11 Grilled Chicken Recipes with Globally Inspired Flavors

There’s no shortage of healthy chicken recipes, but these take a spin on the grill for extra flavor and a little char. Even better: These easy grilled chicken recipes also boast internationally inspired flavors so you’ll never get bored of this most familiar of birds.

Pair these with a salad, vegetables, and/or starch for fast, filling, and healthy meals all summer long.

1. Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken

This vaguely Mediterranean chicken is super simple, but no less delicious for that. Fresh thyme, rosemary, and garlic are an outstanding combo when mixed with lemon, olive oil, and kosher salt. Be sure to put the chicken thighs in a single layer when marinating so everything can soak in—and grilling the lemon imparts an extra layer of flavor. Get the Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken recipe.

2. Greek Grilled Chicken

This chicken recipe takes the flavors of a Greek salad and manages to incorporate them into grilled chicken. Mint, oregano, dill, and parsley team up with lemon, garlic, tomatoes, olives, and feta for a perfect Greek bite. Leftovers are perfect folded into a pita for lunch. Get the Greek Grilled Chicken recipe.

3. Turmeric Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Coconut Lime Dip

An Indian-ish paste of cilantro stems, coriander, white pepper, turmeric, brown sugar, and oyster sauce imparts tons of flavor to these chicken skewers; even if you only leave it on for 15 minutes before grilling, it makes an impact, as does the coconut milk dip on the side. Get our Turmeric Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Coconut Lime Dip recipe.

4. Spicy Korean Grilled Chicken

Ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and Korean malt syrup (or half the called-for amount of honey as a substitute) make for a delicious Korean twist on teriyaki; add some gochujang for a spicy kick if you like. If you marinate it the day before, dinner is on the table in no time the next night. Get our Korean Grilled Chicken recipe.

5. Turkish-Style Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs

Cumin, cayenne, and paprika are mixed with Greek yogurt in this Turkish-inspired marinade for chicken thighs. You can easily scale this recipe up for a crowd and make enough leftovers to last all week. Get the Turkish-Style Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs recipe. For even quicker cooking, apply the same technique to chicken skewers.

6. Easy Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts

Use a blender to puree fresh cilantro (including the stems) with garlic, brown sugar, fish sauce, and white pepper, then slather it on the chicken breasts before grilling them and serving with sweet chili sauce. Get our Easy Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts recipe. (Or, for another Thai treat, make our Grilled Green Curry Chicken Kebabs recipe shown at the top of this page.)

7. Mexican BBQ Chicken

Orange juice, garlic, achiote paste, cilantro, and jalapeños make a spicy marinade for our Mexican BBQ Chicken recipe. Serve with Arroz Verde, and shred any leftover meat into tacos the next day (or combine it with the rice is easy burritos).

8. Grilled Miso Chicken Thighs

Japanese miso paste lends extra umami savor to our Grilled Miso Chicken Thighs recipe. We use yellow miso, but you can change the flavor by using milder white miso or a smaller amount of red miso. Serve hot over a cool noodle salad for a perfect summer dinner (try this Sesame Soba Salad recipe, but leave out the tofu).

9. French Chicken Kebabs

You may not associate France with grilling, but these easy kebabs flavor chicken with whole grain Dijon, orange juice, fennel, and black olives for a simple but surprisingly delicious dinner with Gallic flair. Get our French Chicken Kebabs recipe. Serve over a simple couscous salad or with a light, herby potato salad, perhaps.

10. Maple-Mustard BBQ Chicken

This sweet, savory, and tangy melding of maple syrup and mustard feels thoroughly American, though it does use soy sauce too (but we are a melting pot, after all). Get our Maple-Mustard BBQ Chicken recipe.

11. Argentine Grilled Chicken

This simple chicken recipe calls for spatchcocking and cooking on the grill for a dramatic whole bird presentation and great flavor from the salt, smoke, garlic, lemon, and rosemary, even before you add the traditional Argentine chimichurri sauce on the side—but definitely don’t skip that. Get our Argentine Grilled Chicken recipe.