This chicken marinade is a blend of garlic, herbs, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and Dijon mustard. It produces perfect marinated chicken every time, and you can use your chicken marinade for baked, broiled, grilled or sauteed chicken.
Every cook needs a chicken marinade in their recipe box, and this is the best one I’ve ever had! Serve your chicken with rice pilaf and parmesan zucchini for a complete meal that the whole family will love.
In the summer I am all about grilling, and I make this amazingly delicious chicken marinade at least once a week. It takes just minutes to put together and uses ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. This marinade produces tender, juicy and flavorful chicken that will earn you rave reviews! If you love to marinate your food, be sure to also check out my teriyaki marinade, BBQ chicken marinade, turkey marinade, tri tip marinade and shrimp marinade recipes.
Table of Contents
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make Chicken Marinade?
Place all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl or resealable freezer bag. If you’re using a bowl, whisk the ingredients together. For the bag, seal the bag and shake until everything is combined. Add chicken to the marinade and let it soak for at least one hour. Remove the chicken, then grill, oven bake, broil or sauté and serve!
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- This marinade can be made up to 3 days before you plan to use it. Simply store the marinade in the fridge until you’re ready to add your chicken. The olive oil in the marinade may solidify if stored in the fridge for an extended period of time. Simply let the marinade sit at room temperature for 20 minutes and the olive oil will thaw back into a liquid consistency.
- You can really use any cut of chicken for this marinade such as boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, chicken tenders, or even chicken drumsticks. This recipe also works great with chicken wings.
- Pair your marinated chicken with some hearty side dishes such as baked mac and cheese, make ahead mashed potatoes, sauteed cabbage, oven baked potatoes, or sweet potato souffle.
- I like to grill chicken in double the quantity that I think I’ll need, and I use the leftovers for green salads, pasta salad and sandwiches.
Quick Tip
This marinade contains sugar which adds great flavor, but can easily burn on the grill. Make sure your grill is not overly hot before you add your chicken! You’ll want to grill your chicken over medium heat, and if you’re using bone-in cuts that take longer to cook, place them over indirect heat.
Recipe FAQs
My favorite way to cook marinated chicken is on the grill. If the weather isn’t nice enough for outdoor grilling, I use an indoor grill pan on the stove. If you prefer, you can bake or saute your chicken. I recommend baking your chicken if you’re using bone-in cuts such as drumsticks or chicken thighs.
Chicken should be marinated for a minimum of one hour for boneless, skinless cuts. If you use a bone-in, skin-on cut, you’ll want to marinate for at least 4 hours. I typically marinate my chicken for about 8 hours to get the best flavor.
You should always marinate chicken in the refrigerator. It is a food safety hazard to marinate chicken at room temperature.
All cuts of chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The easiest way to gauge if your chicken is done is to insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken – be sure that the thermometer is not touching the bone. Once you’ve reached the correct temperature, remove the chicken from the heat and let it rest for 3 minutes before you slice it.
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Chicken Marinade Flavor Variations
While this recipe is delicious as-is, you can add other ingredients to customize it to your tastes.
- Spicy: Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
- Herb Lovers: Add 1/4 cup fresh herbs such as thyme, green onions, oregano rosemary or parsley. Scrape off the large pieces of herbs before you cook your chicken.
- Asian: Use a blend of olive oil, toasted sesame oil, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic.
- Mexican: Use my chicken fajita marinade recipe!
- Flavorings: You can use honey instead of brown sugar, and add other spices to the mix such as paprika, garlic powder and onion powder.
Once you try this chicken marinade recipe, you’ll find yourself using it constantly! I make marinated chicken almost every week and my family happily devours it. Even the kids love this one!
More Great Chicken Recipes
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
50 mins
Cashew Chicken
35 mins
Mushroom Chicken
40 mins
Salsa Chicken
40 mins
Sweet Chili Chicken
40 mins
Chicken Marinade Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl or resealable gallon sized bag.
- If using a bowl, whisk to combine the ingredients. If using a bag, seal the bag and shake to combine the ingredients.
- Add 2-3 pounds of chicken, then marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours.
- Proceed with cooking method of your choice.
Notes
- This marinade can be made up to 3 days before you plan to use it. Simply store the marinade in the fridge until you’re ready to add your chicken. The olive oil in the marinade may solidify if stored in the fridge for an extended period of time. Simply let the marinade sit at room temperature for 20 minutes and the olive oil will thaw back into a liquid consistency.
- This marinade contains sugar which adds great flavor, but can easily burn on the grill. Make sure your grill is not overly hot before you add your chicken! You’ll want to grill your chicken over medium heat, and if you’re using bone-in cuts that take longer to cook, place them over indirect heat.
Best chicken marinade ever! My family asks for it all the time.
Great marinade
Excellent marinade …what is the side dish you have pictured…looks like a couscous w/corn & red peppers…or a round pasta
Looks delish as well
It is a pearl couscous pilaf mix from Near East brand with corn, bell peppers and parsley added to it!
This is an excellent marinade for chicken! I marinated my chicken breasts for four hours, turning them over every hour. My hubby BBQed them for 20 minutes and they were oh so juicy and delicious! Will definitely make again!
Very delicious marinade
Another superb marinade! We actually started calling you “The Queen Of Rubs and Marinades” here, and always head straight to your website for those. This was another great marinade for chicken breast – so much flavour, and everyday ingredients that we already had in our cupboards! Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes Leva!!
Just checking out the list of ingredients and this one certainly tickes ALL the right boxes with me!
I have to say this really sounds like an amazing chicken marinade. I can’t wait to try it.
We enjoyed Grilled chicken marinated in the best marinade ever – tender, juicy, and bursting with flavor!
Sara,
Used this for chicken sandwiches this weekend, and wow! Love the soy and brown sugar, gave it a nice glaze!
Can you say if the added brown sugar makes the chicken taste sweet?
The chicken has a very slight touch of sweetness, it’s also fine to use half the amount of sugar.
Your recipes are the best!! I’ve been using the pork tenderloin marinade for a while now and it never fails.
Can you add the marinade to raw chicken and freeze for later use? Will the acid from the lemon juice change the texture of the meat if it is frozen? If so, any suggestions for using thus marinade to freeze the chicken in? Thanks.
I think it would be fine to freeze the chicken in the marinade, although I haven’t tested it myself. Another option would be omit the lemon juice from the marinade, then add it later on after you’ve thawed the chicken.
Excellent times 100 … and adding different spices & flavors makes it even better! Yummy
Looks deelish! Wondering if you can marinate the chicken longer than 12 hours? Plan on making for Cobb salad for a bridal shower and thought could make ahead
Yes that should be fine but I wouldn’t go more than 24 hours.