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.
Sabrina Riccio says
OMG I made this and grilled the chicken. It was so delish!
Russ says
Hi Trish, what are your thoughts on boiling the marinade, as I just did it according to the instructions in your article, kept half separate from the chicken, and then reduced it on the stove. But when I went over after a few minutes to check on it, the fumes were horrible! I had to jump back. Not in terms of a bad smell, but it just attacked my nostrils badly. Then I thought it could be the vinegar, as that has a strong smell. Also, my chest has tightened up since that happened about 10 mins ago, and its a little harder to breathe. I looked up vinegar boiling and fumes, and turns out it can be bad for you?
http://alenaae.blogspot.ca/2006/04/is-vinegar-dangerous.html
What are your thoughts? Maybe its not a good idea to suggest reducing it in a boil in your recipe?
Sadie says
This is amazing! Iade it tonight and didn’t follow the tips (it was a rough night with kids lol) and ended up dumping the marinade and raw chicken in a frying pan all at once. I got distracted with a blow out duaper, the chicken ended up slightly overcooked. Despite all my hang ups, my family absolutely devoured this. It is so so good! Thank you so much for such a doable tasty meal! Can’t wait to have it again!
Sadie says
Woof. Typos. Sorry guys 🙂
Mike E says
2 words! Asparagus Marinade!
Robert DeCuir says
Made one change to your recipe ( 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple) and marinated pork chops and some well known Gulf Coast sausage (cut a number of slits into the sausage before tossing into the marinade). Let it sit for 12 hours and to the grill it went.
Recipe works just as well with pork, just doesn’t penetrate as much as I would prefer. Next time I will do the same as I did the sausage and let it marinade longer. Sausage came out very well, will make the same change as well.
It probably would have been better had I reserved some marinade in advance for the grill. Thanks again for a great marinade.
Suzanne says
Ok I love this marinade…started playing with the flavors a bit. Pomegranate balsamic is a wonderful addition. (You can now get it relatively cheap at our grocery store) I reduced the sugar since it is sweeter than regular balsamic to me and used lime instead of lemon juice. I also used a few teaspoons of a middle eastern spice blend I like. A nice variation on a yummy theme.
Kim Calhoun says
I have never used a marinate! Can’t wait to try tomorrow. Thanks!
Jared says
Looks great!!! How long is the marinade good for?
Robert DeCuir says
I first must say that I have tried a number of recipes off the internet with the majority if them either being mediocre at best and at worst, absolutely awful!
Having stumbled across this marinade recipe I thought, ” How much damage can it do?”. Mixed it up per the recipe, all I had was a whole chicken. Cut it up, deskinned it and dumped everything into a ziploc bag for 24 hours, hoping for the best.
Heated up my grill, placed the chicken pieces on it, flipping every 15 minutes. Pulled some smaller cooked pieces off first and…WOW! The taste reminds greatly of a marinated ribeye offered at the chain restaurant, Houston’s ( which I believe is beyound wonderful). Great caramel coloring, juicy, flavor had penetrated to the bone. I will gladly scream your name from the rooftop!
Thank you for offering such a GREAT marinade!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I am so thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe as much as we do! It’s my very favorite chicken marinade and we use it A LOT 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful week!
Nancy Palladino says
Sorry to be repetitous (sp?) but was wondering about oven temp and time
Elizabeth says
Good flavor, but the vinegar overpowered everything that it wasn’t very enjoyable. I would use less vinegar next time or even eliminate it.
Barry Taylor says
Hi, Trish.
For me personally, I have had more success with pounding out chicken breasts and sauteeing them in a skillet.
Would this recipe work with marinating the cutlets then dumping the whole thing into a skillet and going from there? I would imagine it would leave you with a good sauce as well.
Thanks!
Barry
Mandy says
What is the green sprinkled on top at the end?
Linda says
We are not a big fan of rosemary. What can be used in it’s place?
Jane says
This was really good! My son loved it! It really is the best marinade!