Grilled chicken surely makes the mouth water for any non-vegetarian. Chicken is the most popular ingredient when it comes to non-vegetarian cuisine, and in that the grilled chicken recipe is one that almost tops the list.

Grilling chicken can be done in an open barbecue outside or in a conventional oven at home. The barbecue may not be a viable idea during all seasons, and so, we have the loyal home oven that comes handy every time you wish to eat grilled chicken.

Grilling chicken is easy and quick, and is one that can be a quick weeknight dinner option when you do not wish to spend the entire day slogging in the kitchen, yet want to have a smiling family after dinner is served. Making grilled chicken is easy, however, there are a few things that one needs to take care of to ensure that the grilled chicken is tasty and juicy.

Now, let us get down to the actual procedure of how to grill chicken in a conventional oven

1-Marinate Well In Advance:

The marinade or the set of ingredients that you would apply to the chicken would determine its taste. You can have a plain simple marinade of olive oil (or any cooking oil), garlic, salt and pepper mixed with some lime juice, or go in for a traditional Indian style marinade with all the masalas.  Now, for an Indian marinade you could use cooking oil, lime juice, ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper, cumin powder, and some garam masala powder for a heavenly grilled chicken. Make sure that you marinate your chicken and leave it for at least 4-6 hours before grilling

2- What you need to know for Grilling:

Bring the marinated chicken to room temperature before grilling. Set the oven temperature to 180 C for grilling the chicken. Cover the wire rack with an aluminum foil, place the chicken pieces on it, and then go ahead and place it in the middle rack of the conventional oven. By covering the rack with aluminum foil you are actually preventing the juices from dripping and letting the chicken cook in its own juices.

Cook for approximately 30 minutes. Make sure that you turn the chicken pieces over after 15 minutes. This way you will have juicy chicken that has a golden brown crust, which is so typical of grilled chicken.

3-Why Basting is important?

While grilling if you feel that the meat is getting dry, then you could baste (apply with a brush or spoon) with some cooking oil, the remaining marinade itself, or even butter

4-Temperature and Time – very important for a perfectly grilled chicken:

Attention must be given to the temperature which is one important step to a good grilled chicken recipe and also the time that you cook the chicken in the oven. Over cooking, that is, cooking for a very long time will result in very hard dry meat. On the other hand, a very high temperature will burn the meat on the outside, while it is still not cooked on the inside. It is essential to cook at the right temperature and for the required time period.

Equipped with this information on how to make grilled chicken in oven, you can be sure of making tasty grilled chicken for your family and bringing broad smiles to their face.