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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.Â
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.Â
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.ÂNutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Happy Cooking, my friends!
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?
Absolutely delicious! (I added about a Tbsp of sesame oil.) This is now our favorite marinade.
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!
Made this tonight. Was soooo tasty. We marinated it over night. Thank you for this great keeper recipe ????
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!!!!!!!!!
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!
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.
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!!
Have been making this for a year now and can def say its excellent! Ive even been occasionally omitting certain different ingredients except for oil and vinegar and still always awesome! Thank you so much for this recipe ♡ ♧
In Canada, this is the first long weekend of the summer calling for BBQ!
It is delicious and going in my recipe book.
I reduced sugar to 2 Tbsp
Tip
I kept some marinade reserved before mixing the raw chicken to drizzle on my cooked chicken! I was practically drinking it because it is so yummy!