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
- â…› 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.
Penny says
Most delicious marinade ever! This recipe is a keeper!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so much Penny!
Rusty says
Hands-down, the best grilled chicken I’ve ever eaten my whole life as you can see. I put my mini grill on my stove with my range hood on it’s 10° outside here in Western Pennsylvania so we grill indoors the sauce in the pan is thickening up nicely this chicken taste fabulous I love it
Sean S says
This marinade tastes fantastic! I marinaded it for about 2 hours and grilled on charcoal. Here’s a few additional recommendations:
1.) For those new to grilling definitely pound the chicken before you marinade to make everything about the same thickness.
2.) if you are grilling and using charcoal definitely shake off each piece for a bit before you put it on the grill so it doesn’t cool your coals down when they get splashed.
3.) The internal temperature doesn’t need to be 165 (chicken breast is better at 158 or so and is bacteria free if it’s been that temp for about a minute or so). If you’re doing chicken thighs they actually have a better texture about 170.
4.) Don’t toss the marinade and instead boil it for 5 minutes and use it as a sauce.
Honestly though this a great tasting marinade/sauce! (I never leave reviews so that tells you I actually really liked this one).
Elliott says
Extraordinary marinade! I must highly recommend to everyone to poke the chicken full of holes with a fork in order for the flavour to properly permeate.
Randy Black says
I had a fantastic day, found two flushes of Chicken of the Woods wild mushrooms and found this recipe! Put the two together on a Big Green Egg and the angels start singing! Found about 10lbs in the first log and about 45 lbs in the second, all young and perfect!
Kerra says
My families new favourite way to have chicken! Everyone loves this marinade! Quick and easy to put together!
H says
One of the best marinades I’ve tried.
lauren says
my wife said it was the best chicken ive ever cooked! super easy and had all ingredients except rosemary on hand! will def be making again
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the marinade! Thanks for stopping by!
Debbie Kroeze says
Made this the 1st time a week ago and my husband can’t stop talking about how good the chicken was because of this marinade. This is the only marinade from now on. Thank you!!
Summer says
I love this marinade for boneless skinless chicken thighs on the grill!
Luckyme says
I made chicken exactly as described and it was perfect! I cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally because they were thick and I think that helped maximize the marinade to chicken ratio. I made extra to use the chicken on some BBQ chicken pizza later this week and I think it will be perfect for that.
christie tsang says
It is indeed the best chicken marinade I’ve ever had!
It is quick to make and requires common ingredients that we already have in the kitchen.
The first time I made it, I let my chicken thighs marinate for only 30mins and the result was amazing!
Today I’m making it again, and I’m going to let the chicken marinate for longer….
Thank you for sharing the recipe 🙂
Nancy Anne says
This was really good! I believe it would work equally well for pork. The reduced sauce served on the side was delicious drizzled over green beans.
WENDY says
We grilled some chicken thighs with this marinade & they came out so good, I added fresh garlic, rosemary & thyme since I had it on hand which kicked it up a notch. I simmered the leftover marinade which made a good sauce & served it along side with some jasmine rice & roasted green beans. I’ll make this again, thanks.
Ericson says
Really good chicken!!! So tasty!