This is such a great Chicken Marinade – it infuses chicken with savoury flavour as well as making it extra juicy! Particularly great for chicken breast though it can be used for any cut.
Use it for a quick 30 minute marinade, though it’s even better if you can leave it for longer!
Chicken Marinade
99% of the time I use this chicken marinade, it’s an emergency eek, gotta do something with that chicken before it goes off! type situation.
And therein lies the beauty of this marinade. It’s the quick-fix for any cut of chicken, and there’s tons of substitution options so you can make it anytime without having to run out to the shops.
It’s savoury with a hint of sweet, and makes the chicken extra juicy which is especially great for chicken breast.
This chicken marinade is sensational for grilled chicken!
Loads of substitution options
Here are the ingredients for the chicken marinade. I’ve listed some of the obvious alternatives here, but there’s actually substitutions for every single ingredient – even soy sauce (just use salt and water, that’s a basic brine mix).
Don’t you wish there were more recipes as flexible as this where I could still guarantee a great outcome??😂
What chicken to use?
This marinade will work for any cut of chicken (bone in or out, skin on or off) though it’s especially good for chicken breast because it’s a fast acting flavour injector that adds juiciness into this lean cut of chicken.
How long to marinade chicken?
3 hours to overnight is best. But for chicken breast or boneless thigh, even 30 minutes is effective – you’ll be surprised how much extra flavour you get from such a quick marinade!
Cooking options?
You’ll see that I cook it on the stove in the recipe video below, and it’s ideal for stove, BBQ or broiler/grill because you’ll get lovely browning on the chicken.
If you want to bake this, it’s best to finish it off with a blast under the broiler/grill to get some colour on it. Because colour = flavour, especially for a marinade like this!
How to serve it
Because the chicken sucks up the marinade and makes it extra juicy, you’ll find a good amount of juices pools on the plate as the chicken rests which sort of serves as the sauce. Plus the chicken itself is loaded with juiciness so you’re not going to be missing a sauce here.
Make up a mighty chicken salad, or serve it for dinner with a side salad. It’s pictured below with a Strawberry Spinach Salad that’s coming on Wednesday. One of the best new salads I’ve tried in a while!
Otherwise, try making a big batch of Lemon Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Broccoli Salad or Macaroni Salad that you can keep in the fridge and serve up for days. I’m fond of these because they’re the type of salads that are even better the next day, and the next! ~ Nagi x
My all time Top 5 favourite chicken marinades
It was a hard call, but here’s my Top 5…
- Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki – long time reader favourite!
- Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken – the flavour in this is outrageously good
- Chicken Shawarma (Middle Eastern) – the smell when this is cooking is unbelievable!
- Marinated Thai Chicken (Gai Yang) – you will seriously think you’re in Bangkok…
- Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce – skip the skewers and just use whole chicken pieces!
- Or browse all Chicken recipes (there’s loads more chicken marinades!)
Watch how to make it
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Just a great Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 700g / 1.4 lb chicken breast, tenderloins or thigh (Note 1)
Chicken marinade:
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or any oil)
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano (or rosemary, thyme, minced herbs)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper , ground
Garnishes (optional)
- Finely chopped parsley
- Lemon slices
Instructions
- Recommended: Pound breast to even thickness using a meat pounder, rolling pin, or fist. OR cut large ones in half horizontally to form 2 cutlets (steaks) for each.
- Mix marinade in a ziplock bag (or container in which chicken fits snugly). Add chicken.
- Marinate 3 hours to overnight, though even 30 minutes is effective. (Note 2)
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and cook chicken per times below until deep golden (see video). If browning too quickly, lower heat.
- Transfer to serving plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 3 minutes before serving, garnished with parsley and lemon slices if desired.
Cook times:
- Whole breast and boneless thighs: 3 - 4 minutes each side (internal temp 165F/75C)
- Cutlets and tenderloin - 2 minutes each side
Recipe Notes:
- Brown sugar - sub 2 tbsp white sugar, 1.5 tbsp honey, maple syrup
- Soy - any normal, all purpose soy or light soy good here, or tamari, mushroom soy sauce. If you have sweet soy or kecap manis, skip sugar. Dark soy sauce not recommended (label will say "dark soy).
- No soy? Dissolve 1 tsp salt in 4 tbsp water, then use in place of soy sauce.
