The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe

Simply the BEST Chicken Marinade recipe ever….and so easy to make. Balsamic vinegar, honey, brown sugar and spices combine to infuse your favorite grilled chicken with savory flavor with juicy, tender results.

Chicken Marinade

The magic of juicy chicken breast is a flavorful marinade and this easy chicken marinade saves you and your family from having to endure dry chicken ever again.

I’ve overcooked many chicken breasts and food is too expensive to waste. That’s where the need to create a flavorful chicken marinade recipe that would change my chicken game forever came into play and fix everything!

In the summer months, we do a lot of grilled chicken but in the winter, I roast it all, from boneless chicken breasts to meaty chicken thighs. This grilled Chicken Marinade recipe does double duty all year long and it works with any cut of chicken.

And I wanted it to be able to be sticky sweet AND slightly salty, savory to really punch up the flavors of an otherwise flavorless boneless skinless chicken breast. It’s very similar to our steak marinade recipe. So, you could say this is the BEST Chicken Breast Marinade recipe, as well.

Ingredients

This easy marinade starts with simple ingredients you may already have in your pantry. A basic marinade recipe has four main components; fat, acid, seasonings and salt.

• Olive Oil – We use olive oil for the fat component of this marinade recipe, my preference is for Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it has more flavor with a peppery bite. You can substitute with avocado oil, grapeseed oil or another neutral oil.
• Vinegar – Tangy Balsamic Vinegar is my favorite for the layers of flavor in the vinegar. Not only do you have the acidic notes but it also has a sweet flavor in the background. You can substitute with another acid like citrus juice such as orange juice, red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice.
• Seasonings – Italian seasoning, garlic powder, black powder, kosher salt and smoked paprika are your flavor enhancers for this simple marinade recipe. You can substitute with fresh chopped garlic and fresh herbs if you have them on hand.
• Soy Sauce – We do add salt to this recipe but soy sauce welcomes a rich umami flavor. If you need to substitute the soy sauce we have used coconut aminos, fish sauce and Mushroom powder with great results.
• Honey – You can skip the honey if you don’t want any added sugar but I urge you to give it a try. It’s not overwhelmingly sweet and balances the acidity in the marinade.
• Brown Sugar – This adds a rich sweetness like a bbq sauce but not cloyingly sweet. You can substitute with coconut sugar or skip it.
• Worcestershire Sauce – Similar to soy sauce, you can swap it for the same amount of soy sauce.

For the full ingredient list and instructions, see the recipe card below.

How To Make Chicken Marinade

Homemade Chicken Marinade couldn’t be easier to make.

1. Simply whisk together olive oil (use a good one here), balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar (for caramelization), honey (for a different level of sweetness), Italian Seasoning (I like that it’s all the spices I would normally use in one), salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika.
2. Add your chicken to a large zip-top bag and place in an equally large bowl (in case the bag springs a leak!). Pour the marinade over the chicken and stash in the fridge for an hour or overnight to allow the chicken to marinate.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook on the grill, in the oven or on the stovetop. It’s a you do you situation after that.

How Long to Marinade Chicken

How long you marinade chicken really depends on what type of chicken you would like to marinate. Thin sliced chicken breasts will take much less time than thicker, whole chicken breasts. And bone-in chicken thighs will take even longer to marinate than boneless chicken.

I like to marinate chicken at least 4-8 hours or overnight for boneless chicken breasts or thighs. Bone-in chicken parts I like to leave in the marinade even longer. It’s great for busy weeknights because most of the prep work is done!

If you don’t want to mess with a wet marinade recipe, we love this dry rub on chicken, too.

How to Cook Marinated Chicken

You can cook your newly marinated chicken, basically, any way you’d like. My favorite way is to make Grilled Marinated Chicken, it’s fast, easy and almost mess free!

You could also cook it in the oven on a baking sheet in a single layer lined with foil or parchment at 425˚F until cooked through. Boneless chicken takes less time (approximately 20 minutes) than bone in chicken (which could take up to 40 minutes depending on how thick it is.) An instant read meat thermometer is so helpful in determining if your chicken is cooked thoroughly.

We also love cooking our chicken pieces in the air fryer.

Can you reuse leftover marinade?

The excess Chicken Marinade is a one and done situation here, because raw chicken has been sitting in it for a long time you must discard any of the marinade that came in contact with the chicken.

If you made the marinade in advance as part of your meal prep, it can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container until you’re ready to marinade the chicken.

More Easy Chicken Recipes

• This Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken…..it’s flipping AMAZING
• THIS Carolina Style Barbecue Chicken to mix up that barbecue game a bit.
• Add this marinade to this crazy easy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts!
• Marinade your chicken thighs before making these Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs for pure chicken magic.

Be sure to follow along over on Instagram, too, for behind the scenes tips and tricks!