The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe makes chicken extra juicy and flavorful. This savory marinade makes grilled chicken mouthwatering!
The Best Chicken Marinade 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 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.
The extra virgin olive oil keeps the chicken extra moist and juicy. The 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 such harmony to make the perfect chicken marinade!
The key is to let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. Pierce the chicken breasts with a fork all over to ensure the marinade can seep into the chicken to make it juicy. An idea marinating time is 4 - 5 hours.
To grill the chicken, set your grill at medium heat. Allow it to preheat before adding the chicken. 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.
Use whatever types of chicken you prefer -- chicken breasts, thinly sliced chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or chicken thighs. Chicken tenders and thinly sliced chicken breast will cook much quicker than thick chicken breasts so watch carefully.
The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
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.
Nutrition
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Happy Cooking, my friends!
Virginia
Can the chicken breast be baked?
Amanda
I would also like to know this.
Jon
I'm sure it could. I am just using the recipe for the marinade, and am going to airfry it afterwards because it's my favorite cooking method for getting crispy chicken skin.
If the marinade interests you, use it and cook the chicken with your preferred method!
Nicole
Yes, it would come out good baked too. I would bake then broil to caramelize/brown the top.
Atu
Yes. I've only used this recipe for baking o
drumstiks and it's the best!
Katy
My life is divided in before and after I came across this recipe. And before was misery. The best chicken marinade ever!!!
Analyssa
This was FIRE! Scrumptious. Made boring chicken breast sooooo enjoyable. My only regret was only marinating 3 chicken breast.
Tracy
Named appropriately: the BEST chicken marinade. My mom (who prefers thighs WAY over chicken breasts) raved about how juicy the meat was. Her preference is all about the dryness of breast meat, which is sadly, often the case. NOT with this marinade! Not at all! The meat is Juicy, tender, and packed with flavor! I followed the recipe exactly using garlic powder this time because I'd just used up the last of the garlic cloves. I'll use the real deal next time... and I'm already looking forward to it!
Thanks for this... the BEST marinade!
Tara Lund
Does this taste sweet? I don’t like sweet marinades.
Nancy
I made this chicken for dinner last week and loved it so much! The chicken was so flavorful and juicy! I'm making it for my family today. Definitely going to be my go to marinade! So easy to whip up yet so delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
A Chin
I needed a chicken marinade and found this one on Google. I have to admit I was super skeptical - another recipe claiming to be the best. I thought, I'll give it a shot anyway. WOW. My taste buds are SO HAPPY tonight. So easy so make and so delicious. This is definitely going into my regular cooking rotation. I made it with couscous and green beans and it was SLAMMING! Highly recommend.
Kenny
Legit marinade!The best I have ever made so far. I suggest letting it marinate for a couple days, I did and mine was bangin.!. Thank you so much
Kayla
Can you swap out balsamic for a red wine vinegar?
Dan
I have never left a review before over a recipe. This one I had to. Grilled chicken breast is not my favorite, mostly because it usually comes out dry, lacking flavor. This was hands down the best chicken breast marinade I ever used. My family absolutely loved it.
chips
Really is great! Used it on chicken breast, thighs AND tofu and they all came out amazing.
Also didn't have Worcestershire sauce but It's still good
Melissa
Amazing as a marinade for flank steak as well!
Rose Miller
Best marinade I have found. Better than any store bought. My husband who never eats leftovers, ate the leftovers for lunch the next day. And commented that he wish we had more.
Lea Assaad
Hello 224 calories for how many grams?