These chicken marinade recipes include everything from teriyaki to honey mustard and fajita flavoured. Most have 5 ingredients or less!
How to make an easy chicken marinade
Making an easy chicken marinade is as simple as whisking together a few simple ingredients for the chicken to sit in for a few hours. Marinating chicken allows the meat to tenderize and soak up the flavours of the marinade.
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A basic 4-ingredient chicken marinade usually includes:
- Oil
- Vinegar
- Soy sauce, Dijon mustard or some other emulsifier
- Sweetener
You can use that simple marinade template alone, or add additional herbs and spices to create more depth of flavour. Let your creativity shine and your taste buds lead the way.
Marinade safety and avoiding contamination
Any time you use chicken marinades (or any other type of meat marinade), you should be extra cautious, especially when your hands and kitchen surfaces will come in direct contact with raw meat.
This precaution is necessary because dangerous bacteria thrive inside of raw chicken that can make you very sick. If you aren’t careful, that bacteria will cross-contaminate onto your hands, countertops, and other surfaces and body parts.
To avoid any possible contamination, use these methods:
- Wash your hands. Both before and after handling raw chicken, immediately wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, using hot and soapy water. After you remove the raw chicken from the chicken marinades, wash your hands again.
- Never reuse chicken marinades! Regardless of how clean the marinade may appear, bacteria are thriving inside. Cooking will not kill off all types of bacteria, so discard the chicken marinade immediately after use.
Making multiple marinades at once
You can make multiple chicken marinades at once to get all kinds of flavours for your weekly meal prep! Create foil dividers as shown above, then bake your chicken for the times suggested below in the recipe card. Easy peasy!
Frequently Asked Questions
There's no exact rule of thumb here but anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours is a safe bet for marinating chicken. If you're using a marinade that has a particularly acidic profile (think marinades heavy on lemon juice, vinegars, etc.) then you will want to marinate only 20-60 minutes and not overnight. With milder marinades such as honey mustard, pesto, BBQ and wine-based marinades, you can let them sit overnight in the fridge.
You can freeze the raw chicken in the marinade right in the bag then freeze up to 90 days. When ready to serve, defrost the chicken in the fridge for 24 hours, then bake or BBQ as you normally would.
Chicken marinades are a great way to infuse a lot of flavour into the meat and they also help keep the chicken juicy and delicious. This is especially true when you make certain slow cooker chicken recipes or other cooking methods that have a long cook time. The longer a chicken breast cooks, the more likely it is to become dry and over-cooked. Chicken marinades will help to prevent that from happening!
Best chicken marinades to get you started
Below you'll find pictures of my go-to super easy chicken breast marinades! Most of these marinades have 5 ingredients or less and they are pantry staples so there's no running to the store for any crazy spices.
These are my fave marinades and ones I always rotate through when it comes to my weekly meal prep.
Lemon rosemary marinade
Balsamic marinade
Pesto marinade
Teriyaki marinade
Garlic herb marinade
Fajita marinade
BBQ marinade
Honey mustard marinade
BONUS chicken marinade recipes
Here are some more chicken marinade recipes from some of my fave food bloggers if you're looking for more recipe inspiration. Click the links below the pictures to take you to these other delicious recipes!
The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe, via Mom on Timeout // Favorite Everyday Chicken Marinade, via A Beautiful Plate
The Best Greek Chicken Marinade, via Foodie Crush // Honey Mustard Chicken Marinade, via Rachel Cooks
Isabel's Island Chicken Marinade, via Healthy Seasonal Recipes // Spicy Beer Chicken Marinade, via Family Food on the Table
Korean Chicken Marinade, via Skinnytaste // Asian Ginger Chicken Marinade, via Oh Sweet Basil
Savory Low Carb Chicken Marinade, via Kalyn's Kitchen // Roasted Miso Chicken, via Real Housemoms
Japanese Ponzu Sauce, via A Family Feast // Chicken Shawarma Meal Prep Bowls, via The Girl on Bloor
Baked Cuban Mojo Chicken, via Spend with Pennies // Curry Yogurt Chicken Marinade, via Sweet Peas and Saffron
Spanish Chicken in Pepitoria Sauce, via A Family Feast // Baked Hasselback Greek Chicken with lemon-oregano marinade, via The Girl on Bloor
Instant Pot Chipotle Lime Chicken Breasts, via Sweet Peas and Saffron // Coconut Mango Chicken Meal Prep Bowls, via The Girl on Bloor
Spanish Chicken Marbella, via She Wears Many Hats // Salsa Chicken via The Girl on Bloor
More healthy recipe ideas
- 52 Healthy, Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
- Meal Prep for Weight Loss
- Eating Healthy on a Budget + 10 Cheap Dinner Ideas
Meal prep tools for these recipes
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls to store leftover chicken.
