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The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe makes chicken extra juicy and flavorful. This savory grilled chicken marinade makes the perfect mouthwatering grilled chicken! Everyone loves this 5-star-rated chicken marinade.
The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
Do you want to make the most flavorful, mouthwatering, juicy grilled chicken? I have the recipe for you and all of the secrets to the best chicken marinade! This recipe has consistently received 5-star reviews for over 5 years and is the most popular chicken recipe.
When we were newly married, we lived near Dean’s brother, his wife, and two kids. We were living in an apartment, going to college full-time, and working crazy hours to pay the bills. We were poor little college students and would love when Deron and Sarah would invite us over for dinner.
Their go-to meal was grilled chicken in a delish marinade. They knew how much we loved it so we ate it almost every time we had dinner at their home.
So I had to ask her what was in this amazing chicken marinade recipe. It is beyond simple! I decided to tweak it and add a few more flavors to make it extra tangy and zesty. This grilled chicken marinade will become a staple in your home too!
Chicken Marinade Ingredients:
Everything you need is most likely in your pantry and refrigerator. This is all about layers upon layers of flavor from fresh lemon juice to tangy balsamic vinegar. It makes the most flavorful grilled chicken!
This Grilled Chicken Marinade Recipe is made with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper. You have such a variety of seasonings in this marinade.
What do I love about this Grilled Chicken?
The extra virgin olive oil keeps the chicken extra moist and juicy.
Fresh lemon juice and balsamic vinegar break down the fibers in the chicken to make it tender.
The soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce give it a salty depth of flavor.
The brown sugar adds some rich sweetness and gives the chicken a nice crust when grilled.
All of the ingredients work together in harmony to make the perfect chicken marinade!
How long should I marinate chicken?
The key is to let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. This allows the marinade ingredients to infuse flavors and moisture into the chicken for the juiciest, most flavorful chicken you will ever eat!
Pierce the chicken breasts with a fork all over to ensure the marinade can seep into the chicken to make it juicy. What is an ideal amount of time to marinate chicken? An ideal marinating time is 4 – 5 hours.
How to grill chicken and how long to cook grilled chicken?
To grill the chicken, set your grill at medium heat. Allow it to preheat before placing the chicken on the grill.
To keep the chicken from sticking, brush a bit of oil on the grill.
Cook for about 5 – 6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken breast. The chicken needs to reach 165 degrees to ensure that it is completely cooked through. I suggest using a food thermometer for ensure the perfectly cooked and juiciest grilled chicken.
What type of chicken should I use?
Use whatever types of chicken you prefer — chicken breasts, thinly sliced chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or chicken thighs.
Thinly sliced chicken breast will cook faster than traditional chicken breasts. Chicken tenders and thinly sliced chicken breast will cook much quicker than thick chicken breasts so watch carefully.
What should I serve with grilled chicken marinade?
Some of my favorite recipes to serve with grilled chicken are:
Loaded Potato Salad with Bacon
Another great marinade is my Tri-Tip Steak Marinade.
I can’t wait to hear how much you love this grilled chicken recipe!
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The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Chicken Breasts Tenders, or Thighs
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil depending on preference
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced or 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- Garnish:
- Fresh Parsley
Instructions
- In a bowl, stir together oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Pierce chicken breasts with a fork all over. Place in a large Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over chicken.
- Let marinate for at least 30 minutes. 4 – 5 hours is ideal.
- Preheat grill to medium heat. Brush grill with oil to prevent sticking.
- Place chicken on the grill. Cook for approximately 5 – 6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of chicken. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees.
- Remove chicken from grill and let rest for 5 minutes.
Notes
What type of chicken should I use?
Use whatever types of chicken you prefer — chicken breasts, thinly sliced chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or chicken thighs.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Happy Cooking, my friends!
Thank you for this recipe! I’m living in Turkey and could easily find all these ingredients! It was delicious!
When you say grill do you mean the BBQ? Also, can you use OJ instead if lemon juice?
Best chicken I made ever. My husband said it’s the best tasting chicken ever !!!!! Thanks ????
I really enjoyed this marinade! I’m new to cooking and this is probably one of the first recipes I will keep in rotation since it’s so simple and tasty. I bought some chicken cutlets and fried them in a stainless steal pan for a few mins and they formed a real nice color.
Delicious recipe!! I’ve made this many, many times. I double the recipe and use a large pack of chicken breast and cut them in half. I put the marinated chicken in the fridge and cook it up as needed for meals. We usually get at least 2 meals out of it for our family of 5. I usually pan fry, but we have done it on the grill as well. Both very yummy!! It goes well with rice and brocolli. Or a salad.
Best marinade ever! I followed the recipe exactly though I had to double it for a whole chicken halved. After marinading it for five hours, we put it on the grill. The flavor permeated the chicken and all I heard was, “Oh my gosh this is so good!”
Thank you
I made this for my family and they LOVED it!
So simple and so delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
We made this recipe tonight and it was AMAZING, easily the best chicken marinade I’ve ever used. We don’t have a grill so I like to cook chicken kabob-style in the oven because it turns out the same. We used 2 pounds of chicken thighs and marinated them for 4 hours. To make the kabob’s we used two bamboo sticks with half a white onion as the base of each stick. Just stack each piece of chicken on the stick so there are two towers, cook at 400 for an hour. SO GOOD!!
I haven’t grilled the chicken yet. I will do so once I leave work. But just from tasting the marinade I almost fell over. LOL! This is truly the BEST chicken marinade I have tried. Of course, you can add or remove anything you’d like. But overall this is a GREAT recipe. Very rarely do I leave reviews, but I truly had to do so to let everyone know that this is the bomb dot com!
Thank you, this recipe worked perfectly. My very fussy husband was a fan as of course were the kids. I think it will become a staple. Served with roasted smashed baby potatoes and salad. I wonder if it will work well with tofu?