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Marinated Chicken Recipes: 6 Flavorful Ideas

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Why You’ll Love This

If you want the most flavorful juicy chicken ever, marinating is the way to go. I’ve got six easy recipes that come together in minutes and can turn your weeknight meals from just okay to seriously good. Great chicken packed with garlic, herbs, and big flavor. Acid breaks down the connective tissues and the proteins and the meat, not to mention gives it incredible flavors and better flavor absorption so that it can go down deeper and more quickly to the center of the protein, making it more delicious. Using wine and marinades is an absolute game changer. It’s tender, extremely flavorful. This one is simple and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

Garlic, Herb, and Lemon Marinade

eight cloves of garlic
one peeled shallot
zest of one lemon
juice of two lemons
a half teaspoon of paprika
one tablespoon of dry oregano
about six sprigs of fresh thyme
two teaspoons of coarse salt
a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
a half cup of olive oil or any neutral flavored oil

Barbecue Chicken Marinade

a half peeled yellow onion
five garlic cloves
two tablespoons of sugar
juice of one lemon
two tablespoons of dijon mustard
about two tablespoons of finely minced fresh thyme
a third cup of soy sauce
a third cup of white vinegar
a half cup of dry white wine
one and a half teaspoons of coarse salt
a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
a half cup of neutral flavored oil

Chicken for Heat Marinade

two teaspoons of oregano
two teaspoons of chili powder
a half teaspoon of ground coriander
two teaspoons of ground cumin
four garlic cloves
a half peeled shallot
zest of two limes
juice of three total limes
two tablespoons of honey
two teaspoons of coarse salt
a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
a half cup of olive or neutral flavored oil

Asian-Style Chicken Marinade

two tablespoons of rice vinegar
one tablespoon of shouting wine or dry sherry
a quarter cup of soy sauce
two tablespoons of oyster sauce
three tablespoons of honey
about a one to one and a half inch piece of peeled ginger
four garlic cloves
a half peeled shallot
juice of one orange
one teaspoon of coarse salt
a half to three-quarter teaspoons of finely ground pepper
a half cup of neutral-flavored oil
a few tablespoons of sriracha sauce (optional)

Balsamic Chicken Marinade

two garlic cloves
a half peeled shallot
a half cup of balsamic vinegar
three tablespoons of light brown sugar (granulated sugar or honey can be swapped)
one teaspoon of dijon mustard
about six to eight fresh basil leaves (about two tablespoons)
fresh rosemary (about one tablespoon)
two teaspoons of coarse salt
a half to three-quarter teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
a half cup of olive or any neutral flavor oil

Italian Chicken Marinade

Three basil leaves
about six to eight sprigs of fresh thyme
the leaves of one rosemary sprig
two teaspoons of dry oregano
four garlic cloves
a half peeled shallot
one lemon
two tablespoons of red wine vinegar (white wine or plain distilled can also be subbed)
two teaspoons of coarse salt
a half to three quarter teaspoons of finely ground pepper
a half cup of olive or neutral flavored oil

Instructions

First, let’s start by finally grading in eight cloves of garlic.
Then one peeled shallot.
Now at this stage, I’m going to add in the zest of one lemon.
Then a quick slice and half and I’ll juice this in along with one more lemon.
Next, add in a half teaspoon of paprika, one tablespoon of dry oregano.
And then I’m going to finely mince about six sprigs of fresh thyme.
Just add that right to the bowl.
Add in two teaspoons of coarse salt and grind in about a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper.
Then last but not least, I’m going to whisk in a half cup of olive oil or any neutral flavored oil will work.
Once it’s emulsified, of course, give it a try.
Add the chicken to the bag, pour on the marinade.
You can either scrape in the rest of the marinade or add a bit of water, swish it around and pour it.
Let’s zip it air tight.
I usually like to move everything around and get those flavors married up.
Don’t forget to put on your chef hat at this point, label it and date it.
When it comes time to marinate, you can go in the fridge from as little as two hours and up to 24.
You could also possibly push it up to 48 hours if you want.
It will also freeze well for up to three months.
To pan sear the chicken, I usually use a nonstick skillet and add in just a bit of oil.
Turn the heat up to medium-medium high-ish and then place in the chicken.
Cook it for five to six minutes per side.
Flip it over and keep it moving.
For the grill, really it’s the same heat. Medium to medium-high, which is really about 325 to 350 degrees F.
Cook for the same amount of time. Five to six minutes per side.
At least on the first seared side, I like to give it a 90 degree rotation halfway through.
Finish it up on the grill until they’re cooked through.

