Best Chicken Marinade Recipes – 20+ Ways!

7/3/19

This article has 20+ chicken marinade recipes – everything from teriyaki to honey mustard and fajita marinades. Most marinades have 5 ingredients or less!  Jump to Recipe

Different kinds of chicken marinades

Whether you're looking for some easy chicken dinner recipes or you're looking to grill chicken more, easy chicken marinades will certainly help make weeknight cooking a breeze!

I've rounded up over 20 grilled and baked easy chicken marinade recipes for every cuisine you can think of, from an Asian chicken marinade to an easy Mediterranean chicken, and so many more! The best part about marinades is that you can pick internationally-inspired flavours from the world over that pair beautifully with just about any side dish or bowl.

You can make most of these easy chicken marinade recipes ahead of time – one of my fave ever meal prep tricks is to freeze your chicken breasts in the marinade itself so all you have to do is pull them out of the freezer, then grill or bake. Your choice!

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 potential risk, use these recommendations:

1. Wash your hands. Both before and after handling raw chicken, immediately wash your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, using hot, soapy water. After you remove the raw chicken from the chicken marinades, wash your hands again.
2. 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.

Why should you marinate chicken?

So, with all the potential risk, why not skip marinating altogether? Well, because chicken marinades are a great way to infuse a lot of flavor 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!

How to make an easy 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 to soak up the flavours of the marinade. 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.

Here are some of our best chicken marinade recipes linked below to help you get started!

How long should you marinate?

There's no exact rule of thumb here but anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours is a safe bet for marinating chicken. You can also freeze chicken in most marinades!

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.

Grilling chicken marinades

The most obvious choice for cooking chicken marinades are on the grill! You get that delicious smokey taste and the flavours of whatever marinade you're using really shine. Just be sure to let your chicken marinate for at least 20 minutes if you're going to be grilling it afterward. You can also slice your chicken breasts in half lengthwise to get more of the marinade flavour shining through!

Baking chicken marinades

When cooking chicken involves low and slow heat, baking chicken marinades are the way to go. They help to lock the chicken’s juices inside of the meat, which helps to prevent the chicken from becoming a dry, tasteless meal.

The perfect baked chicken breast

If you're looking for more chicken marinades and spice rub ideas, you'll definitely want to check out my formula for the BEST baked chicken breast. I've included three easy spice rubs and three easy marinades to get you started with baking chicken in the oven.

It can be a tricky task – you don't want your chicken to dry out, but you also don't want to undercook it. Check out the post linked above for my tips to getting your chicken breasts perfect every time!

8 basic 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.

Jump to Recipe  below to learn how to make them.

Lemon rosemary marinade

Balsamic marinade

Pesto marinade

Teriyaki marinade

Garlic herb marinade

Fajita marinade

BBQ marinade

Honey mustard marinade

Meal prepping marinades

You can easily meal prep marinades by making them 1-2 days in advance, or more if you're freezing them. Here's how to meal prep these chicken marinades:

• Mix together marinade ingredients in a small bowl
• Add to a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag
• Add your chicken and mix to coat
• Let marinate in the fridge 1-2 days, or freeze up to 90 days

Baking multiple marinades at once

You can make multiple chicken marinades at once to get all kinds of flavors for your weekly meal prep! Create foil dividers as shown below ( Jump to Recipe here), then bake your chicken for the times suggested below in the recipe card. Easy peasy!

Freezing chicken marinades

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.

Side dish ideas for chicken marinades

When you want to add even more flavor to your marinated chicken dinner, serve a flavorful side dish along with it.

Some of my best side dish ideas include:

• Green Goddess Potato Skins
• Spiced Vegetable and Potato BBQ Packs
• Heirloom Tomato Salad

More Healthy Meal Ideas

If you're looking for more delicious meal inspiration, look no further than some of these helpful resources below!

• 52 Healthy, Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
• Meal Prep for Weight Loss
• Eating Healthy on a Budget + 10 Cheap Dinner Ideas

Even more BONUS chicken breast 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, from 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

And there you have it, my fave ever chicken breast marinades! There are so many more out there (just see this baked chicken breast compilation), but the above recipes are some of my fave ways to get creative.

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• 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

Meal prep challenge

If you'd like some more help with meal planning and getting dinner on the table faster, then you'll love my free 5-day meal prep challenge! It's basically a free course that will teach you how to meal prep and cook healthy meals at home with some PDF bonus materials.