Grilled Za’atar Chicken Thighs are the best thing that will come off your grill this summer. Utterly moist and delicious and so easy to throw together! Chicken thighs marinate in fresh lemon juice, homemade za’atar spice, garlic and parsley for 30 minutes and then grilled to perfection. Serve as is with a favorite side or slice to top a fattoush salad.
We have been on a huge salad kick.
Grilled chicken Caesar has been the most reoccurring salad to date, mostly because it’s easy but also because the dressing is *chefs kiss*and hello shards of parmesan. We’ll also cycle through our favorites, like taco salad or this bacon and blue cheese chopped salad. However, one of my personal favorite salads is fattoush. It has a light lemon sumac dressing, pieces of crispy-baked pita bread and vegetables galore. And I love to top my fattoush with slices of grilled za’atar chicken thighs.
What I love about this recipe is that it’s easy to throw together, marinade time is 30 minutes and grill time is less than 10. Yet the chicken is moist and the flavor is incredible.
A simple marinade with incredibly flavorful results – sign me up.
To Make This Grilled Za’atar Chicken Thighs You Will Need:
- za’atar – My homemade seasoning blend consists of thyme, sumac sea salt and sesame seeds.
- fresh lemon juice – Adds bright flavor and acidity.
- garlic – Lends distinct punchy flavor.
- parsley (dried) – For bright and herbaceous flavor and a pop of color.
- kosher salt – Enhances the flavors in the recipe.
- freshly ground black pepper – This adds subtle bite and flavor.
- extra light olive oil – Or substitute with avocado oil
- boneless skinless chicken thighs – Lends more flavor than white meat. Thigh meat is tender and moist without being overly fatty or oily.
In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, add 3 tablespoons of za’atar, 1 tablespoon dried parsley (or use fresh), 2 to 3 cloves of garlic that has been grated on a microplane, 1/4 teaspoon of both kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, the juice of 1 whole lemon add 1 tablespoon of extra light olive oil or avocado oil.
Stir to combine.
Into a bowl or resealable bag, add 2 to 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Pour the marinade over top.
Use tongs to toss and coat all the chicken pieces in the za’atar marinade. Allow the chicken to sit for 25 to 30 minutes on the counter to marinate.
Preheat your outdoor grill to 500°.
Once hot I placed the thighs onto the grill grates and closed the lid, cooking the thighs for about 4 to 5minutes. Then use tongs to flip the chicken thighs. Continue grilling for 3 to 4 more minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
I wish you could smell this!
And that’s all folks. Serve this with grilled asparagus or zucchini, or tuck pieces into a pita with things like hummus, red onions, lettuce and tomatoes. But my favorite is slicing it up and topping my favorite fattoush salad recipe.
Enjoy! And if you give this Grilled Za’atar Chicken Thighs recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Grilled Za'atar Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons za'atar
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 2 large lemons, juiced
- 1 tablespoons extra light olive oil, or avocado oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, see notes
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, add za’atar, dried parsley (or use fresh), grated garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice and olive oil or avocado oil. Stir well to combine.
- Into a bowl or resealable bag, add the boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Pour the marinade over top. Toss well to coat the chicken thighs. Allow the chicken to sit for 25 to 30 minutes on the counter to marinate.
- Next, preheat your outdoor grill to 500℉.Once hot, place the marinated chicken thighs on to the grill grates and close the lid. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes before flipping and continuing to grill for 3 to 4 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
- Allow the chicken thighs to rest under tented foil for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
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Grilled chicken thighs are my very favorite! This will go so well with the hummus I’m making!
Oh my goodness. Those =thighs are smoking hot! And I bet they taste good too ;D
Happy anniversary to you and your hubby! My husband and I met in high school too and just got married last month after 7 years together 🙂
This recipe looks amazing! I love za’atar and grilled chicken so I can only imagine how delicious this meal must be. Yum!
That’s just like me with those dang chicken thighs!; I bet you won’t even find two recipes on my website that uses them, if that. I do prefer the breast meat, but my hubby loves the thigh meat. But hey, I”M cooking most of the time, right? I’ll have to give your recipe a whirl with the thigh meat though, thanks for posting this!
OH YEA !!!! Another recipe that uses that wonderful Za’atar seasoning blend….LOVE it and really loved it on the hummus. So glad I have something else to use it on. Cannot wait to try this one. Way to go, Laurie!!
OMG! This looks amazing! My husband loves chicken thighs. We will definitely be making this ASAP!
I’m sorry to say your video ad clips are annoying as Heck! I can’t stop them or mute them, does not make visiting your blog enjoyable. All I can do is to get off the site and not save your recipe. Sorry too annoying!!!!!!
Thanks for letting me know! I’ve passed the info on to the folk who manage my ads and they’ve informed it’s pretty rare that the ad sound be turned on, but every so often it happens. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully it doesn’t happen to you again.
I am making this Zaatar chicken & Fatoosh salad today. Your recipes are always supreme. I would like to know why you do not reccommend marinating the chicken overnite.
Only because the lemon. I worry about the acid from the lemon juice “cooking” the chicken. ENJOY!
Spicing or flavoring the chicken with Zatar is familiar in our food. It really makes special taste finally.
You are skillful and wonderful.
Appreciate.
Thank you so much Sarah!
I served this delicious chicken with fattoush salad and it was a taste sensation. Perfect for the start of spring 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe.
Awesome, Gary! I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks for coming back and leaving a review!
This was really good. I went ahead and marinated mine…with everything except the lemon juice and the black pepper. Didn’t marinate with the lemon juice in it because of fear of making my chicken mushy. And i left out the black pepper in the marinade because it can make a ruddy color. When i took ziploc of chicken out and oven was heating and to bring chicken closer to room temp (meaning not “fridge cold”) i added the lemon and black pepper and massaged the ziploc bag. I baked mine. Served with tumeric roasted cauliflower and saffron basmati rice. Really enjoyed this alternative to the other chicken thigh recipes. Thank you!