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
- 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!
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!
Carmen
This is such a perfect marinade. I usually cut my chicken breasts in big chunks and plop them in the marinade. Then I thread them on kabob sticks and have both grilled them on a charcoal grill as well as broiled them or baked them in oven. My family LOVES this taste and I have served them to guests who quickly devour the chicken.
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!
Suah
I baked it for 20 minutes at 425 and it came out great! Would definitely use chicken thighs next time though so it’ll come out more juicier!
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!
Linda
I stuck my rinsed chicken breast with a fork all over / both sides. I had all the ingredients except I used a juicy lime and after 2 hours grilled the chicken breast with lid 1/2 closed. I flipped over every 5 minutes for 25 minutes guessing around 350 degrees on a gas grill. Juice runs clear. So good with fried rice and broccoli flowerets. Light and healthy. I will be using this marinade with chicken wings and pork as well thank you
Maureen
This is absolutely the best chicken marinade that I have ever made. I just let the chicken marinade all day and then stick it in the air fryer. It is so moist and I didn't have to slave over a fancy dinner. My husband gave our grill away. Now I have to come up with meals that seem to come off the grill. That's not easy to do so I bought a grill pan and make him clean out the cooked on barbecue sauce.
Thanks for a great marinade.
I have tried a number of your recipes, just have to get caught up on my comments.
Tara Lund
Does this taste sweet? I don’t like sweet marinades.
Emma
I rarely ever leave comments, but it would be a crime not to leave one here. This is hands down the best marinade I've ever used for grilled chicken! Can't wait to try it with pork chops. Tk's for sharing!!!!
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?
Malloria
Tried this recipe almost to a T (removed brown sugar), it was perfect! I use this for marinade then bake the chicken. Amazing, every time! I'm a horrible cook, I need this recipe to keep my chicken flavorful and moist. When I make Asian chicken salad, I add sesame oil to it as well (just a touch) and reduce the olive oil a tad bit. Amazingness! I make extra of this as well and use it as a dressing. Amazing!
Claudine
Rave reviews! Will be my go-to marinade for chicken!
Devan Brown
I have been so bored of meal prep lately so I decided to try this and it’s amazing. Chicken isn’t dry & has such rich flavour I love it! Will definitely do it again
Simona
This is appropriately named The BEST chicken marinade recipe. the best grilled chicken I have ever made and my to go recipe going forward. Thank you for a fantastic recipe.
Dean
This is absolutely our go-to chicken marinade. We love to BBQ and every time we make it for friends or family they ALWAYS ask what the marinade was. Super flavorful makes the chicken tender as well. Save some of the marinade on the side before you introduce it to chicken so you can easily brush on toward the end for some extra flavor.
Sierra Peterson
Legit the best marinade ever! Chicken comes out juicy and flavorful everytime. I love!!!!
Gina
Best ever marinade
Hannah Croy
Best chicken I’ve made in a long time! Everyone loved it!
Diane
I couldn’t find this recipe and was frantic. It’s a family favorite. Perfect as is! I can never grill enough and usually make at least five breasts cut in half. Pinned and saved it to my favorites. So delicious!
Snickers
This was a huge hit in my house! I marinated chicken breasts for 5 hours, then grilled over medium high heat. My breasts were kind of thick, so I grilled them for about 8 minutes first side and 6 minutes second side. The aroma was amazing while they were grilling! I let them rest for about 5 minutes, then sliced them up and served them over individual salads. The grill marks and char were absolutely perfect! Super moist inside, cooked perfectly! Full bellies here. Will definitely be using this marinade again. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Shannon
Love it. Next time I will double it and save half and make a gravy out of it to pour over the chicken. I think it would go well with steak as well.
Michael
Very yummy! Had a nice tangy bite but not too tangy. I didn't have soy sauce so replaced with Braggs Amino Acids. Also used garlic that was already minced in bottle versus fresh. Had chicken with fresh spinach cooked quickly after tossing in bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cheated and made instant mashed potatoes to go with. It was a tasty quick meal!
Peter
YEAH!! Awesome marinate, try it...Your Guaranteed to Love it!! To Easy...
Rocky
This chicken... WOW!! So moist and delicious. My son even made me bookmark it. Devine! Will make again.... And again and again. Just so delicious
Jenna J
Sooo good! We oven baked the chicken and I didn’t have balsamic vinegar, so I used rice vinegar. Still turned out amazing! Will use this recipe again in the future
Sharon
How long and what temp did you bake this? I have boneless skinless thighs and no grill.
Joe S
Quite easy and everyone loved it. Will use again.
Kay
We had this for dinner 2 nights in a row. The 2nd night was even better as the chicken had more time to marinade. Served with pearl couscous and steamed broccoli. Really good!
Maria
The marinade was really good. Will definitely make again.