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 6…
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Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki – long time reader favourite!
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Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken – the flavour in this is outrageously good
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Chicken Shawarma (Middle Eastern) – the smell when this is cooking is unbelievable!
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Marinated Thai Chicken (Gai Yang) – you will seriously think you’re in Bangkok…
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Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce – skip the skewers and just use whole chicken pieces!
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Honey Soy Chicken – the glossy serving sauce is the cherry on top
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Or browse all Chicken recipes (there’s loads more chicken marinades!)
Watch how to make it
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A great Chicken Marinade (great grilled or pan seared!)
Ingredients
- 700g / 1.4 lb chicken breast, tenderloins or thigh (Note 1)
Chicken marinade (subs Note 3):
- 2 tbsp honey OR 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.
- Only got DARK soy? Use 2 tbsp then add 3/4 tsp salt and 3 tbsp water instead of 5 tbsp 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 😂
Very good
This marinade is delicious! I marinaded two whole chicken breasts, then baked. They were absolutely perfect. This is ideal for cous cous salads or Caesar salads where you want tender chopped chicken. Thankyou Nagi!
Made marinade recipe exactly. I sliced the breasts length wise to shorten the marinading time…seasoned perfectly….
Loved this recipe… I cooked mine on the bbq and gave an extra basting of marinate. Outstanding!
I am happy you liked it Kylie! N x
Another treasure! You are my “marinade lady” Nagi. If ever I need a piece of meat turned into something tasty – I come here! Thanks for having such reliably tasty recipes!
My new job title…Marinade Lady! N x
Stunning – and stunningly easy – recipe. This was just brimming with flavour!!!
This was amazing ! We had it with your corn and avocado salad, also delicious. And a baked potato on the side.
Thanks Nagi.
How long do you cook the chicken if you’re doing on the grill and should you cover it with foil?
Made this today, 3-4 hours marinading, cooked the chicken on a griddle pan. Perfect, really nice flavours. Made a salad with avocado and served it with cous cous.
Only thing I’m not sure about it is what to do with the marinade that’s left when you take the chicken out? Any ideas, thoughts? Next time I make it it might be with rice and I’d have quite like to have a sauce to go with it?
Toss that out. It had raw chicken in it my friend. I’ve looked into this many times. No good.
Even if you were in a cutting edge, trillion dollar food lab with the top scientists from the future telling you it perfectly safe in that moment…what’s the best you could do? Even if you boil it to turn it into a glaze, it going to have so much coagulated chicken blood that you’d really want to strain, I mean is it worth all that for such little pay off?
But really, it SUPER unsafe. Take the advise and dispose of that bacteria bath immediately!
Great response but def true, toss for sure.
This is definitely a great chicken marinade!
This recipe is SO delicious, and versatile! I have made it any time we have chicken left over from a big meal, and it is always amazing- even if it only marinades for 30 minutes!
The first time I made this I was so hungry for more, I went out the next day and bought more chicken and made it again. I have since made it for family and friends and it is always a hit. And could it be more easy?!
Hi Nagi,
This was super delicious, yum. My hubby says ‘Is that a Nagi recipe’. 🙂 Thank you for your amazing recipes. You are a real treasure x
That’s great to hear Shingi!!! N x
Loved this marinade for chicken! I made it tonight and let the chicken stay in it for about an hour before putting on the grill. The whole family agreed that it was delicious. I paired it with some sweet potato fries in the air fryer and a strawberry spinach salad. I will definitely make this again.
Looks Delish!
I have just put it together to marinate. Will it last to tomorrow night, or am I best to cook it tonight?
Hi Naomi, as per the recipe, 3 hours to overnight is fine. N x
It looks so delicious and easy to follow recipe. I’m gonna try this now.
I hope you love it Martin – love to know if you try it!! N x
Thanks, I wasn’t sure if it would last that little extra time from morning to the evening of the next day.
In the end had it tonight yum yum yum! Regular in the rotation now!
We loved this!! 😍 (Subs: maple syrup, cane vinegar)
For some reason, the outcome reminded me of Filipino chicken inasal, so I paired this with traditional dip of soy sauce and Filipino lime.
Thanks for the recipe!
Your site is my go to for delectable and delicious recipes. This marinade is the bomb.
Thanks so much Cher!!! N x
Fast and flavorful!
Awesome and flavorful recipe!!! I have used this recipe many times already (probably once a week!!!). It works amazingly on chicken thighs. We like to cook it on the grill. This chicken goes well with rice or wrap.