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!
How do you make chicken marinade?
This marinade is a combination of savory and sweet flavors and includes ingredients you probably already have in the house. The base of the marinade is olive oil, which is flavored with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic and Italian seasoning. Add chicken, let it soak in all the flavor, then cook the chicken to your liking and serve.
HOW LONG DO YOU MARINATE CHICKEN?
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.
TIPS FOR CHICKEN MARINADE
- 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 breasts or thighs, chicken tenders, or even chicken drumsticks. This recipe also works great with chicken wings.
- 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.
CHICKEN MARINADE 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 chopped herbs such as thyme, green onions, 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 the marinade recipe listed here.
HOW DO YOU COOK MARINATED CHICKEN?
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.
WHAT TEMPERATURE SHOULD CHICKEN BE COOKED TO?
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.
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
Chicken Marinade Video
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.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on April 10, 2019 and was updated on April 22, 2020 with new content.
Pamela says
I can’t wait to try this! I’m actually going to try making my marinade at home before a road trip to Arizona and marinating my chicken when I get there. Wish me luck! 🤞🏻
Alyssa says
This marinade is the perfect addition to eggplant as well! I personally left out the brown sugar (on accident, but I loved the results!) Tonight I’m making 3 eggplants for me to eat during lunch for the week and using this recipe. I can’t wait!
Troy Reagan says
This is our absolute favorite marinade for grilled chicken. We grill a lot of chicken and then can make different dishes using the leftover meat in salads, Asian noodle bowls, sandwiches etc. Thank you, Sara. You have a winner here.
Angela says
Hi
I made your recipe and I bake it in my oven at 400 for 20 minutes. My chicken didn’t get caramelize how it looks in the picture. I even change my oven temp. to 425 and still didn’t do it. I used a glass baking dish. Don’t think my oven is not hot enough. I measured everything so I don’t know were it went wrong , but still came out good! Any advice ?? Also there was still a lot of marinade left do you throw that away??
Alyssa says
I used half the marinade for chicken, and the other half for veggies (In particular, on eggplant that I then baked off and it was phenomenal.) You could also use the unused half to reduce down and use for a glaze to top your chicken. The brown color in the pictures is because the chicken was grilled. You may be able to replicate the results if you sear your chicken in a heavy bottomed pan, then finish off in the oven.
Sean says
What was the temperature that you used to grill the chicken breast? Also how long did you cook on each side? Direct heat? New to grilling. Using Char- broil Kamander.
Thanks
Teri says
I pound my chicken lightly (not too thin), but it on the gas grill direct heat med high to high for 3-4 minutes on each side. Overcooking will make it dry.
Slice in strips and then you can use it however you like.
Leftovers are still moist.
ALA Ayuwuh says
Did you pay the chicken dry, and discard the excess marinade? That’s an important step for browning. Just a thought. In the past I didnt do that step because I felt I was losing flavor by discarding the sauce, but if marinated long enough the flavor is there, and it should brown.
Kathy says
Fantastic!! Thank you Sara for this awesome marinade.
Renee says
This really is the best chicken marinade! So incredibly juicy & flavorful. I was out of fresh garlic, so had to sub 1-teaspoon of garlic powder, & it was still amazing. My husband said next time, to make a double amount of chicken, it was that good!
Julie Lambert says
I guess I have been using this recipe ever since it was posted. I use it for my shish kabobs. SOOOOO good! It is my go too!
Amy says
I agree this is an amazing marinade! A new favorite for me!
Michelle says
Just made this, it will be my “go to” marinade. Perfect blend of flavors so that none stands out over the other. Delicious!
Angela says
In the picture under the chicken what kind of salad is that? You have the recipe on your site? Love to make the chicken with that salad in the picture!! If it’s not On your site can you tell me what I need/measurements to make that salad in the picture please?! Love your recipes!!!
Sara says
It’s a box of Israeli couscous pilaf mix with parsley, corn and red bell peppers stirred in!
Joan says
What is the temperature to bake the chicken breast in, and do I bake it covered or not covered?
Thanks, Joan
Sara says
Bake uncovered, 400 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes.
Emily Liao says
This was just the marinade I needed! Made my boring chicken so much more flavorful 🙂
Charla says
Can’t wait to make this, I eat chicken almost weekly!!
Sisley White says
We absolutely loved it! So moist and full of flavour.
Suzy says
I am loving how all of the flavors go so well with each other! The chicken comes out so tasty! Love it!
Mrs C says
Does this work for any type of chicken meat, ie, breast, thigh, drumstick… and do you recommend bone-in skin on or boneless skinless?
Thank you!
Sara says
It works for any type of chicken, and it depends on how you’re cooking it. If you’re grilling, boneless cuts tend to cook quickest and won’t burn on the grill. If you’re roasting the chicken, you could use bone in skin on cuts!
Mrs C says
Thank you so much!
Anita says
This is a great marinade indeed. And the best thing was I already had everything at home, so I could immediately give it a try. 🙂
Breanna says
My husband is actually allergic to Balsalmic vinegar (weird, I know, haha). I usually use red wine vinegar in place of it. Do you think that would be a fine substitute in this? It sounds delicious and I want to try it!
Sara says
Yes but use half the amount!
Terri says
This marinade was amazing. It was everything described and more. Best part-had all the ingredients. The balance of flavors mixed perfectly. Marinated the chicken for three hours and then grilled on a charcoal fire. Served over a spring mix blend of lettuce. Can’t wait to try this again.