The best Chicken Marinade ever! This marinade produces so much flavor and keeps the chicken incredibly moist and outrageously delicious! This easy chicken marinade recipe is sure to become a staple in your kitchen. Great for grilling and baking!
Grilling tonight? Make sure to try my steak marinade and grilled potatoes too!
Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
For many years now I have been perfecting my chicken marinade recipe and it’s finally exactly what I want. I love this easy recipe because it quickly transforms an ordinary chicken breast (or any other cut of chicken) into something extraordinarily delicious – just in time for dinner.
It really is the BEST chicken marinade I’ve ever had and I’m confident you’re going to love it as much as we do.
Easy Chicken Breast Marinade
I keep chicken breasts on hand at all times because there is just SOO much you can do with a chicken breast…(Make sure to check out my book for ONE HUNDRED chicken recipes!)
Having a good grilled chicken breast marinade on hand is essential if you live in a hot area like I do. It’s a quick, no-brainer dinner option that we rely on several times each month.
Let me be clear, this is not to say that this marinade won’t work on other cuts of chicken. It most certainly does and is insanely delicious so use what you have on hand.
One of our other favorite ways is to use this as a chicken thigh marinade or even drumsticks. It really will work for any piece of chicken. (I’ve had lots of reader write in saying it’s also delicious with veggies, pork and beef!)
What To Serve With Grilled Chicken
Since we grill multiple times a week, I’ve become quite an expert at quickly whipping up one or two side dishes that pair perfectly with grilled chicken. Here are some of our favorites:
- Fruit Salad
- Grape Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- The Best Coleslaw Recipe
- Grilled Potatoes
- Easy Baked Sweet Potato (How To Bake Sweet Potatoes)
Grilled Chicken Marinade
This is really my very favorite grilled chicken marinade. I love to make up a big batch of grilled chicken and this recipe is great for that. It makes enough marinade for about 6 large chicken breasts or 3 to 4 pounds of chicken pieces.
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
While the list looks long, most if not all of these ingredients will likely be in your pantry. What we’re doing here is just building layers of flavor in this easy marinade. Let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need:
- extra virgin olive oil – this is the base of the marinade and keeps the chicken so juicy and moist.
- balsamic vinegar – a balsamic chicken marinade is my very favorite. It is definitely one of the key ingredients in this recipe and adds loads of flavor.
- soy sauce – I like to use low sodium.
- Worcestershire sauce – so many flavor in this ingredient, it’s a must for this marinade.
- lemon juice – fresh is best for flavor but you can use bottled if you need to.
- brown sugar – I have lots of readers that reduce or even eliminate the brown sugar but I personally love it in this recipe.
- dried rosemary – a little herbaceous flavor is always nice to round out a marinade.
- Dijon mustard – or Spicy Brown mustard or even plain yellow mustard will work in a pinch.
- salt and ground black pepper – for seasoning.
- garlic powder – I prefer garlic powder instead of fresh garlic because the fresh garlic will burn on the grill.
How To Make Chicken Marinade
This easy marinade comes together in just minutes!
- Prepare marinade. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Cheater method: put them straight into a large ziploc bag that will also be used for marinating the chicken.
- Reserve. Remove a half a cup of marinade and reserve for basting the chicken later.
- Marinate Chicken. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag and pour marinade over the top. Close securely and gently massage marinade into breasts. Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
Cooking Methods
Marinated chicken can be cooked on the grill, in the oven or on the stovetop. Here are my tips for cooking it best:
- Grilling: Preheat grill to medium high heat and lightly oil the grates. Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Grill chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Baste the chicken occasionally with the reserved marinade. Remove chicken from grill and tent with foil. Let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
- Baking: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place marinated chicken on a shallow baking sheet or baking pan and cook for 18 to 22 minutes (or 450F for 15 to 18 minutes if you’re in a hurry) or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Baste as often as you can for best flavor.
- Stovetop: Preheat a skillet over medium high and lightly grease. Cook chicken for 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Use a stovetop grill pan for those pretty sear marks!
FAQs
Any kind of chicken you like. Breasts, thighs, drumsticks, tenders, skin on or off, bone in or out. Now, keep in mind that different cuts will take more or less time. Always check on the internal temperature to check doneness. Chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
A minimum of 30 minutes and as long as overnight. I find the chicken starts to get tough if I marinate it for more than 24 hours. If you have less time, consider poking holes in the chicken with a fork to allow the marinade to penetrate quickly.
Yes, absolutely. After adding the marinade to the chicken breast in a freezer safe resealable bag, freeze chicken for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
The chicken can be grilled, baked or cooked on the stovetop. See the previous section for more information or check out the recipe card below for instructions.
More Chicken Recipes
- Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Chicken Piccata – Ready In 20 Minutes!
