Have I got another great easy to grill up some chicken this Summer. This easy grilled Italian Chicken only takes 3 ingredients to make. I recommend doubling the recipe. Then you can have dinner that night. Then use the extra chicken to cut up for a salad the other night. Like in the bowtie chicken Caesar salad!
All you need to do is marinate this easy grilled Italian chicken is a mixture of zesty Italian dressing and some Sprite! Yep, you heard me right, some Sprite is used in the marinade. I have used Sprite before in my Manti chicken recipe, so I knew the results would be great. Using Sprite in a marinade will do 2 things. It will tenderize your meat plus add sweetness. The phosphoric acid in the soda will break down the protein and connective tissue.
However, with using this marinade, I don’t recommend using it for longer than the day to marinade your meat. You don’t want to go any longer than 8 hours or you could end up with mushy meat and no one like mushy meat! That phosphoric acid will break those tissues down too much if it goes longer.
I just add the dressing and Sprite to a gallon sized freezer bag, seal, and gently mix. Then I add in the chicken, seal, and work the chicken in with the marinade. Then I place it on a plate and put in the refrigerator. After 4 hours, I give the bag a flip. Then let it go another 4 hours, then grill.
Here is what you need to make the
Easy Italian Grilled Chicken
- CHICKEN BREASTS (BREASTS SHOULD BE ABOUT 1 INCH THICK)
- ZESTY ITALIAN DRESSING
- SPRITE
Easy Grilled Italian Chicken
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 chicken breasts (breasts should be about 1 inch thick)
- 1 bottle Zesty Italian dressing
- 1 cup Sprite
Instructions
- In a gallon sized freezer bag, add all of the ingredients. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 8 hours but not any longer.
- Remove chicken from marinade and grill until it reaches 165 degrees.
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: chicken
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
This recipe is adapted from The Tipsy Housewife.
2 comments
Did you rinse the chicken off after it was done marinating? I cooked mine on a stovetop grill pan and the chicken was delicious but the pan was a burnt sticky mess, very difficult to clean. I believe it was the sugar content from the sprite.
No you don’t rinse off the chicken. I would maybe cook at a little lower heat if cooking on a stove top grill because there is now where for the sauce to drip off. So it would all just accumulate in the pan.