Try this easy cheesy garlicky grilled chicken for your next cookout! Chicken thighs get tossed in a parmesan, garlic, butter, and herb mixture and thrown on the grill. As they cook on the grill, you’ll brush more of the cheesy mixture on top to really soak up all those flavors. Once they’re off the grill, you’ll finish them off when a final smear of the parmesan garlic butter. What you end up with are cheesy, garlicky, buttery chicken thighs that pair beautifully with the simplest of salads, grilled veg, or pasta!
Ingredient highlight
Parmesan cheese! This versatile hard, nutty, aged Italian cheese is a good source of protein and bone-building nutrients calcium and phosphorous. Just one ounce of parmesan gives you about 10g of protein and about 1/4 of your daily recommended calcium. It’s also easier to digest than most cheese because it has lower lactose levels and it also contains some probiotics (that’s what gives this cheese it’s slightly tangy flavor).
Make sure to buy the good stuff when it comes to parmesan because there are a lot of bad “parmesan” cheeses out there. Always look for “parmigiano reggiano” and it’s best to buy it in a block and grate it at home. The best price for the quality I’ve found is at Costco or Trader Joe’sCheck out the videos for my favorite way to quickly grate a lot of parm at once!
Servings 4
Prep Time 8 minutes 
Cook Time 10 minutes Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp black pepper, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- Serve with: ~ Blueberry Tomato Avocado Salad with Basil Dressing, any salad or side, and/or with a simple pasta or cooked grains.
- No grill? ~ Pan-fry the chicken in a hot oiled skillet until golden on one side, then flip and brush with the parm butter. Cover and cook until cooked through. Follow the recipe as is.
Instructions
- Preheat your grill on high for at least 10 minutes.
- Add butter to a small microwavable bowl and microwave until melted and bubbling. While the butter is still hot/warm, stir in ½ teaspoon black pepper, garlic, and parsley. Then stir in the parmesan.
- Add chicken to a medium bowl and season all over with the salt and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper and rub around to coat. Add 2 tablespoons of the parmesan butter and toss to coat.
- Transfer another 2 tablespoons of the parm butter to a small bowl (we’ll use this after the chicken is done).
- Add the chicken to the hot grill and grill for 3-5 minutes or until you have grill marks. Flip the chicken and brush with the remaining parmesan butter. Cover and grill for another 2-4 minutes or until cooked through and you have some grill marks on the other side.
- Transfer to a cutting board, let it cool for 5 minutes, then spoon the reserved parm butter over each thigh and gently spread to coat. Serve right away with your choice of side.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Make the parmesan butter.
Substitutions:
- Cannot be made vegan or dairy-free.
- Butter creates a silkier sauce, but you could sub with 3 tbsp olive oil if you’d like.
- You could use any meat of choice (steak, pork, chicken). You could use chicken breast, though I’m not sure the parm butter would adhere as well to it.
- Turn this into skewers! Follow the recipe, but cut chicken into pieces and skewer them.
Storage:
- Store leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freezer for up to 2 months.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftovers in the microwave until warmed through. Cutting the chicken up can help it reheat faster and more evenly.
- Pair the chicken with pretty much anything! Or slice it and put it on top of a salad or bowl.
- Make a simple pasta and put chicken on top (chicken parm!).
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