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 😂
Made this for dinner and it was delicious. Thanks so much for another great recipe!
Wahoo! I’m so glad you loved it Das!
Would be better brown sugar or honey?
I prefer brown sugar, but the subs are there if you need – N x
This was a hit when I cooked it last week. I used tenderloins, so quick and easy, served them with some roasted spuds and carrots.
Keep up the awesomeness Nagi (and Dozer x)
That’s great to hear Kellie!
Delicious!! Used skinless boneless chicken thighs and they turned out so juicy and flavourful.
Wahoo! That’s so great Laura!
Absolutely delicious and juicy chicken! Can I use this for steak as well?
Sure could Pam!
ive tried a few of your recipes & should say thanx – theyre yum. its nearly 2am now but ive finished with your marinade (x2) & a heap of chicken, all for tomorrow nites dinner. mmmm smells yum!
Wahoo, sounds great Vera!
Hey there Nagi. I want to do the marinade chicken breast. Please give me fool proof method to cook Jasmine rice. Instructions on packet suggest 6 (SIX!!😨??) cups of water. I use less but would like your expert method. Bless you and thank you.
Lizbby
Hi Libby, my foolproof method is the absorption method. 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups water, pace in a pot and bring to a simmer, then cover and turn the heat down to low for 12-15 minutes. Your rice should perfectly fluffy and all the water absorbed – N x
This marinade was easy to make and so good. I marinated my bone-in, skin on chicken breast for 1.5 hrs; couldn’t wait any longer! The next time I’ll marinate it longer. In the meantime, I’m going to make more marinade and store it.
I’m so glad you loved it Andi!
This is the best marinade! I marinated for about 4 hours, and it was the best chicken to come off my grill ever!
Thanks so much for the compliment Jessica!
Hey Nagi, great marinade. Quick question. I had a lot of marinade left in the bag, can you just chuck it in a saucepan, heat it up for a few minutes to thicken and use it as a sauce? I should have just tried it myself but didn’t think of it till I was eating the chicken.
You sure could Jo!
Please help if possible? I did the chicken dish and cooked it for too long, much too long :-((. The chicken is REALLY dry and I wondered if there is any way I can retrieve it and ‘taste’ it up. It’s not nice as it is! It just seems too wasteful to throw it away
Please help IF possible.
Hi Myrna, are you able to shred it at all and turn it into “pulled chicken” and add some sauce?
Hi Nagi I cooked your chicken marinade last week. I didn’t have enough Soy Sauce so I added some teriyaki sauce to the mixture. Left it four six hours. It was yummy. I will try again with all Soy Sauce next time. Thank you. Helen
Great to hear it worked well Helen! – Nx
What a sweet picture of Dozer with white roses!
I was so excited I forgot to rate the recipe, but of course I think it’s a five star recipe😊
😂 Thanks Anna!
Mmmmm….. This was great warm last night when I made it and I actually thought it was even better cold tonight. This will be my recipe for chicken for chicken salads – the meat has a fantastic flavor😍
WINNER!!!!!! Super easy- delicious!!!
Winner winner chicken dinner! ❤️
Whenever I have some chicken in the fridge that I have no idea what to do with, I head straight to Nagi! I loved the flavour in this, and it was so easy to prep
Again you are an angel Nagi this was delicious . Keep them coming kids think I can finally cook lol……..
Thank you for another amazing recipe, made this for dinner tonight and it was delish! That honey garlic sauce..mmmm!