- Lemon - sub with less sharp vinegars like cider vinegar, white wine or red wine vinegar, rice vinegar. Or 1.5 tbsp other vinegars (normal white vinegar, balsamic)
- Worcestershire - dollop of ketchup or BBQ sauce would be a decent sub there! Say 2 tbsp, then cut down sugar. HP Sauce, steak sauce or other savoury sauces also good.
- Garlic - 3 tsp from jar, or 3/4 tsp dried garlic powder good here. Also 1/4 tsp onion powder would be nice too.
- Dried herbs - anything is the go here, go with what you like. Fresh won't really work here, too delicate unless doing a short marinade. Exception - fresh rosemary is terrific, 1 tsp finely chopped.
- Breast and boneless thighs - bake 18 minutes at 425F/220C oven, or internal temperature is 165F/75C, followed by quick grill/broil on high to brown
- Drumsticks, wings and bone in thighs - 50 minutes at 180C/350F, basting with juices once or twice
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Reunited after a week apart! It’s only been an hour or so and he’s already so sick of the smoochy hugs 😂
I love your recipes , I have made the chicken satay s and your sausage rolls , they both were so easy to cook and were exceptionally yummy 😋
Thankyou for sharing xx
That’s great to hear – thanks Belinda!
This is the best chicken marinade ever. Used chicken breasts which I halved and followed the instructions. So delicious. Thank you Nagi.
Perfect Rosalind!
Using this recipe for a piece of chicken thigh with leg. joined, how long will I BBQ it and at what heat?
Hi Carol, It’s hard to give you an accurate estimate because all BBQ’s use different heat – I’d start on medium low and use a thermometer to check the meat gets to 165f/75c. – N x
Your video for best marinde shows honey but your recipe doesn’t mention honey. Is there supposed to be honey in it??
Hi Peggy, if you scroll to the notes, I say what alternatives you can use in the recipe, it works well with honey, brown sugar etc. – N x
So easy and so delicious. This make weekday dinner doable. I love your recipes!
I’m so happy you love it Jwiltz!
I marinated the chicken over night. I’m Very impressed with how juicy it was. Flavors were great!
Wahoo, thanks so much for letting me know Erica!
Hi Nagi
working my way through your recipes and not found a bad one yet though I do have one complaint.
I have put on 5 pounds 😉
nah ! not complaining loving it xx
Thanks so much Malcolm!
Hi
I found on a number of recipes there are ingredients missing, or are different to what’s on the video.
For example there’s honey in chicken marinate on a video but not on the list of recipes
Hi Pawel, its just a sub as per the recipe notes here 🙂
Your recipes are always so simple and amazing!
My husband really enjoyed this!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much!! I’m so glad it’s a hit Libbles!
I have tried a lot of your recipes and I have to say there are not many that I am not satisfied with. Nagi you are by far one of the best chefs in my books!
Looks delish…going to try!!
You’ll love it Tena!
Simply Delicious
Thanks Jorge!
Oh my!! This is soooo delicious. Reminds me of a cafe lunch my girlfriend and I go to solely for the grilled chicken salad. I would never have guessed the combination of ingredients.
That’s so awesome to hear Michelle!
Hi. Can I use this on a whole chicken?
Hi Terry, I prefer this on cut pieces of chicken so it gets the full flavour on the marinade – N x
Can you make it in the crockpot??
Good afternoon!
I have about 8 pieces of frozen breast will this recipe work?
Thanks in advance!
Teresa
Hi Teresa, yes, simply thaw the breast and weigh it – you can adjust the recipe to match the weight of the chicken bu using the sliding scale in the “servings” – N x
Hi, I just wanted to say that I’ve been struggling to cook chicken for a while and came across this marinade….. oh my, it is absolutely amazing!!! I had all the ingredients in my home already and it was so easy to make. Thank you so much for posting this!!! I am so grateful and excited about chicken again.
Wahoo!!! Thats terrific Michel!
I made this with boneless skinless chicken breasts last night. Cooked on the grill. It was fantastic!! Very moist and perfect grill marks. Cant wait to make it again. Thank you
Sounds great Wendy!
Just watched the video on how to make it and saw it has honey in it but not in the ingredients list
Hi Melissa, honey can be used as a sub as per the recipe notes – I have just written brown sugar ☺️
Hello. I’m making this for the “wild bunch”at the bar I work at for Memorial Day. I’ll let you know how it turned out. Can’t wait,sounds delish and easy😋
Oh, I’d love to know how it goes!