Do you grill in the rain or are you a fair weather griller? I laugh, as we grill in just about every kind of weather except for thunderstorms. This week is Spring Break and it was a light rainy day. Spencer and I decided to try our hand at Caramelized Onion Grilled Chicken.
This is a knock-your-socks off chicken recipe that will surprise your taste buds – so hold onto your hats! Nobody that tastes this dish knows what is going on in it. Raspberry jam? Vinegar? Soy Sauce? Don’t worry. You don’t taste any of these ingredients individually, but mixed together, it provides a fun, tangy-sweet topping that is a fantastic surprise!
It’s crazy how good it is! I hope your family loves it as much as ours does.
How to caramelize onions?
Our family loves to caramelize onions! Loves to eat them too!
Place your skillet on the stove top and set to medium high heat . Let it heat up for 3-5 minutes. Don’t become impatient for this one. It really does need time to come up to a nice temperature to caramelize well.
Too often we like to throw the onions in after just 1-2 minutes (because it’s close enough, right? Nope!).
Place 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan and let that melt. Throw in a handful of your sliced onions. Not too many, as the onions will tend to “steam” instead of “caramelize”. See the picture I took.
That doesn’t look like there is that many in there, does it? I only added a good fist full.
Let them be. Don’t move the onions around much. Just throw them in, arrange them and let them alone for about 5-7 minutes. The onions will start to turn color on the bottom and that is when you can stir. Just make sure to wait until they are getting good and dark for the best flavor.
It takes about 10-12 minutes to caramelize the batch.
Making the topping
While you are caramelizing your onions, you can combine the remaining ingredients in a small container and whisk it together. When onions are caramelized, pour the mixture into onions and stir to heat it through.
It is ready to be poured over the chicken – as soon as we grill it!
Let’s grill the Caramelized Onion Grilled Chicken on the Big Green Egg
Open up the bottom and the top vents of the Big Green Egg fully to create as much airflow as possible. Add charcoal.
I placed one of my homemade fire starters in the center and placed a couple of chunks of charcoal around it and lit it. Check on it a couple times and watch the temperature rise. It took about 25 minutes for the grill to reach 500 degrees.
Close the top and the bottom vents about ½ way and the temperature will come down to 350-375. This was perfect for my chicken breasts or thighs.
I used chicken thighs for this recipe, as they tend to cook a bit faster than the breasts (and sometimes I’m just impatient!)
Place the chicken on grill using the direct heat method and add salt and pepper. Grill each side of the chicken thigh for about 8-10 minutes. This will always vary slightly due to how hot your grill actually got and how well it is keeping temperature.
As always, check your poultry for correct “doneness” with a meat thermometer. Is that a word? I think it is now!
After removing chicken from the grill, let it rest for a few minutes so the juices don’t release from the chicken. Top with the caramelized onion mixture and enjoy a super-fast, super-delicious dish of Caramelized Onion Grilled Chicken.
Until next time, enjoy!
Caramelized Onion Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 c raspberry jam
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1/2 of an onion chopped
- 1 tbs butter
- 4-5 chicken thighs
Instructions
Prepare the Grill
- Heat grill to a 350-375 degrees.
Prepare Onions and Mixture
- While grill is heating up, mix the jam, ginger, vinegar and soy sauce together.
- Heat butter in large skillet over high heat until butter melts. Add the onion and cook until brown. Stir until both sides are brown.
- Reduce heat to low and pour in the jam mixture and stir to heat.
- Remove from oven and glaze over grilled chicken.
Grill the Chicken
- Place chicken on a grill set to 350-375 degrees.
- Cook each side about 7-10 minutes.
- Check internal temperature for doneness which should be at 165.