Grilled Greek Lemon Chicken
I have a great marinade recipe for you today, perfect for summer bar-b-ques! It is so delicious and a breeze to make. But first, can we talk about summer a little bit? In light of what is going on in the world, I thought it might be a good time to pass on a little bit of encouragement. When the kids were young, I used to have a love/hate relationship with summer. At the beginning of summer, I would be so excited and hopeful. Excited to spend more time with the kids, happy to not have to stay on top of the homework situation, and so grateful to just have a more relaxing routine. But by the end of summer, I was marking off the days on the calendar until they went back to school! See this post if you want to know what our summers really looked like!
And then there were the vacations! We were all so excited to go on a trip. But sometimes the reality of the trip was sooo different from what I had pictured in my mind. We still had fun, but there were definitely some tense moments. I remember one time on a trip to San Francisco, sitting in the middle of Ghiradelli eating ice cream with the family, and I just started to cry. And I am not a crier! But I had had it. One of our sons that was in high school had just started dating a girl about 4 days before we left, and he did not want to be on a family vacation right then! He let us know that in every way possible from the looks on his face to the way he walked.
I am a person who does not like conflict, especially on vacation because the memories of it will be forever etched in our brains and our pictures. But actually, to my surprise, that has not been the case! I had to laugh a couple of months later, when for my birthday, my daughter gave me a mug that she had ordered with a picture from that vacation. It was a picture that shows the exact look on our son’s face that he didn’t want to be there. And do you know what she said? “Mom, I wanted to give you this mug with a picture of our vacation on it because that was one of the best vacations we ever had! I knew you would like that.” Here is the picture she put on the mug. It reminded me of all the sad moments on the trip.
I just had to laugh to myself. At first I didn’t want to even look at the mug, but then I realized, even though it wasn’t a perfect vacation, and there were some tense moments, we still did have a good time. We still were together as a family making memories. And that is the important part. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. We laugh about that time now with our son. And he even admits he was not easy to be around on that trip. It’s awesome when the kids get old enough that they start agreeing with you! 🙂 This is a picture from the end of our San Francisco trip. It’s amazing what a difference there is in the demeanor of the kids! Sometimes it takes a little while before the bonding kicks in and you may not even realize the benefits of it until many years later!
My husband and I talk about our vacations sometimes, and as we look back, we both feel that they were incredibly bonding family times. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, we sure didn’t when the kids were young. But we did make a point to get out-of-town each summer, even if it was just camping a couple of hours away, or visiting family in another state, and I think it has made all the difference. I just wanted to pass that along to any of you young families out there. I don’t think I realized at the time we were taking vacations just how important they would become in the lives of our kids and our family. I think it is important because it gives the kids a sense of belonging. We are a family, however imperfect we may be. With what is going on in this world today, sometimes it is so easy to feel helpless and like there isn’t anything we can do. But we have so much more influence with our kids than we realize. And it doesn’t just have to be parents and kids going on vacation. It can be grandparents and kids or aunts/uncles and kids, etc.
Speaking of my kids, this chicken recipe is one they all liked. I served it with Classic Greek Salad and mashed potatoes one night when they were here for dinner, and they really seemed to enjoy it. When all family members can agree on a recipe, that is definitely one recipe I want to save! It has great flavor due to all of the herbs, spices, and garlic in it.
I highly recommend marinating overnight. I really think that is key to getting good flavor out of a marinade.
The nice thing about marinating overnight is the next day, your dinner is already half prepared and all you have to do is throw the chicken on the grill and prepare a couple of sides.
Meals and vacations can both be such a family bonding time. If you can relate to this vacation story in any way, or just want to get some great tips about how to make your summer with the kids a good one, here is a link to a message from Greg Smalley and his wife, Erin, on Focus on the Family about things that helped them with their kids. There are some really funny parts when they share some of their family stories. I laughed so much listening to it. And if you are at that point in summer with your kids where you just want to pull your hair out, just know you are not alone and even if it isn’t a perfect summer that’s okay! It doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. Take heart that years later you may be laughing at some of the more difficult times. Most of them anyway! 🙂
Grilled Greek Lemon chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I like the thin cut Foster Farms chicken)
- 1/3 c olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
- 1/3 c fresh lemon juice
- 4-6 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- chopped fresh parsley or basil for garnish, optional
- If you don’t have thin chicken breasts, using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound thicker parts of chicken to even thickness. This will help the marinade to absorb into more of the chicken.
