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…
- 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!
- Honey Soy Chicken – the glossy serving sauce is the cherry on top
- 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 😂
Absolutely delicious!!
Nagi: I love all of your recipes. Has anyone taken this marinade and cooked it up for a sauce over the chicken? I am thinking of cooking up some of Nagi recipe basmati rice as a side and my significant other likes sauce. TIA
Hi Natalie! You can and it will taste good, albeit intense, but it will be cloudy and you’ll get chicken “bits” in it which is the chicken juices that leeched into the marinade. Just strain or pick it out! N x
A super quick and easy marinade. Did bone in drumsticks and thighs, baked. It was so delicious, devoured by little and big people in this house, even our small guest, who is usually a fussy eater, loved it. Well done and thanks for another hit recipe Nagi!
I just made this was so gorgeous chicken so succulent really so gorgeous thank u.
Left the chicken for 6.5 hours to marinate and the final product was delish. The leftover marinade is now serving its second work with some thickly sliced sweet potato. What most encouraged me to make this recipe was the fact that all ingredients were on hand and there were plenty of substitutes listed. Thank you! 😀
This is the best chicken marinade and so quick and simple!! Adding this to the weekly roster for sure!
This marinade is BANG !! So moist sweet tangy flavours seep into the chicken Thanks!!
Can I use lime juice instead had no lemon juice or vinegar in the house 😬
This marinade is fabulous – used it yesterday for a batch of chicken nibbles which were cooked on the BBQ. Very successful. Next time I will definitely leave the chicken in overnight. Thanks for another easy and tasty recipe.
This recipe is amazing! Chicken breast (split on half lengthways and cooked on bbq) came out so tender, and I only marinated them for 2 hours. Definitely will be making again thank you 🙂
2 thumbs up in our house x 4! Went beautifully with your Chargrill Charlie avocado salad.
This is my new favourite marinade! My dad loves the chicken dinner whenever I use this recipe. I usually cook this with diced cubes of chicken and it goes so well with a side of veggies. Thank you Nagi!
I made it last night after marinating a day, and it was sooo good! Definitely will cook again soon. Thank you!
You’re so welcome Makiko! N x
When my plans changed it had to marinade for 2 days. Still turned out awesome on the grill.
That’s great to hear Brian! N x
This marinade was awesome. My husband loved it. Did boneless thighs on the bbq. Thank you, Nagi!
Hi Nagi, it is me again. I have marinated the chicken breasts just now and have cut in half horizontally, Should I bake for 18 mins as mentioned or should I shorten the time? Thank you so much again 🙂
We loved your marinade I followed pretty closely instead of dry herbs I got lazy and used poultry seasoning instead cause I didn’t want to unpack my seasonings. Then it sat for 2 days in the marinade. A little salty but still excellent. My husband loved it thank you
How do you get excited about chicken? Try this marinade! And I loved the substitution list for ingredients. Great idea