- The BEST Chicken Salad
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken
- Greek Chicken – A Sheet Pan Dinner
How to Make the Best Chicken Marinade
The BEST Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar or other vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce I use low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅛ cup lemon juice
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard or Spicy Brown mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 chicken breasts or 3.5 lb chicken
Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Remove a half a cup of marinade and reserve for basting the chicken later.
- Place chicken in a large resealable bag and pour marinade over the top. Gently massage chicken breasts and be sure to close bag securely. (If you have less time, consider poking holes in the chicken with a fork to allow the marinade to penetrate quickly.)
- Refrigerate chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. I find 4 to 6 hours to be perfect.
To grill
- Preheat grill to medium high heat and lightly oil the grates.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Grill chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
- Baste the chicken occasionally with the reserved marinade.
- Once the chicken has reached 165°F, remove chicken from grill and tent with foil. Let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Optional.
- If you bring the reserved marinade up to a boil, let simmer until slightly reduced, it makes a wonderful sauce to go on top of the chicken.
Michelle says
WOW WOW WOW!!!!! This is by far the best marinade I’ve tasted. My 2 and 4 year old picky boys are not big fans for chicken, however THIS was a major hit with them! It was easy and great tasting. Thank you for sharing.
H.L. says
Marinaded boneless skinless chicken breast about thirty minutes then baked at 400 a little longer than twenty minutes. So good and very moist. Next time I’ll try grilling. This is a very easy marinade. I plan on using this a lot!!! Thank You!
Dawn says
This recipe is fantastic. I am not usually a fan of grilled chicken since it is often dry and tough. This marinade made the most flavorful, juiciest chicken EVER. This will be a regular this summer for grilling season. Thank you!
VRid says
This literally is the best chicken marinade ever. I marinated overnight, and we did a grill, with a few minutes on smoke setting on the Traeger, and my husband and I both thought it was the best chicken we ever had! Thank you!
Tee says
Beyond AMAZING! My chicken stayed in the marinade for 5 hours…had a piece right off the grill and a piece after tenting (as instructed) and it was divine either way!! You can’t go wrong with this base marinade. Was out of soy and Worcestershire sauces and just substituted with what I had on hand—teriyaki and wish bone Italian. I will not use anything different from this point on! Thanks so much for this recipe!!!
Marshall says
Love this recipe! We made it last week and are making it again today! We are using bone in skin on chicken breasts and cooking them in a cast iron skillet. We let them marinade for about 8 hours and the chicken is SO juicy and flavorful! Thank you!
Peggy says
Love this marinade. Tried it on thighs and also had a couple of pork chops thawed out so thought I’d try those too. THey both were wonderful. I marinated them in separate bags all day and put them on a hot grill last night for dinner. They both turned out wonderful. I took the chops off after the outside started to brown the sugar. Great job on your recipe. Thanks
Terri says
Hands down the best chicken marinade ever!!! Thank you so much
Kelsey says
Hi! I’ve made this chicken a MILLION times. We love it! I always use extra marinade to reduce and make a sauce to drizzle ontop and on veggies or rice. The only issue I had is sometimes the sauce can be very strong and overpowering. Today I had a lightbulb go off while reducing, drizzle in some honey for sweetness!! Oh my gosh it takes it to another level and helps make the sauce stick to the chicken even better. Just thought I’d share! Thank you for this house staple.
Jason Smith says
A professional chef for 27 years. This is my base for a lot of creative outlets for chicken. Bless you, thank you, and with many hugs
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Wow! High praise indeed. Thank you!
April says
This is a fantastic recipe! I had chicken quarters, so I baked and basted them. I also made a reduction/glaze with the remaining marinade and it was absolitely delicious. I can’t wait to use this on the grill.
Heza says
Hello fr Malaysia! Your recipe is wonderful. Had tried it out and like u said, the chicken turned out phenomenal! Tqvm trish…
Robin says
Wonderful! Accidentally had thawed b/s chicken thighs instead of breasts and it was still fantastic. Only marinated for 40 mins, but honestly, I don’t think the chicken needs to marinate at all, just baste with sauce as it grills. Next time I’ll reserve at least 1 cup of sauce to use as baste and boil into sauce to serve over chicken and starch of choice being served with chicken.
JOAN TRUDDEN says
It was our favorite summertime grilled dinner!! Thank you so much! Making it again tomorrow night for the weekend. Used skinless chicken thighs & cooked 6 min each side medium high. Marinated 6 hrs! Thanks for a GREAT marinade!!!
Lyndie says
Oh my goodness,this is my all time fave marinade. I usually keep some in the fridge pre made so I can easily marinade without the hassle of measuring. Tender and full of wonderful flavor. . Cooking it on the pit does not affect the moistness.. The only downside is it makes you extremely thirsty afterwards.