- I get all my free range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through.
- Use these Ziploc bag holders for mess-free marinating.
Best Chicken Marinades – 20+ Ways!
Ingredients
Teriyaki marinade
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp minced gingerroot
Honey mustard marinade
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup mustard
Balsamic marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Fajita marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tbsp homemade fajita seasoning
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
BBQ marinade
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
Pesto
- 1/2 cup jarred pesto
Garlic herb marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup dry white wine or lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Lemon rosemary marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
Chicken
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix together chicken marinade of choice in a small bowl and pour over chicken in a Ziploc bag or small bowl. Marinate for 15-20 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. If you'd like to do multiple marinades at a time, make dividers using your tin foil as shown in the video below.
- For 6 oz breasts: bake 18-20 minutes. For 8 oz breasts: bake 20-22 minutes. For 10oz breasts: bake 25-28 minutes. Check that chicken is cooked through by slicing one of the breasts down the middle and meat thermometre reads 165 F.
- Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing or chopping. Store in glass containers for later or serve immediately with a side dish. Enjoy!
Mahri says
I’ve seen this picture on the Pin and I was like where can I find this exact website and OMG! I have to say I am in love with your website, so many great ideas and what’s funny I had all the groceries and I was like, what did not I even think about making something like this? Thank you so much for sharing!
Molly John says
I was looking for such recipes. So glad I came across them. Quite helpful. I’m from India and run a small business of frozen foods. My daughter wanted me to add marinades too.
Thank you. Will try them at home first.
Honeybmassage says
Love how these marinades are so few ingredients and super easy to put together. You go girl!
Keke says
Hello, some of the 8 marinades list a single sauce. I’m wondering if those particular marinades do not require any spices?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Keke – no they do not require additional spices.
Dan says
Thanks for the recipes. Please use reusable bags/tupperware so you don’t waste a ton of plastic every time you marinade
I.G. says
What if I am only making like 3 chicken breasts? How long do i cook that for? trying to avoid overcooking
Taylor Stinson says
Cooking time is the same! 3-4 breasts is about 1lb of chicken.
Diana says
There is a link posted to Ziploc bag holders, but they do Not ship to Canada.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Diana – most of my web traffic is from the US so I’ve included a link that ships to US addresses. Here’s a similar option that will ship to Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Hands-Free-Rack-Storage-Holder-Striper/dp/B074SFGS2D/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ziploc+bag+holders&qid=1572706711&sr=8-1
Janae says
Once marinated can the chicken breasts be frozen and used later? And if so, do I freeze them in the marinade?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Janae! You can freeze the raw chicken in the marinade right in the bag then freeze up to 90 days. When ready to serve, defrost the chicken in the fridge for 24 hours, then bake or BBQ as you normally would.
Mary Henderson says
Which marinades can I freeze on the chicken? You mentioned some “can be frozen.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Mary! All of the recipes in the recipe card at the bottom and that you see pictured at the top of the post can be frozen.
Marni says
This says chicken 20 ways and has only 8 listed ?
Taylor Stinson says
The title of the post is 20+ marinades (20 plus). There are 8 primary recipes listed in the recipe card, then links to additional recipes on other websites making a total of over 20 recipes.
Annoyed says
I wish you could see my eyes roll. Pretty misleading title. If I wanted to visit 15 pages for ideas, I would. Instead I thought your page would have 20 ideas, like you claimed.
Taylor Stinson says
There are 8 recipes listed on this page in the recipe card at the bottom. The jump to recipe button takes you there. In addition to these 8 recipes, there are 20 more ideas that I have linked to. I suppose we have differing opinions on what misleading means and I’m sorry you did not find the 8 published recipes in this post (plus 20 more ideas) to be enough.
Omer Shah says
Is the writer high?!? Didn’t give an recipes wth?!?
Taylor Stinson says
Is the reader high? The recipes are at the bottom of the page, which you clearly scrolled past to leave this comment 🙂
Lis says
Some people are so rude! Your recipes are fantastic!
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much🥺❤️