18 of my best Chicken Marinade. They can transform boring, plain chicken into something flavorful, tender, and juicy. You can enjoy amazing chicken dinners in no time at all! Whether you’re grilling, roasting, pan-frying, or stir-frying, marinades help to lock in flavor and moisture. This provides an immediate upgrade to your family meals!!
This is a wonderful collection of the very best chicken marinades. They are super easy and fantastic for meal prep. They are also perfect for freezing!
18 Of The Best Chicken Marinades (for Grilled, Pan-Seared, Roasted, or Baked Chicken)
Have you ever wondered why you should bother marinating chicken? Let me tell you that there’s more than just great-flavored chicken to be gained with this super simple process!
All of the amazing marinade flavor soaks into your chicken for added flavor when cooking. This makes your chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken wings, or drumsticks absolutely perfect for a wide variety of cooking techniques!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Popular Chicken Marinades
- Asian-inspired Flavors
- Mexican-inspired Flavors
- Italian-inspired Flavors
- Tropical Flavors
The addition of an oil base to most marinades in general serves two purposes:
- To help the marinade coat the chicken for best marinating results.
- To keep the chicken tender and moist throughout the cooking process.
I haven’t seen a down side yet! Unless of course, you’re short on time. That’s always a bummer as the longer you can marinate your chicken, the better the flavor!
In a time crunch, any of these easy marinades can be used for a quick 15 – 30 minute marinade. Your chicken achieves the best flavor after at least 4 hours of marinating. Preferably, marinate it overnight for 8 – 24 hours!
POPULAR CHICKEN MARINADE
Lemon Pepper– this super lemony, pepper-ey, and extra tasty marinade is made with just 6 ingredients! Lemon pepper chicken is a great basic flavor that is a crowd-pleasing favorite, even with the youngsters! Use olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add garlic, freshly ground coarse black pepper, and salt for an easy upgrade to your chicken!
BBQ – a much-improved barbecue marinade that’s perfect for grilling or for baking chicken! This 8 ingredient marinade includes one of my ‘secret ingredient’ for making anything BBQ better! It’s an incredibly easy-to-make marinade. It combines your favorite bottled BBQ sauce with olive oil, liquid smoke, garlic, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper!
Honey Mustard – a classic flavor combination. It makes a delightfully savory flavored chicken. It has just the right amount of sweetness! Combine honey with your favorite Dijon mustard. Use creamy, stone-ground, or coarse-ground mustard. Add olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Include paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic or garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper for a family-favorite chicken flavor!
Honey Mustard Rosemary Chicken – This is tender, juicy, and bursting with layered flavor. The chicken breasts are seasoned lightly with a savory chicken spice blend, then seared in olive oil until golden. A trio of mustards—Dijon, yellow, and wholegrain—creates a rich, tangy base. This base pairs beautifully with sweet honey. It achieves the perfect balance of bold and comforting flavors.
Lemon Rosemary – an incredibly flavorful lemon-herb marinade made with just 7 ingredients! Simply combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper for this classic flavor pairing!
Tarragon – another super-flavorful herb chicken marinade. It’s also made with 7 ingredients (if you’re counting salt and pepper as I am here)! Besides tarragon, this marinade uses olive oil, garlic, and white wine or chicken broth. It also includes Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper for light and flavorful chicken!
Curry Chicken Marinade – is a SUPER simple 4 ingredient marinade that is rich and flavorful! Simply combine yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, and salt for a ridiculously tender and tasty chicken!
Greek Chicken Marinade – is another yogurt-based chicken marinade that I LOVE! There are so many great flavors here, but this is one of my personal favorites! Mix yogurt, olive oil, lemon, and minced garlic. Add oregano, salt, and pepper. You’ll create an addictive chicken flavor that you’ll be making many times in your future!
ASIAN-INSPIRED FLAVORS CHICKEN MARINADE
Teriyaki Chicken Marinade – combines just 5 ingredients for the well-loved and family-approved teriyaki chicken flavor! Mix soy sauce with rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic plus the optional 6th ingredient, chopped green onions. This is one of my all-time favorites for stir-fry!
Honey Garlic – is another well-loved Asian flavor that’s super easy and uses just 6 ingredients! It’s an easy marinade to mix directly in your quart-sized freezer storage bags! Add honey, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. This creates a sweet and tangy chicken that’s perfect for grilling and roasting!
Japanese Steakhouse – this hibachi-inspired marinade is built on the very popular ginger dipping sauce flavor. Just 5 ingredients for a wonderfully tasty savory chicken that’s perfect for outdoor hibachi grilling on your Blackstone grill! Combine soy sauce, onion, ginger, mirin, and coconut oil with your chicken for a punch of flavor!
MEXICAN-INSPIRED FLAVORS
Fajita Chicken Marinade – makes your fajita night dinners so amazing! This marinade combines 10 ingredients to take your fajita flavors to new levels of deliciousness effortlessly! Mix olive oil, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add cilantro, salt, and pepper. Then add it to your chicken!
Chipotle Chicken Marinade – this marinade has 8 ingredients. It is a Mexican chicken marinade. It is a great way to add immense flavor to your chicken! Puree some chipotle chili with adobo sauce. Or, stick to the adobo sauce alone. Then add olive oil, lime juice, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper!
Cilantro Lime – combines two of my favorite flavors in a simple 7 ingredient marinade! Mix together lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to enjoy some delightfully tangy chicken!
ITALIAN-INSPIRED FLAVORS
Italian Chicken Marinade – just 6 ingredients and you have truly tasty chicken with a wonderful combination of Italian flavors! Oh, how I love basil! Use some fresh basil. Then add olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Include garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. You will have a completely homemade Italian chicken dinner!
Balsamic Chicken Marinade – this super flavorful balsamic marinade uses just 7 ingredients to make incredibly rich and flavorful chicken! Mix together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper. Then enjoy what is a family favorite in my household!
Pesto – is a wonderful, classic Italian flavored marinade. It has all the rich basil flavor you know and love in pesto! Combine basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, pine nuts, salt, and pepper for an easy, rich pesto chicken!
TROPICAL FLAVORS
Mango Chicken Marinade – this fresh, flavorful marinade uses 7 ingredients including delicious fresh mango! Puree the diced mango with olive oil, lime juice, honey, sriracha, garlic, and salt. The chicken is amazingly tender and moist without being overly sweet or spicy at all! The whole family will love your mango chicken!
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade – this is a simple Jamaican jerk recipe. It uses pantry staples. There are also all sorts of suggestions for an authentic version to try too! To keep it quick and easy, combine olive oil and lime juice. Add brown sugar, garlic powder, thyme, and cinnamon. Then, mix in cayenne pepper, allspice, salt, and pepper!
I hope that you enjoy this wonderful variety of marinades to add flavor to your chicken dinners! Let me know which ones you like best!
Be sure to check back in. I will add more recipes using these marinades. This will best feature all of these delightful marinade flavors!
