Grilled Chicken Thighs on a Weber Gas Grill

Grilling chicken thighs on your Weber gas grill is easy as long as you prep the chicken correctly and keep your burners on “Low”.  Let me show you a great way for grilling thighs that you can be eating for dinner tonight!

I grilled these thighs on a Weber Q1200 but the technique will be the same for any Weber gas grill.

Prepare the Thighs for Grilling

We are going to start with a batch of bone in, skin on chicken thighs.

Place the thighs on a cutting board and flip them over.  You should deposits of fat and excess skin that is just dangling around.

To help prevent flareups while you are grilling, go ahead and trim off the excess skin and fat deposits.

After the thighs are trimmed season both sides with a dry rub that is low in sugar.  If you use a sugar based rub then the seasoning will scorch if a flareup happens and the chicken will have a bitter taste.

Here is a great rub to use on thighs:

• 2 tbls smoked paprika
• 2 tbls kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic

Let the rub soak into the thighs for at least 30 minutes before they go on the grill.

Preheat Your Weber Grill to “Low”

You need the thighs to cook all the way through without the skin being burnt to a blackened crisp.  To accomplish this goal we are going to use Low heat for the whole grilling session.

While you are waiting 30 minutes for the rub to soak into the thigh meat turn the burners on your Weber to “Low” and let the grill preheat for 15-20 minutes.

Once the grill has warmed up go ahead and clean off the cooking grate with a brush or paper towels.

Grill the Thighs

We are going to grill the thighs for about 40 minutes and flip them three times.

Place the chicken thighs onto the grill with the skin side down and let the cook for ten minutes.

After ten minutes flip the chicken over and grill with the skin side up.

Grill ten more minutes and flip the thighs back to skin side down.

Grill ten more minutes, flip to skin side up and grill for another 10 minutes until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 175F.

Grilled Chicken Thighs on a Weber Gas Grill

Chicken thighs are trimmed, seasoned and then grilled over low heat for about 45 minutes.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Calories 375 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1 package chicken thighs Bone in, skin on.
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika Dry Rub
• 2 tbsp kosher salt Dry Rub
• 1 tsp black pepper Dry Rub
• 1 tsp chili powder Dry Rub
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic Dry Rub

Instructions

 

• Trim the thighs of any excess skin and fat deposits.
• Combine the dry rub ingredients and mix well.
• Season all side of the thighs with the dry rub and allow the chicken to rest for 30 minutes before grilling.
• Set the burners on your Weber grill to Low and let the grill preheat for 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chicken thighs on the grill skin side down.
• Let the chicken grill and flip it every ten minutes.
• Grill for about 40-45 minutes until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 175F.

Notes

If you want to add barbecue sauce to the chicken then apply a thin coating during the last 5-10 minutes of grilling.

Keyword Grilled Chicken Thighs

Optional Extra Steps for Even Better Grilled Thighs

This is a simple but great recipe for grilled thighs.

If you wanted to add more flavor levels to the thighs then there are some extra things you could do.  My top suggestions are:

• Add Smoke
• Get Underneath the Skin
• Brine the Bird
• Get Saucy

And if none of these ideas strike your fancy then check out this recipe for Butter Bath Chicken Thighs!

Add Smoke

You can add a layer of smoke flavor to your thighs.

Some folks will make a pouch from aluminum foil, fill it with wood chips and place it beside a burner tube.

I prefer to use a stainless steel smoke tube filled with wood pellets.  You can light the pellets with a small propane torch and place the tube on the cooking grate.

If you decide to add some smoke then use a mild wood like apple.

Get Underneath the Skin

While you are prepping the thighs you can lift up the skin and add some dry rub directly onto the thigh meat.  You could also insert some herbs or a compound butter.

A thin slice of lemon would really play with the flavors!

Brine the Bird

If you have a few extra hours to spare you could soak the thighs in a brine that would help the thighs get more tender while adding an extra flavor level.

Here is a great brine for thighs:

• 2 cups apple juice
• 2 cup water
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Let the thighs brine for at least two hours in the refrigerator.

Get Saucy

If you want to add some barbecue sauce to you thighs then do so in the last 5-10 minutes of grilling.

You can go with a sweet sauce like Sweet Baby Rays or something creamy like an Alabama White sauce.