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!
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.
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
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Happy Cooking, my friends!
Michael W.
Excellent keeper recipe. All the flavors complimented the Chicken wonderfully. Was delicious grilled over Charcoal and Mesquite wood chips.
Helen
After googling “best chicken marinade“ I found your recipe and it doesn’t disappoint!
Cody
I did the same thing!! Really is the best marinade.
Raquel Ogaz
This was so good! The chicken was tender and so tasty! Loved it! Will be making this again and again!
Donna
This is the best chicken marinade I’ve ever had. I added 1 teaspoon of honey to the marinade just to caramelize the chicken. Can’t wait to have it cold on a nice Italian salad. Thank you for the recipe. I’ve been looking for the perfect one for a long time.
Jennifer
This marinade was really delicious, and simple to put together with items I always have in my pantry. I usually find it difficult to get chicken breadt to stay juicy and tender on the grill, but the breasts I cooked were far from being dry and the flavour was yummy! Will definitely make this again!
Tatum
I do not have soy sauce, any recommendations or omit it? Thanks in advance for your help!
Kyle
Coconut Aminos
Laura
Salt. Use to taste.
Erica
How long and what temp could I cook this in the oven? I live in nyc so no grill 🙁
Laura
Bake at 350° for close to an hour, until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°.
donna
We've made this twice now. The chicken comes out very juicy. Excellent! Thank you.
Debbie
This was delicious! Best grilled chicken I’ve ever made! I didn’t have a lemon, so substituted lime and it was fantastic.
Thank you!!
Joanne Miller
We had all the ingredients on hand and we used it to BBQ. It was fantastic. Thank you! All the family loved it.
Jan Gifford
Delicious and easy recipe
Finn
Delicious. Have used recipe many times with half the quantities of marinade for same amount of meat and there's still a lot left over. So think I'll just use ⅓ next time and hold back some , not in contact with raw meat for before serving
Ceren
This is my go to marinade - quite the crowd pleaser. I do have a question. Is I make a batch of marinade, will it keep okay for a few weeks in the fridge?
Janet Swatski
Absolutely delicious! (I added about a Tbsp of sesame oil.) This is now our favorite marinade.
Elaine R Springer
This recipe is unbelievable! I am not usually very good at grilled chicken, it always comes out stringy and dry. This is the most incredible find! A "keeper," as other have said. The best grilled chicken I have ever tasted. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Elly
Made this tonight. Was soooo tasty. We marinated it over night. Thank you for this great keeper recipe ????
Donna A Pollock
Hey Kiddo, I had all of the ingredients in my pantry so I started my marinade at 6 am this morning. When to boys came home this evening at 4 They started the BBQ up and we cooked these chicken breasts. Oh My Goodness are they ever good. The just got done and we are about to eat now. I made Pilaff and a salad to go with this dinner.
Can't wait to dig in. It looks and smells so good. And anything with lemon in or on it has to be good. Thank you so much for the recipe. I'm diving in now!!!!!!!!!
Laurie
I have never done this before, but I had to come back to your site and say how much we love this recipe. It is so moist and flavorful. Great stuff!
Jill
I'll never grill chicken again without this marinade!!! It's THE best chicken I've ever had. I used thinly sliced chicken and it was perfect!!! Thanks for sharing such a 10 star plus recipe.
Maureen
I have marinated chicken breasts dozens of different ways for decades- this recipe is truly fantastic and a keeper! The chicken is so juicy on the inside with a nice crispy glaze on the outside.
I love the comment about reserving some marinade before pouring on chicken for sauce while BBQ-ing, will try it next time. (Great Tip)
Thanks for posting this amazing recipe!!