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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Chicken Breasts Tenders, or Thighs
- ⅓ - ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil depending on preference
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced or ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ 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!
Alan Moore
Had this on the bbq and it was fantastic, very tasty and the lemon gives it a nice clean taste. I whizzed mine with a bamix blended it. Nicely
Elizabeth
Welcome to Flavor Town! I doubled the recipe using a cup of olive oil. My kids can't have soy sauce so I substituted coconut aminos, and I substituted Swerve "brown sugar" instead of the real brown sugar. I also used garlic powder and salt to taste (we probably used more than the recommended amount of the garlic powder). Do yourself a favor and marinate overnight. I did 24 hours because I was going to marinate for only and hour before dinner, but decided to wait until the next evening's dinner to get max flavor. So glad I did.
Claire
Fantastic! So simple and the best flavor. We marinated overnight.
Jenny
I have a bunch of limes that need to be used. Would that be just as tasty as lemon?
Alicia oakes
Have you tried like instead of lemon? We tend to prefer the lime zing versus lemon in our household?
Alicia oakes
*lime instead of lemon 🤦♀️
Rachel Severson
I’ve used lime instead of lemon and we like lime better in this recipe. It’s my go to chicken marinade. We just eliminate garlic because of sensitivities.
BJT
This is now my go to grilled chicken marinade. Turns out delicious every time and always get rave reviews from friends.
Travis
This marinade is hands down the go to in our family. My daughter, and her husband adopted it as well, and now it’s a favorite of theirs! Thank you very much for this mouth watering marinade!
One question, do you think it’s ok to not pierce the chicken if marinating overnight?