My Syrian grandmother passed down her hummus recipe to me. It was my most requested recipe after I slightly modified it by adding roasted garlic. I finally cooked it for my grandmother a few months ago, and when she raved about it, I felt like I had won the Oscar. This recipe is a hit even with hummus haters. I’m modest as well.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dill pickle juice, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- aluminum foil
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Whisk together pickle juice, brown sugar, kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 pinch cayenne pepper in a large bowl until sugar dissolves. Place chicken breasts in brine, using a plate or bowl to keep breasts submerged. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Remove chicken breasts from brine, discard brine, and dry chicken breasts with paper towels. Brush each breast with olive oil; season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook chicken on the preheated grill until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Transfer chicken to a plate, tent with aluminum foil, and let chicken rest for 5 minutes.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the brine ingredients. The actual amount of brine consumed will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 351 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 129 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 47 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 5452 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Used Famous Dave’s Sweet & Spicy brine. Followed recipe as directed. Moist and grill-perfect. It did not “taste like pickles.”
I suggest cutting pieces smaller, to allow brine more surface to work with.
I’m always looking for new ways to prepare chicken to go on those pre-made salad kits. I discovered a new one – Taylor Farms Dill Pickle and it’s a favorite. The dill pickle juice brine in the recipe is the perfect compliment. Made as directed, marinated for 2 hours, then grilled for 7 min on each side. Chopped & topped my salad. Delicious.
We loved it. The chicken was so juicy.
5/17/20 – this was easy enough to throw together and to grill the tenderloins fast. Flavor was slightly like dill pickles, which we love, but the family didn’t love this dinner.
Used chicken thighs and soaked them in the brine mixture for about 4 hours. They had a nice tang (twang?) to them and were quite delicious. They bordered on being a little too salty so next time I’ll try without sprinkling salt on them before they go on the grill. This is a great way to use all that wonderful brine leftover from kosher dills.
We loved this! Half a recipe was plenty for 3 chicken breasts. I also used hot sauce and Tony’s Creole seasoning in place of the cayenne pepper. Two hours of marinating was perfect. This was moist and tender and tasted like the chicken used in a certain restaurant’s grilled chicken club. Delicious!
Very simple and easy to make. I left out the cayenne pepper and let it marinade for about six or seven hours, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly (although in a frying pan not on a grill). It had a nice pickle taste that wasn’t overpowering, and both I and my girlfriend really enjoyed it. A nice variation on grilled chicken breast. I would definitely make it again.
Yummy! I served it over Keto cold slaw.
I cooked these on the Kamado Joe with indirect heat and they turned out amazing. I did use a chicken rub, Kosmo’s Hot Dirty Bird BBQ rub, for finishing and the family loved it.
Very good – and surprisingly, not too salty at all! I used brine from full sour pickles we got at the farmer’s market (Gary’s Pickles – SO GOOD!!). I did boneless thighs and a couple of boneless breasts – cooked on the grill as per recipe. Will definitely do this again – and I’m already looking forward to getting more full sour pickles to eat first!
Made no changes to the recipe and will make this again. Husband loved it.
I love pickle juice brine. Claussen kosher dill pickle juice is my favorite.
This turned out very well. I did broil it (10 minutes each side) instead of grilling because it is winter. I used skin-on thighs instead of breasts, because I like them better. And I added a little sriracha to the olive oil I used at the end. It was fantastic.
This turned out very well. I did broil it (10 minutes each side) instead of grilling because it is winter. I used skin-on thighs instead of breasts, because I like them better. And I added a little sriracha to the olive oil I used at the end. It was fantastic.
I don’t understand how you can comment that you tried this pickle brine then complain that it tasted like pickles too much? I guess these folks expected it to taste like strawberries? I used the brine on my chicken pieces and then deep fried. It was wonderful. Like all brining liquid, make sure you rinse and pat dry. It is a tenderizer with a hint of pickles not a flavor additive to overpower the meat. My mother-in-law from Tennessee, said this has been used back home for decades in middle and Eastern Tenn.
Very blah. Won’t make again. Ate the leftovers so it didn’t hit 2 star rating.
This was my second time to make this dish, was awesome the first time! This time I used skinless/boneless chicken thighs and my go-to Paula Deen salt mixture, white pepper, smoked paprika and a 1/2 tsp chipotle. I intended for making sandwiches with this, and it worked very well with fresh tomatoes and gruyere on a flat bread. Enjoy
Yummy! Here are the changes I made: I used homemade pickling juice made with tons of fresh dill. I diluted it a bit with water so the dill would not be so strong. I accidentally added to much sugar with made the chicken a bit sweet; next time I would omit the sugar all together. I used chicken tenders instead of breasts. Finally, my tenders were frozen so I defrosted them in the brine, which took several hours.
I did this with chicken thighs I had leftover, used Swerve instead of brown sugar and it turned out great.
Not too pickley but definitely noticeable. Adds a little something different to the chicken