Years ago, I published my recipe for salt & vinegar chicken, and it was a HIT. The marinade is so fast: you can drop the chicken in while you’re preheating the grill, and as soon as it’s heated, start grilling. This technique is basically flash brining. The liquid is so strong that you only need 15-30 minutes in the brine before the chicken is packed with flavor. It’s an amazing weeknight dinner.
I’ve made it so often over the last few years, and I’ve made some tweaks along the way. One is to switch from a whole chicken to boneless, skinless chicken thighs. It’s the best meat for it: it absorbs super fast, and the slightly more fatty cut keeps the meat from drying out. It makes it so much easier to monitor the grill and finish cooking everything at the same time.
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I’ve also taken out the “extra” seasonings. While they do add some flavor, since Julia avoids some of those ingredients now, it’s easier to just skip it. It’s also easier for the kids to eat since they’re not cutting around bone-in chicken.
Want to Make a Substitution?
Add seasonings: You can add brown sugar to it, if you like a little more sweetness (which I did in the original recipe). You can also add garlic powder or any seasoning you want.
Sub some salt: You can sub some of the salt with soy sauce for extra umaminess.
Sub for chicken thighs: You can make this recipe with a spatchcocked chicken or cut-up, bone-in chicken. When I do this, I’ll use half water and half vinegar and reduce the salt mixture in half so it can marinate longer—around an hour or 2.
The recipe is very accomodating. For me? It’s perfect just as it is, with only 3 ingredients: chicken thighs, kosher salt, and white vinegar. I’ll show you how it’s done.
Even Easier Salt & Vinegar Chicken
Ingredients:
- 15 chicken thighs (approx 2.5-3 pounds)
- 1 quart distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
Directions:
- Preheat grill on medium-high.
- Combine the vinegar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
- Add the chicken to the liquid and marinate it for 15 minutes.
- Carefully oil the grill grate. Add the chicken pieces and cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes for grill marks. Flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Move the chicken to the higher rack, and cook for another 5-7 minutes to develop more browning without overcooking, until the thighs have reached an internal temperature of 175 °F .
This was delicious!!
So good! This is a new favorite! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Chris, love your recipes. Is it possible to use the salt & vinegar recipe for chicken drumsticks and air fry them?
Totally. For that application it would also be really good to add a little brown sugar or honey to the mix. Like 1/4 cup is all, but that would be super good. I also would use a wood skewer or something to poke a bunch of holes in it to get the flavor a little deeper, past the skin.
I saved this recipe from the first time, using boneless skinless chicken thighs from the start. I batch cook and freeze to be part of my work lunches over the next 2 months. Love it.
Awesome to hear! Great idea.
Thighs on the grills are our weekly go-to summer meal. You can’t go wrong, and we will try our this flash brining.