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!
Ashley
This is officially the best marinade for Chicken! We went to a BBQ and had to bring our own meat. When our dinner was done grilling everyone wanted a taste! My kids enjoyed this too! It is officially our go to marinade for chicken!
Gina
Awesome recipe! I never take the time to comment, however this was too good not too.
Joey
Delicious! High likelihood that this becomes a family staple.
Kristen
Literally the best chicken ever! I substituted 1/8 c golden monk fruit sweetener in place of the sugar for a low carb and more figure friendly version. A great substitute for diabetics too. Delicious!
Chad
It was delicious, thank you for the recipe
Jess
How long can I keep this marinade before using it ? I would like to keep some on hand in advance.
Katie in Minnesota
I've never repeated a recipe so many times in such a short amount of time! We use chicken tenders and serve with grilled asparagus and rice. This is the best grilled chicken I've ever had. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Angela DeNuke
Delicious recipe and I love that the ingredients were easy and all on hand in my kitchen!
Mary De Santo
Can i marinad overnight? Say for like 12 hours?
Feanie
My husband made this last night with chicken thighs and it was heavenly!
Jill
My whole family loves this recipe! It’s definitely going in our rotation.
Eileen
Needed a chicken marinade that did not have mustard due to food allergy, gave this a try and it turned out delicious! Definitely a keeper, thank you!
Katrina
Can you make the marinade ahead of time?
If I substitute honey for brown sugar, how much should I use?
Eddie Crabb
Yea! so glad I found your site. I was looking for a good chicken marinade and cant wait to try yours. I use oak wood to smoke my chicken and meat and I think your marinade will work well with my Santa Maria style BBQ. Thank you! Eddie - Huntington Beach, Ca
Christina J. Steele
Let me tell you right now.....this marinade is delicious!!! I marinated mines for over 24 hours and added a bit of salt to my marinade to balance out the sweetness--amazing!!! This is going in the weekly rotation for sure!!
Sarah
How do you think this would be with shrimp? We want to make chicken and shrimp kabobs, but I'm not sure if it would translate to shrimp. Curious if you've tried it!
Melissa
SO GOOD! I made it with shrimp, I've never tried it with chicken. I subbed the lemon juice for fresh orange juice. It was delicious!
Emiliano
I did this recipe and had every ingredient at home. It’s one of the best, if not the best I have tasted to date, for chicken. I cooked them in a little infrared oven and the thighs came great. I made a mistake on the salt by using tables spoons instead of teaspoons but it was like one of those experiments mistakes that end up discovering something good. The salt level was great maybe because I didn’t have much time to marinade.
Esther Cates
So so good! It is now my go to marinade for chicken. Perfect for eating as a main dish or dicing up in salads, making chicken salad, and even good on tacos!
Jen
Another Arizonan chiming in to say, “Wow! This was delicious!” I used honey instead of brown sugar (I don’t feel like I can Lee it longer than ten minutes here before it hardens so I don’t even buy it anymore) but I made the rest according to recipe exactly. I had about 2 hours of marinade time and it was delicious! Definitely saving this one. Thank you!
Lisa
SO GOOD!!!! The neighbor came over to find out what smelled so good!