by Holly
Chicken Marinade is so easy to make at home with a few basic ingredients, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, dijon, soy sauce and a bit of brown sugar! This marinade is perfect to make grilled chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
Marinating chicken makes it juicier and tastier and with your own easy recipe, you can tailor your marinade to match the rest of your meal!
How to Make Chicken Marinade
The best chicken breast marinade starts with an acid, an oil, some good Dijon mustard and herbs/spices for flavor.
Change it up: Substitute balsamic for the red wine vinegar or lemon juice for another favorite citrus (like lime) if that’s what you have on hand.
Going Italian? Use basil and garlic and serve with Italian pasta salad! South of the border style? Add cumin and lime juice! The great thing about a marinade is how easy it is to tailor to what you have on hand!
Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and toss with chicken. Or put all the ingredients in a freezer bag, seal it and shake it up. You can add marinade to chicken before freezing it for a tasty meal ready to cook right when it’s defrosted!
How Long to Marinate Chicken Breasts
Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the bowl or bag and refrigerate a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of six hours. If you marinate chicken too long, the acids can break down the fibres in the meat. Remember to always marinate chicken the fridge to keep it at a safe temperature.
Once marinated, the chicken is ready to grill, bake or broil. Discard any marinade.
To Cook Juicy Marinated Chicken
There are so many delicious ways to prepare marinated boneless chicken breasts. In the summer I love to grill this recipe, but baking or cooking on the stove top is a great alternative.
To Grill: Preheat the grill to medium and brush with oil. Grill each breast 7 to 8 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reaches 165°F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
To Bake Marinated Chicken: Place marinated breasts in a shallow baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F. Bake 22-25 minutes or until chicken reaches to ensure chicken reaches 165°F on a meat thermometer.
To Cook on the Stove Top: Place chicken breasts in a greased skillet on medium-high heat. Turn over after 10 minutes and test for doneness after 10 more minutes.
Whether you cook your chicken on the grill, in the oven, or on the stove top, you’ll be able to create the best chicken marinade in a few simple steps!
More Tasty Marinated Chicken Recipes
- Baked Bruschetta Chicken – 15 mins prep!
- Grilled BBQ Chicken – must have for summer
- Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken – 5 ingredient marinade!
- Teriyaki Chicken – ready in 25 mins!
- Creamy Lemon Chicken with Thyme – one skillet dish
The Best Chicken Marinade
Prep Time 1 hour
Servings 4
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
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Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl or a freezer bag.
- Add chicken and marinate at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.
- Grill, bake or broil as desired.
To Grill Boneless Chicken Breasts
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat and cook chicken 7-8 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Rest 3-5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Love your recipes.
If I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe, how long do I bake them?
Thank you Denise! Details on baking chicken thighs can be found here, including boneless, skinless.
Can this be done with shrimp?
I haven’t tried this marinade on shrimp but it sounds like a delicious idea, Brittany! I wouldn’t marinate the shrimp for more than 30 minutes though as the acidity can start to break down the delicate shrimp meat.
Out of all the marinades, this one is the best!!! I cook up a few extra for lunches and they are perfect. Moist and tender! Family of 7 and everyone agrees this is the ONE. PS because of carbohydrate issues. I leave out the Brown sugar….still perfect!
This is an excellent and easy marinade for chicken. I made it last night and it was delicious. I’ve made many marinades in the past and this is among the best. Thank you, you have great recipes!
Thank you Cara-Lee! So glad you enjoyed it.
I am so glad that I found this recipe! I had planned to make Caesar Salad for dinner, since we are going through a heatwave here in BC, Canada, but I wanted to get creative with the chicken breast. All I have to say is WOW – this was absolutely delicious. My husband grilled it on the BBQ and after his first bite, he said this marinade recipe is a keeper!
Made this tonight! Delicious chicken! And so juicy. Thank you
You’re welcome Gaylene!
Loved it!!!!!
Wow! I just took the chicken out of the oven and tried a little piece and that marinade is delicious! Definitely using it again when I grill on the bbq!
I had to try it, but it was not that good. It had somewhat of a bitter taste and the flavor was not good. My wife and I both felt the same way. We have a different recipe that we use and love, but I thought I’d try something different for a change. It may have been the Dijon mustard. I don’t know, but this recipe needs an overhaul!
By the way, I grilled it, not oven cooked.
Sorry to hear that Mike, this recipe is usually a reader favorite! If you try it without the dijon mustard let us know what you think :)
Gonna try make some good chicken breast from your ingredients thank you hope it turns out wish me luck
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Need to learn how to cook chicken breast so gonna follow your ingredients thank you hope it turns out…
Enjoy it Rodney!