coat generously in the marinade.
- Season each individual side of the marinated chicken breasts with Johnny's seasoning, adding it to taste - I used about 1 1/2 Tbsp or half of the seasoning mix. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to marinate. Marinate 10 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat your grill to 400˚F. Brush the grates with oil. Place chicken on the grill then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook approximately 10 minutes per side (rotating the chicken 90˚ after 5 minutes to create criss-cross grill marks). When you turn your chicken over, generously brush the grilled side of the chicken with BBQ sauce. Repeat grilling your second side, rotating 90˚ after 5 minutes. Brush the second grilled side generously with BBQ sauce.
- Remove from grill, place on a platter and immediately cover with foil. Let chicken rest under foil for 15 minutes before cutting into it. Serve with more BBQ sauce, these mashed potatoes and this salad (or this salad), and you'll want this to drink.
Notes
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This was fabulous! I was looking for a different type of marinade for grilled chicken breasts and came upon your website. The only problem was that I only had on hand chipotle mayo and chipotle ranch dressing, but figured, “what the heck, give it a try.” I’m so glad that I did, as my husband has raved about it and requests it every week. FYI, I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce. Thank you for the recipe. Love your website and look forward to trying other recipes.
Kim, welcome to the site and thank you for such a nice review 😀. I hope you’ll find lots of new favorites here.
Natasha– I much prefer thighs, but this recipe produced the best chicken breasts I’ve ever made. Thank you. I’m Lithuanian and I appreciate your recipes.
That is a wonderful compliment! Thank you so much Kim 🙂
Can I use a grill pan instead of a grill? This sounds delicious.
Hi Galina, yes that would work fine 🙂
OMG- my Guyana’s and I just make this on our grill in the Norwood in Wisconsin! Tritely the best grilled chicken we’ve ever had! Paired it with cucumber/tomato/ avocado salad~~~ amazing! Thank you so much for sharing😘
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!! Thank you so much for sharing your great review! 🙂
Hi Natasha can I make this inside of oven?
Hi Mariam, you might try this baking method:
Preheat Oven to 400˚F.
1. Place Chicken thighs flat with the smooth side up on a large rimmed baking dish. Bake at 400˚F for 30 mins.
2. Increase heat to 450˚ and Remove chicken from oven to brush the tops and sides generously with BBQ sauce. Return chicken to the oven another 5 minutes or until glaze has dried slightly onto the chicken.
Note: bake time may vary by thickness of your chicken breast.
I tried this in the oven following these directions and it turned out amazing! The only thing i did was make sure not to bake the chicken in all of the marinade.
Thank you for such a nice review Alie 😬.
I really enjoy all of your receipes. On recipe I think you should do is a chicken and waffles recipe
Can you describe the chicken and waffles recipe? I don’t think I’ve ever had that. Thank you! 🙂
Hai natasha.. i loved all your recipes but i’ve got little confused to figure it out what is ‘ranch’..
Is it yogurt or sour cream?
Or somekind like that? 🙁
Btw i’ve tried ur grill garlic shrimp and its so yuuummmm.. thankyooouu for sharing..
Ranch is a salad dressing. It is sold in the grocery aisles or in the refrigerator section. You can use either kind.
Hi Natasha,
Is it possible to use this marinade for beef and then grill? Or it will not be as soft?
To be honest, I haven’t tried this marinade with beef and I think it would work better for chicken.
We had this chicken with mashed potatoes, it was a great hit.
That’s what I like to hear :).
Hi, This is just a quick sincere thank you for the great recipes with “Easy to Find” ingredients, and with easy methods! You also should be congratulated for having an easy read unclogged website that is NOT full of adverts including pop ups!
Well Done!
Cheers, Ed
I’m so glad you are enjoying the site. Thanks for the great feedback! 🙂
I was wondering if it’s possible to reheat these? I wanted to make it for a church potluck and i thought maybe grill it in Saturday and slice it up. Then on Sunday toss some more barbecue sauce on it and reheat it in the oven.
That could work fine; you could do exactly that then cover with foil and bake until hot.
Mayo and Russians are perfect combination:) I grew up with a lot of mayo dishes.
Lol. There are a few ingredients that are just staples. 🙂
Is there a baking method for this?
Thank you!
I haven’t tried baking this particular recipe and I think grilling is best for chicken breast so it doesn’t dry out, but this is the method I used for baking chicken thighs:
Baking Method:
Preheat Oven to 400˚F.
1. Place Chicken smooth side up on a large rimmed baking dish. Bake at 400˚F for 30 mins.
2. Increase heat to 450˚ and Remove chicken from oven to brush the tops and sides generously with BBQ sauce. Return chicken to the oven another 5 minutes or until glaze has dried slightly onto the chicken. It’s done when the thickest part is 165˚F, juices run clear and the thickest part is no longer pink. Baking time will be different depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
This looks absolutely awesome, love how you flavored the chicken!!
Thanks Matt. It’s so simple but tastes amazing! 🙂
My family loves chicken. I should try making it this way. Thanks for sharing 😉
You’re so welcome! Enjoy! 🙂
Hi Natacha thank you for sharing your great receipes. Can I use same marination on 4 lb of bone in skin on chicken thighs?
Thank you again
I bet that would work Dina! If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I’ve marinated with greek yogurt before, but never thought to add ranch, what a great idea!! Thank you!! I’ll be trying this tomorrow…
Greek yogurt sounds nice! What else did you put into it?
Nice recipe. Thank you Natasha and your sister. Have a Great Week.
Thank you Liz! I hope you have an awesome week as well 🙂
This is perfect for me! We always make chicken and try different ways to make it. I definitely will be trying this one soon! Y-U-M!!!!
I think you’ll love it! It so simple and the flavor and juiciness,… yum. It’s too late for me to be getting hungry again 😉
Great recipe!! Thx!!
Thanks so much 🙂
I am all about tender, juicy chicken! And BBQ for that matter. What an ingenious marinade! This looks amazing!
Thanks Lindsey! 🙂 Me too! We should grill together one day, or maybe my husband can grill and we can sip iced coffee and chat. lol. I like option B. 😉
I vote for option B!!! 🙂
Yes! 🙂