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.
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.
- 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 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!
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 Lover’s: 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
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.
Amanda says
Can you baked in the marinade sauce
Sara says
Yes that would work!
Robin Shapiro says
I don’t have balsamic vinegar, but DO have Apple Cider Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar and White Vinegar. Can I use any of them in place of the balsamic vinegar?
Lori says
I have substituted apple cider vinegar and white balsamic vinegar in the marinade and it was still outstanding!
Debbie says
It works well on boneless or bone in chicken! Really good flavor!
Donna says
Can the marinade be made a day before you actually marinade?
Donna says
Can this be marinated for more than 12 hours? Or can I mix the marinade ahead so all I have to do is put chicken in?
Sara says
It’s fine to marinate for more than 12 hours!
Pam says
Can you freeze chicken in the marinade to cook later?
Sara says
Yes that works just fine!
Ann says
The best chicken marinade I’ve ever tried. Even my fussy husband loved it. I used fresh lime juice instead of lemon.
Nate says
I added some red pepper flakes to mine. I like things a little spicy. Very good!
Mei says
What a great recipe. Thanks for sharing. I made it. It smells so good. Best regards and blessings
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
This looks incredibly delicious! I gotta make this! Looks great!
Season says
Have you ever tried adding Braggs Amino’s to your marinade? It adds such a great flavor!! Its one of my secret ingredients!
Sara says
I’ll try it next time, thanks for the tip!
Paula says
Such a great recipe to have in your repertoire.
Taylor says
Love the flavors in this marinade! So, so yummy!
Catalina says
I want to try this chicken marinade asap. It looks so good!
Katerina @ diethood .com says
This marinade sounds faaantastic!! YUM!
Bee says
That chicken looks delicious! I love a great marinade and can’t wait to try this one!
Chrissie Baker says
I LOVE the sound of this one!!! What a great recipe that for sure I won’t get bored of! I’ve always got chicken on hand so I cannot wait to give this one a try!
Anna says
This marinade is absolutely perfect! It truly makes the chicken delicious!
Joan says
Very cool the way it recalculated the recipe. Did t realize it did that!
Marion says
As there is only self and my hubby can I do smaller quantity or maybe freeze some.
Sara says
You can change the number of servings in the recipe card, just type in the number in the little square and the recipe will re calculate for you!