This Chicken Marinade is made with eight simple ingredients in less than five minutes, and the chicken always cooks tender and flavorful.
Trust me when I tell you this will be the best Chicken Marinade Recipe you have ever had. It pairs deliciously with corn salad, cabbage salad, and tomato salad.
How to Make Chicken Marinade
Whisk together the marinade ingredients a large bowl. Add boneless skinless chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Marinate bone-in skin on or skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, and chicken wings for 1-12 hours. Always preheat the grill or oven and discard any remaining marinade.
Grill chicken over medium-high heat. Too high and the outside gets dry and crispy, and the inside is not cooked thoroughly. Use a small poultry or instant-read thermometer. Once the internal temperature is 165 degrees, remove from the grill, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
Helpful Recipe Tips
- Try dried herbs like basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and cilantro. Other spices to try include cumin, ginger, cayenne, and paprika.
- Fresh lime juice works just as well as lemon juice, and it is particularly tasty if using the chicken in a Mexican dish.
- Use it on any chicken, including boneless, bone-in, breasts, thighs, legs, or wings, but remember that marinating times for bone-in and skin-on chicken are longer.
- Cover the marinated chicken with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
- The marinade can be made up to 48 hours in advance, stored in an airtight container, and placed in the fridge, but use the guidelines above to decide when to add the raw chicken and start marinating.
- No additional salt is needed with this marinade, as even low-sodium soy sauce is high in sodium.
- This chicken is also great baked. Place marinated chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees,
- Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power.
- To freeze chicken, cool completely, then store it in a freezer bag removing as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Can you marinate chicken too long?
For safety’s sake, you should not marinate chicken for longer than 24 hours as the marinade will break down the texture of the chicken, making it mushy. Ideally, boneless skinless chicken breasts only need a short marinade time of 30 minutes to 2 hours for optimum texture and taste. Bone-in and/or skin-on chicken needs at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. I usually shoot for 6 hours.
More chicken recipe
Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 lemons juiced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 2.25 lbs.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, minced garlic, dried thyme, dried marjoram, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
- Preheat the grill to medium heat. Grill for 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Flip and grill another 5-7 minutes or until an internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
- Try dried herbs like basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and cilantro. Other spices to try include cumin, ginger, cayenne, and paprika.
- Fresh lime juice works just as well as lemon juice, and it is particularly tasty if using the chicken in a Mexican dish.
- Use it on any chicken, including boneless, bone-in, breasts, thighs, legs, or wings, but remember that marinating times for bone-in and skin-on chicken are longer.
- Cover the marinated chicken with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
- The marinade can be made up to 48 hours in advance, stored in an airtight container, and placed in the fridge, but use the guidelines above to decide when to add the raw chicken and start marinating.
- No additional salt is needed with this marinade, as even low-sodium soy sauce is high in sodium.
- This chicken is also great baked. Place marinated chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees,
- Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power.
- To freeze chicken, cool completely, then store it in a freezer bag removing as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Peter
Light brown or dark brown sugar? I have the ingredients and am looking forward to trying this.
Beth Pierce
Light brown. Sorry about the delay.
Brigadier
5 STARS
Melissa
I am pinning this one to make this week for my family as I love good grilled chicken. We need to eat a little healthier and this is going to be perfect.
Jupiter Hadley
Wow I had no idea that marinating chicken for more than a day can change the texture. Thank you for the tips and the recipe!
Claudia
This is our new favorite chicken marinade. You brought life back to my otherwise mundane grilled chicken. Thanks so much. Beth
Sandra
I love how flavorful this marinade is!! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine!
Stacie
Grilled chicken is one of my favorite things to make ever. Bookmarking this recipe.
Joane B.
Can this recipe be used on beef or pork?
Beth Pierce
Yes it can!
Karen
Your chicken recipe omg it was SOOOO GOOD! I can’t wait to make it again! Hopefully this weekend.
Lavanda Michelle
The combination of flavors and ingredients is simply mouthwatering. I can’t wait to try it out for my next barbecue party.
Kimberly C
This made me soooo hungry. We are big chicken lovers in my house and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. I wish I could taste it, but if it taste anything like the way it looks, it will be a winner. Bookmarking this page for when I attempt this recipe. Yum!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Kimberly! Enjoy! it!
Celebrate Woman Today
I saved the recipe to try it out with the marinade recipe you offer.
And to report back, I’ve made Zucchini Fritters and enjoyed them a lot!
Thank you for yummy recipes.
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine!
Catalina
Such a great marinade. My family loved it. This is our new go to recipe for grilled chicken!
Nadalie
Great marinade recipe. It was easy and the chicken grilled up so tasty. I will use it again.
Erin
Great recipe with so much flavor! We loved it.