Grilled Honey Balsamic Chicken

Name: Grilled Honey Balsamic Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 76 min
Ingredients: ¼ cup olive oil ((plus more for the grill)); ½ teaspoon paprika; ¼ cup Honey; ¼ cup balsamic vinegar; 2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 2 Tablespoons ketchup; 3 pounds bone in skin on, chicken thighs; 2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon pepper

Written by:

1 Comment

5 from 1 vote

This grilled honey balsamic chicken is a flavorful, easy summer meal featuring a simple and delicious balsamic glaze.

Jump to Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

Grilled honey balsamic chicken is the best way to make juicy chicken thighs and get the best results that will have everyone raving after enjoying this super simple chicken dinner recipe.

After making this homemade balsamic marinade all you have left to do is let the chicken sit and do the work in the fridge. Talk about an easy way to make balsamic chicken marinade.

If you have busy weeknights ahead and aren’t looking to grill, this chicken cooks up well in a grill pan too so you can still get the grill marks you want, making this one of my favorite easy chicken recipes to make with little meal prep involved.

Grilled barbecue chicken pieces on a plate with sauce, a glass of beer, and a red checkered napkin on a rustic wooden table.

Grilled Honey Balsamic Chicken on a cutting board

Recipe Ingredient Notes

To make our grilled honey balsamic chicken, you need the following ingredients:

Oil: use olive oil (plus more for the grill) for best results
Seasonings: you will need paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper
Honey: use your favorite honey, I like using raw honey with this recipe
Sauce: balsamic vinegar, a key ingredient for this quick marinade
Ketchup: we always have ketchup on hand so I grab it from the fridge, but use your favorite
Chicken: use bone-in skin on chicken thighs

Equipment Needed

For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:

Grilled chicken thighs glazed with barbecue sauce, garnished with fresh herbs, served on parchment paper with a small bowl of extra sauce on the side.

How to Make Our Honey Balsamic Chicken

Make the marinade. Whisk together the olive oil, paprika, honey, balsamic, garlic powder, onion powder, and ketchup.
Marinade the chicken. Place the raw chicken in a large Ziplock bag and pour half of the marinade over it. Reserve the other half of the marinade. Seal the bag and massage the marinade into the chicken. Place plastic bag in the fridge for at least an 1 hour for the best flavor.
Season the chicken. Remove the chicken from the marinade and season both sides with salt and pepper. Let it sit at room temperature while you preheat the grill.
Prep the grill. Preheat one side of the grill to medium-high heat and rub the grate down with olive oil over the hot grill.
Grill the chicken. Place chicken skin-side-down and grill for 3-4 minutes on the hot side of the grill. Flip the chicken and brush each piece with the reserved marinade. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the side of the grill that is not preheated. Close the grill and cook for 5 more minutes or until the internal temperature of the largest piece reaches 165°F.
Rest. Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes

If you are short on time, make sure that you have at least an hour to let this marinade recipe penetrate the chicken to get flavor. However, if you want lots of flavor or just looking to meal prep ahead of time, you can make this up to 24 hours before.
With this recipe we enjoy using the skin-on chicken thighs, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t use something else with this easy balsamic chicken recipe. You can substitute the bone-in thighs for boneless chicken breasts, skinless chicken thighs, or boneless thighs.

Storage Suggestions

Fridge: Place any leftover chicken in an airtight container for up to 5 days after grilling and allowing the chicken to cool down to room temperature.
Freezer: For a quick freezer meal, you can always use a freezer bag and put the chicken in the freezer after combining it with the marinade and let it sit in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Serving Suggestions

We recommend serving this recipe with our Instant Pot Corn on the Cob, Creamy Pasta Salad, Easy Potato Salad. You can find more classic American recipes here.

Grilled barbecue chicken thighs on a plate with a small bowl of barbecue sauce, corn on the cob, and a glass of beer in the background.

Grilled glazed chicken thighs on parchment paper next to a dish of honey with a honey dipper, placed on a red and white checkered cloth.

Enjoy More Delicious Chicken Main Dishes

Chicken is an all-time favorite for weeknight dinners, but so many of us end up making the same few dishes over and over again. Explore our comprehensive collection of chicken recipes.

Join The Discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Questions & Reviews

Maya says:

So flavorful and delicious. I’ll be making this one again.

About The Author:

Steph Loaiza

Steph is recipe developer and bestselling cookbook author. Her advanced degrees in communication shape how she breaks down cooking techniques into simple, reliable steps for millions of home cooks around the world. Her work has been featured by Costco Connection, Women's Health, Taste of Home, and more.