- In a small mixing bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Place chicken in a gallon size resealable bag, and pour in olive oil mixture. Seal bag while pressing air out. Flip bag over a few times so marinade evenly coats chicken pieces. Place bag of chicken and marinade in refrigerator over night. If possible, turn bag over in the morning to make sure marinade evenly coats all chicken pieces.
- When ready to cook chicken, preheat grill over medium-high heat (to about 425-450 degrees).
- Place chicken on grill, close lid, and grill about 4 minutes, flip, and repeat until chicken registers 160-165 degrees in center of chicken on an instant read thermometer. Time will depend on the thickness of the chicken and the type of grill. When chicken is cooked, set on a plate to rest 5 minutes to let the juices set.
- If desired, garnish with parsley or basil and serve.
- Refrigerate any leftovers.
Recipe from Cook AZ I Do, originally found on Cooking Classy
So true Shari! I love this. Nothing needs to be perfect. ❤️ enjoy your summer.
Thanks Shari. The shared photos and personal memories of all the past family are pure joy. (and you’re not alone … tears, laughter, getting lost and relaxing are the signs of a great vacation)
Thank you for taking the time to look at the pictures and read the post, Ginny! I’m so glad to hear tears are considered part of a good vacation! 🙂 We have also done the getting lost part. I think I can do without that in the future! 🙂 I hope you’re having a great summer so far!
Thank you, Connie! I appreciate you taking the time to read the post. I hope you are getting settled into your new place!
I loved your vacation story. I cherish the vacation memories we have, and we are lucky enough to still vacation together ever once in a while. How did you get a blonde, redhead and brunette? Love it! Love the chicken recipe too. I definitely think chicken needs to be marinated and will be giving this one a try too!
Thank you, Julie! We get to vacation together every once in a while now, too. I’m so glad they still want to (and am kind of shocked)! We asked ourselves the same question about our kids’ hair. We stopped at 3 thinking the next hair color might be blue! 🙂 I hope you enjoy the marinade if you get a chance to try it.
You are so right Shari, it’s amazing the things that we laugh about now and at the time I felt overwhelmed and I wanted everything to be perfect. Time always brings things back into the proper perspective. Your chicken looks perfectly cooked.
Thanks, Cheri! I was the same way. You are so right about time bringing some perspective. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on a longer post. Hope things are going well for you in Oregon! We had such loud thunder last night it jolted me out of bed.
Thank you for sharing your memories and the photographs of your beautiful family. You almost made me weep.
And thank you for the wonderful marinade. We’re having a big BBQ fest in a couple of weeks and this is definitely going on the menu!
Thank you for taking the time to look at the pictures and read a longer post, Ruth! I don’t know what’s overcome me lately with sharing so many family photos. I promise not to do it every week! 🙂 I hope you enjoy the marinade. I love having a lemony one in my recipe file. A BBQ fest sounds awesome!
mmm . . . This sounds wonderful – tasty and easy to make.
Thanks so much, Sheryl! It is a great marinade, and you’re so right, tasty and easy to make. I appreciate you stopping by!
Wonderful post, Shari! Boy oh boy…it sounds like you were talking about a couple of our vacation, lol. Teenagers and there angst certainly have a way of doing that. Thinking back, I know I was the teen with the scowl in the photo too… full circle, I guess. Thanks for sharing your family photos…it was nice to see your family as I read through the memories! As for the chicken/marinade….delicious and pinning. 🙂
Thank you so much for taking time to look at all those pictures, Nancy! Glad to hear our family isn’t the only one who has some vacations like that. We do have so many good vacation memories, too, which I’m thankful for. I appreciate the pin and hope you enjoy the recipe if you get a chance to try it. Cooking Classy recipes are the best!
Making memories on holidays is so important – and they aren’t always good memories! It is good that you can have a laugh about it now, and that photo on the mug is a great idea! My gals would love this meal as they now – after a few false starts – love chicken. And we have an enormous bowl of lemons pinched from my mum-in-law so there’s no reason for us not to make this 🙂
Yes, I’m really glad we can laugh about it now, as at the time it was very frustrating. It’s so ironic because he has grown up to be the most good natured adult, just a pleasure to be around. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you make it. That is so great you have access to lemons. That is one thing I buy almost every week.
Shari, we tried this marinade last weekend and LOVED it. I loved how lemon-y it is, and the chicken was juicy and tender. I think it’s a new favourite!
Oh, that is great, Ruth! I am so happy you liked it. I love how lemony it is, too. Glad it was juicy and tender as well. Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed it. It just makes my day. Hope your bar-b-q was fun!