Cooking Tips

Grading a shallot can be a little bit annoying, so just do the best you can and no problem if you can’t get all of it. Acid, this is your tenderizer. When using herbs and marinades fresh, generally offers a brighter more nuanced flavor than dry herbs, but dried herbs can be more concentrated and convenient of course. Use fresh for quicker marinating, but for long marinade times, dry definitely needs all of that time to have more of an impact. As a good rule of thumb, use a third of the amount of dry to fresh. Remember, you’re not eating the marinade, you’re eating what it’s seasoning, so ensure it’s dang tasty. When storing marinades that contain acid, they can react with metals and pottery glazes, so it’s best to marinate in glass bowls, resealable plastic bags or even a glass 13 by 9 casserole dish covered in plastic wrap. I almost always use plastic bags and then I just wash them and reuse them. This recipe will work for skin on, skinless, bone in, or boneless chicken breast thighs, drums, wings, you can choose, and you can marinate up to a total of three pounds of chicken for all of these marinades. This is why I love marinating in bags, perfect for stacking and saving space. Feel free to sub with a red, white, yellow, or sweet onion. Using wine and marinades is an absolute game changer. Soy is naturally salty, so we’ll be good there. When I use olive oil and some of my other marinades, I want to make sure it isn’t competing with other flavors, especially things like soy sauce. They just don’t go well together, so neutral flavor oils are always the way to go. If you’re looking to go a bit further, you can and should toast up whole seeds and spices were applicable. It’s quick, easy, it’s a one-to-one ratio, and makes everything more aromatic and in return more delicious. Once they’re toasted up, grind them down and you’re good to go. Taste everything. That’s how you become a better cook. If you happen to have a vacuum sealer, you can do that especially if you want to sous vide in all these flavors, but when doing so roasted garlic, garlic, comfy, or dry granules or powder needs to be used instead of fresh. If you want the marinade to penetrate a bit deeper into the chicken, consider using a pronger needle meat tenderizer. It’s totally fine if you’re a little more, a little less, on either of these herbs. Don’t sweat it. Oil’s main purpose is to help distribute some of those fatty flavors and other ingredients to the meat. In addition, it will help keep it moist and create a protective layer so that won’t burn when it cooks. In addition to whisking any of these marinades, you can also blend it. When blending heads up, oil can get a little bit bitter because of the water-soluble polyphenols, which are bitter tasting compounds naturally present in the oil. They start to open up when blended, so if you’re going this route, swap it for a neutral flavor oil. When using garlic and onion, which are from the allium family, use about half the amount because they can be harsh, bitter, and very overpowering. All of these little tips along the way like storing, labeling, using fresh first triurbs, onion substitutes, all the things can be applied to every single one of these marinades. Save a little clean marinade on the side for basting at the end of all these marinade. Be sure to keep an eye on the heat no matter the marinade you don’t want things to burn. You want the chicken and marinade ingredients to brown up just like this.

Serving Suggestions

Now this marinade goes great in the main marinade for Greek lemon chicken and potatoes dish, or chicken souvlaki or hey, just serve it over rice, delicious. All the traditional sides like fruit, potato salads, coleslaw, all that goodness works extremely, well with this. Now this one is specific and obviously meant to be served with peppers, onions, guacamole, tortillas, all things like that. This is awesome served with rice and veggies, or can be used as the main marinade for any of your chicken stir-fried dishes. This is perfect to serve up over salads or as the main meat protein alongside any potato, rice, or veggie options. I love serving this with vegetables on top of salads or with potatoes.

So good. All easy to make with simple everyday ingredients and they’ll completely level up your chicken.