This chicken marinade is super quick to make and loaded with bold, juicy flavor in every bite!
This sweet and salty chicken marinade is made with Dijon, soy sauce, and lemon juice that tenderizes the chicken while adding fresh and savory flavors.
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Holly’s Chicken Marinade Highlights
- Flavor: Sweet, tangy, and customizable – switch up the ingredients to match the menu!
- Difficulty: Quick and easy chicken marinade is made with ingredients likely already on hand!
- Prep Note: This recipe marinates up to 2 lbs of chicken. Discard the extra marinade once used.
- Serving Suggestions: Work marinade magic on oven-baked, sautéed, or grilled chicken.
Ingredients
- Oil: Choose neutral-flavored oils like vegetable or avocado oil.
- Acid: Red wine vinegar and lemon juice are necessary for tenderizing the meat. You can also use apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, or balsamic, and swap out lime juice for the lemon juice.
- Sweet & Salty: Brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce provide a sweet and umami flavor to homemade chicken marinade. Use maple syrup or honey instead of brown sugar and coconut aminos for the soy sauce if desired.
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning and garlic powder work on their own, but you can also add a dash of red pepper flakes for a little kick of heat. Zest the lemon and add to the marinade along with the juice for a brighter flavor.
- Variations: Add a tablespoon or two of BBQ sauce, chili sauce, or teriyaki sauce to the marinade to make more of a glaze.
Storing Leftovers
Store unused marinade in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze into ice cubes and pop one or two out to marinate meat before they hit the grill.
Freeze marinated chicken pieces in zippered bags for up to one month. Then, simply thaw and grill, bake, or pan-fry with rice and veggies.
More Marinade Recipes We Love…
Did you enjoy this easy Chicken Marinade? Leave us a comment and rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Marinade
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Combine vegetable oil, Worcestershire, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, pepper, and garlic powder 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.
Notes
- Keep fresh marinade in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for one week.
- This is enough marinade for up to 2lbs of chicken, the recipe can be doubled.
- You can use this on bone-in or boneless chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
- Marinate in a bowl, freezer bag, or baking dish. Do not marinate in a metal bowl or container.
- If you have extra (unused marinade!), add a little to veggies before grilling or your other favorite side dishes for a punch of flavor.
- Nutrition information is an estimate for 1 tablespoon of the marinade as most of the marinade will be discarded.
- Nutrition information does not include chicken as this can be used on bone in or boneless chicken with or without skin.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dressing, Sauce
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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!
Thank you for this recipe! Its SO good! It has been so helpful to find a recipe that is quick and full of flavor for a working mom. I use this marinade multiple times a week. My husband says it tastes like restaurant quality and loves it too!
Can I not put in the Dijon mustard? I don’t like mustard lol
You can leave it out if you’d like.
Boneless chicken breasts seem to vary in size — about how much chicken “weight-wise”?
We use an average 5-7oz chicken breast (about 1.5lbs total) however there is enough marinade for 2lbs of chicken if needed.
i just want to start this by saying i have literally never left a review on a recipe on any website ever but this chicken marinade is so good, i had to give it a review. this is literally the BEST chicken marinade ever. the chicken falls apart every time and is so juicy and full of flavor after marinating for only an hour. i cut our worcestershire because i never have it in my house but i typically just put an extra splash of soy sauce. turns out perfect every time.
Sarah, thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review, I appreciate it! I’m so glad you’ve loved this recipe!
Absolutely delicious on boneless chicken breasts . Best grilled boneless I ever made ! Can’t wait to make this marinade with bone in thighs .
Yay! So happy to hear that you love the marinade so much!
Excellent! So easy my kids measured and prepared with me! Thank you!!! Printed this for our family favorite! We did not have red wine vinegar so substituted with balsamic vinegar. Delicious!
For meal prep purposes… With this recipe, have you tried to you marinate the chicken and then freeze? Thank you!
Hi Bria, we haven’t tried freezing this recipe, but it should work well. Just make sure you give the chicken enough time before freezing or after thawing to marinate before cooking :)
This was perfect! Nice and salty but the brown sugar really balances it out.
The only slight difference was I used olive oil as opposed to vegetable oil. I think olive oil marinates better. Just my opinion!
Great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it Tim!
worked great, but i beg to differ on using boneless skinless chicken
does this tast different on wings, legs, thighs, bone-in breasts?
probably best to leave the type of chicken out of marinade, or is this a recipe ?
just sayin
Hi Dave, you can use this marinade on any chicken. But if using boneless chicken breasts we have included grilling instructions for the perfect marinaded chicken breast!
Hi!! Light brown sugar or dark?
You could use either Jade. :) Whichever you prefer.
What temp in the oven and for how long ?
Hi Steve, you can follow our oven-baked chicken breast recipe for cook times. Hope that helps!
The marinade makes the chicken look so tempting! awesome recipe!
Marinades add so much flavor to meats and this one sounds delicious and so easy to make!
Yum! I need to try this. I regularly make chicken breasts to use for our son’s sandwiches and he’s been asking for more variety. the brown sugar here would make it a winner I suspect!
I cooked the chicken breasts on medium high heat for the time allotted for the coming but the center is still raw and the chicken partially burnt!
So sorry to hear that Franco. As per the directions, you will want to make sure the chicken cooks to an internal temperature of 165°F to ensure it is not raw in the center.
Can I marinate a chicken breast overnight?
Hi Debby, we recommend marinating for a maximum of 6 hours. If you marinate chicken too long, the acids can break down the fibers in the meat.
This is my new go-to marinade. My picky family loves it. Use mostly when I’ve done bone-in thighs & legs in oven. Comes out juicy & full of flavor. Delish!!!!
Glad we could help a busy mom out!!
Do you cover it while baking?
I bake it uncovered.