Chicken Marinade is easy to throw together with simple ingredients already in your pantry. This chicken breast marinade is going to become a go to recipe.
One of my favorite meals in the summer is grilled chicken over salad. But a plain grilled chicken breast is a no go for me. Today I have the best chicken marinade recipe for you! It works perfectly as a grilled chicken marinade.
This is the same marinade that I use when I make my Chicken Kabobs, and those are always a huge hit!
Delicious and easy! My chicken breasts were bone in and very big. This marinade was used for 5 hrs. Best chicken on grill ever. Highly recommend it.
The Reason to Marinate Chicken
There is nothing worse than dry chicken. Marinating chicken is a great way to prevent this, leaving you with the perfect chicken recipe. A simple chicken marinade made with a little acid breaks down the exterior of the chicken. This lets in the other ingredients in the marinade making for a moist and delicious chicken breast
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
I love this combination of ingredients so much and find that it leads to moist delicious chicken every time. For the full measurements of ingredients scroll to the bottom of the post or click that helpful “jump to the recipe” button above the first photo.
- Olive Oil is the foundation of this recipe, you want to use a quality olive oil and rather than vegetable oil. There is a remarkable difference in taste. Additionally, avoid extra virgin olive oil, which is better in salad dressings, and doesn’t stand up to the heat as well.
- Lemon Juice is one of two acids that we are going to use. It brings flavor and helps break down the surface of the chicken.
- Brown Sugar boosts the flavor of the marinade and also helps brown the chicken when it is cooking.
- Soy Sauce acts as the salt and a part of the liquid base of the marinade. Though most often a marinade only penetrates the outer layers of a piece of meat, salt is able to go much deeper and help keep meat from drying out during cooking.
- Balsamic Vinegar is the other acid in this recipe. This vinegar starts out with grapes, and it brings such a deep and delicious flavor to this party.
- Minced Garlic adds another layer of flavor.
- Black Pepper is our last ingredient and another flavor enhancer.
Adding Herbs to Chicken Marinade Recipes
A lot of chicken marinade recipes contain fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme. Those would be great additions here. I purposefully left them out to keep this recipe as simple as possible, and I have to tell you that the end result is a delicious piece of chicken.
If you plan on adding herbs to the marinade, keep in mind that it is better to use dry herbs over fresh herbs. The dry herbs impart the same delicious flavor but will stand up to the heat of your grill or oven better than the fresh herbs. Rather, you could top your freshly grilled chicken with some fresh parsley at the end.
How Long to Marinate Chicken
There are different schools of thought on how long you should marinate chicken. One thing is agreed upon: It is possible to marinate chicken for too long.
When we marinate, the marinade is only able to penetrate the outer surface of the meat. Realistically, you only need about a half hour to make that happen with this recipe. Conversely, once the chicken has sat in the marinade past 24 hours, the salt in the marinade can break down the proteins in the meat and that will result in a gummy piece of chicken.
How to Grill Marinated Chicken
This is just the best grilled chicken breast marinade. And grilling chicken couldn’t be easier.
- Preheat your grill. Turn all the burners on high and let the grill heat up for 15 minutes with the cover closed. After 15 minutes, leave one burner on high and turn off the others.
- Oil the grates.
- Put the chicken over the burners that are off. Grill for 6 to 9 minutes. Flip the chicken and grill for 6 to 9 more minutes or until it reaches 140 degrees on the thickest part of the chicken.
- Place the chicken over the burners that are on. Continue grilling for 2 to 6 more minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.
Baking After Using Chicken Marinade
This works great as a baked chicken marinade too!
- Remove chicken from the marinade and discard the excess marinade. (See below for ideas on how to serve this using the marinade as a sauce.)
- Place the chicken in lightly greased baking dish.
- Cover the baking dish with foil.
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.
FAQ
You can leave out the sugar, but I would encourage you not to. It adds such great flavor to the marinade and balances the acidity of the vinegar and lemon juice.
It’s only 2 tablespoons for the whole marinade, and keep in mind that the amount of sugar that gets absorbed into the chicken is relatively small.
If you want to make more than one pound of chicken, I recommend doubling the marinade. You want to make sure that the chicken is fully submerged in the marinade.
If you would like to use the marinade as a sauce, you need to put it in a saucepan and then over medium heat bring it to a roaring boil. Once boiling it needs to continue to boil for 2 minutes before it is safe to use.
Alternatively, you can double this recipe, and reserve half of it to use as a sauce after cooking the chicken. The reserved portion won’t ever touch the raw chicken and will be safe to eat.
No. Most soy sauces contain gluten. You would need to find a soy sauce that is gluten free.
Of course! While you see chicken breasts pictured here, this marinade would be great with chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, or even chicken tenders.
What to Serve with Chicken
As mentioned above, I love this chicken cut up and served with a simple salad of Romain, tomatoes, and cucumbers. But if you are grilling and want to round out your table, here are a few suggestions:
- Corn Salad is especially delicious when made with grilled corn.
- Grilled Pineapple with a simple glaze is the perfect dessert when you already have the grill fired up.
- Cucumber Avocado Salad would be a great companion for this marinated chicken.
If you make this easy chicken marinade or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
Marinade
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a reusable container, whisk together the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Add the chicken and toss to combine. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes to 24 hours.
- When ready to grill the chicken, preheat your grill. (See instructions in the post for baking.) Turn all the burners on high and let the grill heat up for 15 minutes with the cover closed. After 15 minutes, leave one burner on high and turn off the others.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the remaining marinade.
- Oil the grates. Put the chicken over the burners that are off. Grill for 6 to 9 minutes. Flip the chicken and grill for 6 to 9 more minutes or until it reaches 140 degrees on the thickest part of the chicken.
- Place the chicken over the burners that are on. Continue grilling for 2 to 6 more minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bonnie says
I did not like the vinegar taste.
I’m so sorry this was a miss for you, Bonnie. Is it possible that balsamic vinegar is just not your thing? You can certainly swap it for a different type of vinegar, such as red wine vinegar.