Welcome to Jesse Fixes Dinner, a series in which food editor Jesse Szewczyk shares his best tricks for effortless weeknight cooking.
Call me basic, but anytime I see grilled chicken on a menu I order it. While I would love to say that “health” is my motivating factor, the truth is that I simply love the charred, smoky flavor that only grilling can achieve. This is because restaurants have giant, flame-powered grills at their disposal, making flame-grilled flavor a possibility no matter the weather. Believe it or not, even without an indoor grill, you can actually replicate that smoky, charred flavor at home in your kitchen. In fact, the secret to mimicking that flavor is already in your oven. Let me explain.
For those unacquainted with their broilers (or those too scared to turn them on—I see you) let me enlighten you on their many uses and empower you to use them. Broilers are a form of direct, intense dry heat, not dissimilar to a grill. This type of heat can be intimidating to many cooks as it takes foods from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds. But the same intensity that makes them a bit scary to use is the same characteristic that makes them ideal for indoor “grilling.”
To mimic the flavor of outdoor grilling, you want a certain level of burning; so the broiler’s fatal flaw becomes its star trait. Suddenly steaks, pork chops, and shrimp can develop that deep, charred flavor without having to step outside. My go-to way to take advantage of this: Making “grilled” chicken breasts all winter long: charred, perfectly cooked, smoky chicken cutlets that taste straight off the grill.
The key to achieving an authentic flame-grilled taste comes down to two key factors: Picking out the right marinade for your chicken and properly positioning your oven racks.
The first, the marinade, is all about the right combination of fat and sugar. These two ingredients are prime for burning, helping the chicken quickly develop a deeply caramelized crust that tastes pleasantly smoky. My go-to marinade is a slightly altered version of a classic honey mustard dressing, using plenty of mayonnaise and honey as my fat and sugar sources. I like to marinate chicken breasts that are cut in half horizontally into thin fillets for about 30 minutes (and up to a day in advance). Cutting the chicken into thin fillets ensures they cook through in the same amount of time it takes to char them; about 10 minutes or so.
You can use just about any marinate you like as long as it has both sugar and fat in it. The fat could be olive oil, coconut oil, or full-fat yogurt while the sugar can be any sweeter, be it agave or maple syrup. The choice is yours, so feel free to add any spices or aromatics you want.
The second secret to achieving a true grilled taste is to position your oven racks properly. You’ll want your rack to be in the upper third of the oven, about five inches away from the broiler’s heating elements. This ensures that the broiler is close enough to slowly burn the chicken breasts, but not so close that they burn before they cook through. If you find that your chicken breasts are done cooking before they are sufficiently charred, carefully position the rack a notch higher and broiler them for one to two more minutes more as close to the broiler as possible, keeping a very close eye on them. What you’re left with is deeply browned, perfectly tender chicken breasts reminiscent of an outdoor barbecue; a true salve for the coldest winter days.
While you can serve the chicken breasts however you like (in a sandwich, on top of rice, sliced and thrown into pasta), I like to keep things simple and top them with a salad made with greens, sliced onion, and chopped almonds. So for anyone longing for the warmer days of summer, I empower you to turn on your broiler and give this recipe a try. It might just transport you straight into summer, if only in just your imagination.
