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Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken

Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken is the summer grilling recipe you want!
Sweet pickle brine and salty soy sauce create a marinade that will have you grilling all summer long!

June is OVER, y’all! July is here, which means it’s time to grill every night of the week. Asheville has been way too hot! But, this Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken recipe will have you firing up your grill before you can pop open the jar of pickles. It might just become your go-to marinade for the summer?!

grilled vidalia pickle chicken recipe

What is Pickled Vidalia Chicken?!

It’s a two-ingredient marinade recipe idea for chicken, pork, or seafood. It uses the brine from Mt. Olive Pickles Simply Vidalia‘s and some Soy Sauce. That’s all you need for a good marinade! Some umami flavor (the soy sauce), which also gives the saltiness + a vinegary, sweet component that helps break down the chicken and make it super flavorful and tender.

pickled vidalia chicken marinade

If you don’t have Mt. Olive Pickle products in your area, head on over to Amazon, and you can order to your heart’s delight! By far, they are my most favorite pickles. And I love pickles. Probably a little too much… Raise your hand if you have way too many opened jar of pickles in your fridge?! ??

pickle brined chicken

Let’s chat chicken for a sec…

I was two months ago old when I had my first chicken thigh. I know, I know, where have I been!? Y’all. I need to explain a story for a minute. Love my mother dearly, but she has issues with meat, of any kind. When she was growing up, she called any not so great parts “trick meat.” Well, that has stuck, and everyone else will have perfectly cooked meat, and she ends up with the ONE piece of gristle or fat or tricky meat parts… So, when she makes chicken she makes sure every single piece of fat is off that chicken breast before it is cooked. Which means, by default we did NOT  eat chicken thighs growing up. Can you imagine?! 

pickle brined chicken thighs

This Grilled Pickled Vidalia Chicken starts with chicken thighs in a ziptop bag.

Quick Tip: I like to fold the sides of the bag over, so now chicken mess gets on the runner, and therefore on your hands… GROSS.

chicken marinading in a bag

Pour some pickle brine into the bag, along with some soy sauce. This isn’t a measure it out marinade, you can’t go wrong. I added half the jar of pickle brine and 1/4 cup of the soy sauce. I added cut up green onions into the bag as well. Not only did this help give the chicken an onion flavor, but the onions were also grilled with the chicken, and it created a delicious side dish.

I like to place the ziptop bag inside a casserole dish. Just in case something spills or leaks! This is handy when you go outside to grill, just pile it all up inside this casserole dish, and take with you outside. 

Chicken grilled green onions

Grilled Pickled Vidalia Chicken would be great served with these side dish ideas:

This grilled chicken recipe is also a great addition to any of these salads:

Grilled Pickled Vidalia Chicken

Now, you’ll want to let the chicken sit in the marinade at least half an hour, it’s better with a couple of hours. You can add the chicken to the marinade the night before you want to serve, and let it hang out until you are ready to grill. If you are serving this for a dinner party, you can grill after people have arrived! Serve an appetizer and cocktail and let your guests hang out with you while you grill. 

pickle brine chicken grilling recipe

Appetizer and Cocktail recipe ideas:

Pickle brined chicken

Alright, now we are on to the grilling part! 

I’ve got a few tips for you when it comes to grilling any protein. It’s quite simple:

  1. A clean grill. Y’all I can’t stress this enough! Make sure your grill is clean. Which means you’ll want to turn your grill on SUPER high heat and let it burn off all the gunk from the previous time!
  2. Put your meat down and let it be. Do not touch it! When it’s ready to flip, it will release from the grates. If you feel any pull, let it hang out for a bit more. 
  3. Don’t close your grill lid until you flip the meat. When you close the grill, it begins to steam, and you want the nice caramelized grill marks before you close the lid.
grilling chicken thighs
chicken pulling from grill

You can tell this piece of chicken isn’t flipping very easily. So, I let it hang out a bit more, and within a couple of minutes, it flipped with ease. 

You’ll want to take the leftover marinade from the bag, and boil it on high heat until a thick syrup consistency is achieved. Then, you can use this as a glaze for your chicken thighs. Just brush each side with a little of the glaze during the last couple minutes of grilling.

glazing chicken on the grill

Here is a list of my favorite grilling tools:

grilled chicken marinaded in pickle brine
grilled chicken with a pickle brine marinade

Here are 27 Ways to Use Leftover Grilled Chicken is you’re in search!

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Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken

5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Sweetpea
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 68 servings 1x
  • Category: main dish
  • Method: grilling
  • Cuisine: american

Description

Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken is the summer grilling recipe you want!
Sweet pickle brine and salty soy sauce create a marinade that will have you grilling all summer long!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
  • 1 cup Mt. Olive Simply Vidalia Pickle Brine
  • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
  • 6 Green Onions, sliced in 3-inch pieces


Instructions

  1. In a gallon sized zip top bag, place chicken, pickle brine, soy sauce, and green onions.
  2. Marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours.
  3. Turn the grill on high heat and allow high heat to burn grill grates so they are clean.
  4. Remove chicken from marinade, and pour the liquid into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes, until a thick syrupy consistency is formed.
  5. Turn grill to medium-high, and add chicken thighs.
  6. Grill on medium-high for 5-6 minutes on each side.
  7. Brush chicken with glaze while you grill the green onions.
  8. Serve immediately

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What are your favorite chicken thigh recipes?!
A whole new world has opened up for me. Leave your favorite recipes in the comments below!

Pin this Grilled Vidalia Pickle Chicken recipe to your favorite chicken recipe board

easy summer grilling recipe

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12 Comments

  1. We love our pickles and vidalia onions so this recipe intrigues me. Can’t wait to try his.






    1. You will love these pickles!! They even have a jar that is just vidalia onions and other veggies. SO good!

  2. Oh I hear you – chicken thighs were not a common sight on our dinner tables growing up, which is an absolute SHAME because they are so juicy and literally soak up all the flavs. Loving this marinade idea too – sheer brilliance. Can’t wait to try!






    1. Yeah! So glad I’m not the only one!! And yes, I love how juicy and delicious they are. And, they cook up tiny, so you can eat more. 😉

  3. I am obsessed with everything pickle this summer, and using the brine on your chicken is such a great idea! I love how it gives such a delicious tang to the meat without overpowering it.






    1. Oh yeah!! You are so right, not overpowering at all. Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer!

  4. We got a mount olive pickle sampler pack for Christmas and it had a jar of the vidalia onions. I made this recipe tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you for a wonderful recipe! Paired it with grilled zucchini and homemade french fries.






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