Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken 🍗🍯🌶️ is the perfect blend of mildly spicy meets subtly sweet! The homemade chicken marinade incorporates chipotle peppers, honey, soy sauce, and more for a SCRUMPTIOUS sauce that ensures your grilled chicken will be tender, juicy, and supremely flavorful! The PERFECT easy summer barbecue recipe for weeknights, casual backyards get-togethers, and summer holidays!
Easy Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken Recipe
- The flavor profile of this easy grilled chicken recipe is mild. It has a tiny kick but it’s more just a nice bold flavor than spicy. If you want more spice, add more chipotle peppers – and/or add a bit of cayenne pepper to the marinade or red pepper flakes. If you want it less spicy, remove one pepper. The sweetness level is pleasant, not overpowering, and what you’d expect in an overall savory recipe.
- This grilled chicken recipe reminds me of my Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken which was one of the first grilling recipes I shared on my blog in 2017 (I had just moved into my house and gotten my first big girl outdoor gas grill ) and it has been a reader favorite over the years and has similarities to this recipe so make sure to check it out.
- I also have Grilled Honey BBQ Beer Chicken and Grilled Honey BBQ Chicken Tenders in case this honey-inspired flavor profile is for you!
- For this grilled chipotle honey chicken, I grilled 4 pounds of boneless chicken thighs, which was 8 thighs. They were about 1/2 pound each. Tip – If you don’t want as much, you can easily halve the recipe (halve all marinade ingredients and use 1 lb chicken).
- But when I grill, I always make EXTRA! Planned leftovers, especially when it’s grilled chicken, never go to waste. Plus, people always eat a bit more chicken when it’s grilled I find. Here’s looking at myself because I can’t resist swiping bites from my cutting board!
- Whether you want to make this for Memorial Day, graduation parties, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, for a casual weeknight dinner, or an impromptu backyard bbq, it’s going to be a family favorite!
Ingredients in Honey Chipotle Grilled Chicken
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce – I use 3 peppers with 2 tablespoons adobo sauce but based on your preference for heat, you can use an extra pepper or eliminate one pepper.
- Garlic cloves or garlic powder, shallot, fresh cilantro, lime juice, reduced sodium soy sauce (to keep this recipe gluten-free use tamari), teaspoon salt, black pepper – These are your flavor boosters. Acid from the lime juice and then the sodium from the soy sauce plus salt will help tenderize the chicken.
- Olive oil, honey, light brown sugar, ketchup – These ingredients seal moisture into the chicken and lend a sweeter touch. Tip – However, anything with sugar can burn 🔥, especially when grilling so make sure to grill over medium heat.
- Skinless chicken thighs – You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead if you prefer.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Sweet Chipotle Chicken on the Grill
- To the canister of a high speed blender, add all the ingredients (except the chicken), and blend to create your chipotle sauce, or marinade.
- Transfer the mixture to a large ziptop bag or large bowl, add the chicken, seal the bag and squish it around to coat evenly. I recommend marinating about 2 hours.
- To a preheated outdoor gas grill with oiled grates, add the chicken with the flat side down and cook over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes. Save the bag or bowl with the marinade.
- Flip chicken over and cook for another 4 minutes, brush with extra marinade, and flip one last time. Cook until chicken reaches 160F as measured with a digital thermometer, and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Optionally garnish with cilantro, sprinkle red pepper flakes for more heat, slice and serve!
Note: Scroll down to the Notes sections of recipe card section below for Storage and Reheating recommendations.
what to serve with grilled chicken
- Personally I love this chicken with a nice salad with lettuce and tomato, grilled veggies or grilled corn, and some rice.
- You can also make deluxe tacos with the chicken and top with cheese and sour cream.
- Or make wraps with tortillas or go for a lower carbs option and make lettuce wraps.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you have two options:
1. Bake in a 400F oven for about 20 minutes in a baking or casserole dish. Exact baking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken pieces, so keep an eye on it and use a thermometer. Flip it once midway through baking. If it’s looking like it could be burning, cover the baking dish with a sheet of foil during the last half of cooking.
2. Use an indoor grill pan that you place on your stove and cook over medium-high heat to high heat, as necessary until done, about 12-15 minutes total time, flipping once midway through and brushing with extra marinade mixture after you flip midway. However, this is an tool or item that varies so much (in composition, thickness, etc.) so cook until the chicken is 160-165F and let it rest until it’s 165F.
Make sure you have oiled the grates. If it’s still sticking, let it cook another minute or two, and it should release as it cooks. Proteins, in general, release easier when they’re more done and it’s naturally time to flip them.
Grilling takes practice, just like all types of cooking.
-Make sure to control the heat output (less is more, “medium” heat is just fine – it’s still probably 500F degrees!). Do not cook with your grill on max heat!
-Use a digital thermometer and undercook by about 5 degrees, so in this case about 160F. Let the chicken rest on a platter for 5-10 minutes, and carryover cooking will allow the temp to rise to 165F, which is the safe temperature for poultry.
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Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 medium chipotle chile peppers (in adobo sauce), (use 1 chile for less spiciness, use 4-5 for more heat)
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, from the can
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot, peeled
- 2-3 tablespoons cilantro, plus more for garnishing
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 lime, juiced (about 3-4 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, (I recommend reduced sodium or lite soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 4 pounds boneless chicken thighs, (boneless skinless chicken breasts may be substituted)
Instructions
- To the canister of a high speed blender, add all the ingredients EXCEPT the chicken, blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until pureed and smooth. This is the chicken marinade.
- Transfer the marinade into a large ziptop plastic bag (or a large mixing bowl), add the chicken, seal the bag, and squish and move the chicken around inside the bag (or stir and flip it well inside the bowl and then seal the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or foil), and place in the refrigerator to marinate about 2 hours. Marinating Tip – You can marinate for as little as 30-60 minutes if you're short on time (longer is better) or for up to 4-6 hours.
- When you're ready to grill, oil the grill grates by brushing them with oil (important to prevent sticking), and preheat your grill. While the grill is preheating, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter.
- Place the chicken on the grill ,flat side down, close the lid, and grill for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Save the marinade. Grill Temperature Tip – Be VERY careful controlling the heat output and temperature of your grill. Because of the honey and the brown sugar, the chicken will be prone to burning. It's better to go lower and slower so take care that your grill isn't too hot.
- Flip the chicken, brush the exposed side with a generous amount of marinade (now discard it), and grill for another 4-5 minutes.Flip one last time, cooking for just a minute, or until the chicken is done. Chicken is done when it reaches 160F, allow it to rest on a plate for 5-10 minutes, the internal temp will rise to 165F, which is the safe consumption temperature.Flipping/Sticking Tip – If the chicken is sticking and doesn't want to flip, give in another 1-2 minutes. When protein is closer to being done, it will flip/release easier than when it's raw.Cooking Tips – Because all grills vary, temperatures vary, the thickness of the chicken varies, etc. grill your chicken for as long as necessary, until it's done. The minutes per side are just estimates, but you need to watch your chicken, not the clock.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes to lock in the juices before optionally garnishing with cilantro or other fresh herbs; sprinkle red pepper flakes for more heat, and/or add salt and pepper to taste. Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is absolutely delicious and easy with basically no clean up. The chicken is so flavorful and juicy! This is definitely going to be a regular in our summer grilling line up.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Kristin, and I’m glad you really enjoyed this and that it’s going in your regular summer grilling lineup!