This grilled California Chicken Recipe is a delicious grilled chicken breast recipe. It includes the best chicken marinade and is an easy chicken and avocado recipe. It’s the perfect grilled chicken recipe!
How to make the best-grilled chicken:
There are a few things you can do to make the most amazing grilled chicken.
- Tenderize your chicken.
This may seem like a task that doesn’t really need to be completed but let me tell you, if you don’t tenderize your chicken, you’re missing out. Tenderizing your chicken breast does a couple of things.
- It flattens the chicken breast out so it will cook more evenly.
- It breaks down the fibers in the meat and actually makes the meat more tender. Isn’t that what we all want, juicy and tender grilled chicken!?!
2. Marinate your chicken.
Most good chicken marinades call for these ingredients.
- Oil, or some kind of fat. (This helps keep the chicken moist and juicy)
- Lemon juice, or some kind of acidic liquid. A lot of times chicken breast marinade recipes will call for white vinegar. The high PH helps break down the chicken breast leaving it tender and juicy.
- Seasonings- the sky is the limit on this one.
3. Grilled chicken breast to 165 degrees.
Use a digital thermometer to make sure you’re not overcooking your chicken breast. If it’s cooked low an slow, you may not even get much of that golden brown color or char marks we love.
If you like a little of that grilled color on your chicken breast. Cook it on medium heat for about 6-7 minutes on each side.
You can even take the chicken breast off the heat when the internal temperature reaches 162 degrees. The chicken won’t stop cooking when you take it off the grill, it will raise a few degrees before the temp begins to fall.
You can take the chicken off the grill, put it in a dish and cover it with foil for about 5 minutes.
Ingredients in this Grilled California Chicken Recipe:
Chicken Breast: Use a high-quality chicken breast. The organic ones from Costco are my favorite as well as the fresh chicken breasts which are $3 per pound. (be sure to tenderize any chicken breast you decide to use.
Chicken Marinade: The recipe for the chicken marinade includes avocado oil, lemon juice, and the good seasonings Italian Dressing.
Avocados: Any ripe avocado will work great!
Tomatoes: Any tomato variety will do. If you only have cherry tomatoes on hand, you can cut them in half an also chunk up the avocado into bite-sized pieces and then put the cheese on top to hold it all together.
Pepperjack Cheese: We love pepper jack cheese on this grilled chicken. It adds just a little of the tartness we love and has just a little kick. If your family isn’t in love with pepper jack, you can certainly use mozzarella cheese, swiss or provolone cheese for this California Chicken Recipe.
Grilled California Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
The Best Chicken Marinade
- 3-4 large Chicken Breasts plan on 4-6 ounces of chicken per person
- 3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 1 pkg Good Seasonings Italian Seasonings Packet I've had good luck finding this in the supermarket aisle with the salad dressings
Toppings for California Chicken
- 1 large Avocado ripe
- 2 large Tomatoes Enough for about 2 slices per chicken breast
- 8 slices Pepperjack Cheese a couple slices to cover each chicken breast
Instructions
The Best Chicken Marinade Instructions
- In a gallon sized ziplock bag, add the chicken breast. Use a rolling pin, mason jar, or the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound the thickest part of the chicken breast. Pound until it about 3/4" thick, similar to the rest of the chicken breast. (This should only take a few good whacks.)?
- Add the Avocado Oil and juice the lemon into the Ziplock bag. Add the Good Seasonings Italian packet and seal the ziplock bag. Roll the bag around gently to mix all the ingredients together.
- Let the chicken sit in the fridge and marinade for 2-24 hours. (If you can let the chicken marinate for up to 24 hours, that's ideal. The marinate will give the chicken so much flavor and it makes the most tender and juicy grilled chicken.)?
How to make the California Grilled Chicken Breast
- When the temperature of the chicken breast reaches about 162 degrees, Add 3-4 slices of avocado, 2-3 slices of tomato, and a couple of slices of pepper jack cheese. (You can also use sliced mozzarella cheese for this recipe if you don't like pepper jack.
- Close the grill for 2 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Take the chicken breast off the grill and into a serving dish. Cover with foil for 5 minutes while the chicken breast cools down a little. Serve, Enjoy!
Nutrition
If you’re always on the hunt for a great chicken recipe, here are some of the best chicken recipes:
- Rosemary Garlic Chicken Breasts Marinade
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Parmesan Ranch Chicken
- Simple Oven Baked Chicken Breast
- Grilled Chicken Teriyaki
- Flamin Hot Cheeto Chicken Tenders
- Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki
- Crockpot Salsa Chicken
- Cornflake Chicken
- 3 Citrus Chicken Marinade
- Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
- Garlic and Herb Drumsticks
- Grilled Apricot Chicken
- Classic Chicken Parmesan
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This grilled California Chicken Recipe is a delicious grilled chicken breast recipe. It includes the best chicken marinade and is an easy chicken and avocado recipe. It’s the perfect grilled chicken recipe!
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