Marinated Chicken Recipes: 6 Flavorful Ideas

Want chicken that’s really full of flavor and cooks up juicy every time? Marinating is the secret! I’ve put together six easy marinade recipes here. They come together super fast and can totally change your weeknight chicken from just okay to something everyone asks for seconds of.

Why You’ll Want to Make These

If you’re after truly flavorful, moist chicken, then marinating is your best friend. These six simple recipes are quick to mix up and will make your meals so much better. We’re talking chicken that tastes amazing, full of garlic, herbs, and other great ingredients. For a similar burst of fresh flavor, consider trying our easy baked salmon with garlic lemon parsley glaze. The acid in marinades helps make the chicken tender, plus it helps all those good seasonings soak in deeper and faster. And adding wine to your marinades? It really makes a difference. The chicken turns out so tender and tastes wonderful. These are simple and turn out really good.

Ingredients

Garlic, Herb, and Lemon Marinade

• eight cloves of garlic
• one peeled shallot
• zest of one lemon
• juice of two lemons
• a half teaspoon of paprika
• one tablespoon of dry oregano
• about six sprigs of fresh thyme
• two teaspoons of coarse salt
• a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
• a half cup of olive oil or any neutral flavored oil

Barbecue Chicken Marinade

• a half peeled yellow onion
• five garlic cloves
• two tablespoons of sugar
• juice of one lemon
• two tablespoons of dijon mustard
• about two tablespoons of finely minced fresh thyme
• a third cup of soy sauce
• a third cup of white vinegar
• a half cup of dry white wine
• one and a half teaspoons of coarse salt
• a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
• a half cup of neutral flavored oil

Chicken for Heat Marinade

• two teaspoons of oregano
• two teaspoons of chili powder
• a half teaspoon of ground coriander
• two teaspoons of ground cumin
• four garlic cloves
• a half peeled shallot
• zest of two limes
• juice of three total limes
• two tablespoons of honey
• two teaspoons of coarse salt
• a half to three-quarter teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
• a half cup of olive or neutral flavored oil

Asian-Style Chicken Marinade

• two tablespoons of rice vinegar
• one tablespoon of shouting wine or dry sherry
• a quarter cup of soy sauce
• two tablespoons of oyster sauce
• three tablespoons of honey
• about a one to one and a half inch piece of peeled ginger
• four garlic cloves
• a half peeled shallot
• juice of one orange
• one teaspoon of coarse salt
• a half to three-quarter teaspoons of finely ground pepper
• a half cup of neutral-flavored oil
• a few tablespoons of sriracha sauce (optional)

Balsamic Chicken Marinade

• two garlic cloves
• a half peeled shallot
• a half cup of balsamic vinegar
• three tablespoons of light brown sugar (granulated sugar or honey can be swapped)
• one teaspoon of dijon mustard
• about six to eight fresh basil leaves (about two tablespoons)
• fresh rosemary (about one tablespoon)
• two teaspoons of coarse salt
• a half to three-quarter teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
• a half cup of olive or any neutral flavor oil

Italian Chicken Marinade

• Three basil leaves
• about six to eight sprigs of fresh thyme
• the leaves of one rosemary sprig
• two teaspoons of dry oregano
• four garlic cloves
• a half peeled shallot
• one lemon
• two tablespoons of red wine vinegar (white wine or plain distilled can also be subbed)
• two teaspoons of coarse salt
• a half to three quarter teaspoons of finely ground pepper
• a half cup of olive or neutral flavored oil

Instructions

1. To start, finely grate eight cloves of garlic into a bowl.
2. Next, grate in one peeled shallot.
3. Now, grate in the zest of one lemon.
4. Then, slice a lemon in half and juice it into the bowl, along with another whole lemon.
5. Add a half teaspoon of paprika and one tablespoon of dry oregano.
6. Finely mince about six sprigs of fresh thyme and add them to the bowl.
7. Stir in two teaspoons of coarse salt and about a half to three-quarters of a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.
8. Finally, whisk in a half cup of olive oil (or any neutral oil works fine).
9. Once everything is mixed well, give it a taste.
10. Put your chicken into a resealable bag, then pour the marinade over it.
11. Scrape out any remaining marinade from the bowl, or add a splash of water to the bowl, swish it around, and pour that in too.
12. Zip the bag tightly, pressing out any excess air.
13. I like to gently move the chicken around in the bag to make sure all the pieces are coated and the flavors start to combine.
14. Remember to label the bag with the marinade name and date before it goes into the fridge.
15. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least two hours, or up to 24 hours.
16. You can even push it to 48 hours if you want.
17. This chicken also freezes really well for up to three months.
18. For pan-searing, I usually heat a nonstick skillet with a little bit of oil.
19. Turn the heat up to medium-high and then place the chicken in the pan.
20. Cook for about five to six minutes on each side.
21. Flip the chicken over and let it continue to cook.
22. If you’re grilling, use the same heat setting — medium to medium-high, which is around 325 to 350 degrees F.
23. Cook for the same amount of time: five to six minutes per side. For a complete meal, consider adding easy crispy air fryer potatoes as a side dish.
24. On the first side, I like to rotate the chicken 90 degrees halfway through cooking to get nice grill marks.
25. Keep grilling until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Cooking Tips

Grating a shallot can be a bit fiddly, so just get as much as you can. Don’t worry if you miss a little bit. That acid in your marinade? It’s your secret weapon for making chicken tender.

When you use fresh herbs in marinades, they usually give a brighter, more subtle taste than dried herbs. But dried herbs are more concentrated and super convenient. Use fresh herbs if you’re marinating for a shorter time. For longer marinating, dried herbs really shine as they have more time to release their flavors. A good rule of thumb is to use one-third the amount of dry herbs compared to fresh.

Remember, you’re not eating the marinade itself, you’re seasoning the chicken. So, make sure the marinade tastes good on its own!

Acid in marinades can react with certain materials like metals or some pottery glazes. It’s best to marinate in glass bowls, resealable plastic bags, or a glass baking dish covered with plastic wrap. I usually go for plastic bags because they’re easy to wash and reuse.

These marinades work for all kinds of chicken: skin-on, skinless, bone-in, or boneless chicken breasts, thighs, drums, or wings. If you love crispy chicken, try our easy crispy air fryer fried chicken recipe. Pick your favorite! Each marinade recipe is enough for up to three pounds of chicken. Using bags for marinating is great for stacking and saving space in your fridge.

You can swap out yellow onions for red, white, or sweet onions if you prefer. And seriously, adding wine to marinades just makes them better.

Soy sauce is already salty, so keep that in mind when adding extra salt. When I use olive oil in some marinades, I make sure its flavor doesn’t clash with other strong ingredients, like soy sauce. A neutral-flavored oil is often a safer bet for those types of marinades.

For an extra layer of flavor, try toasting whole seeds and spices before you grind them. It’s quick, easy, and makes everything smell and taste so much better. Just toast them up, then grind them down.

Always taste your marinades! It’s how you get better at cooking.

If you have a vacuum sealer, you can use it for marinating, especially if you plan to sous vide the chicken. Just remember to use roasted garlic, garlic confit, or dry garlic granules or powder instead of fresh garlic when vacuum sealing.

If you want the marinade to really get into the chicken, consider using a meat tenderizer with needles. It helps the flavors soak in deeper.

Don’t worry too much about being exact with the herb amounts. A little more or a little less is totally fine.

Oil helps spread those richer flavors through the meat. It also keeps the chicken moist and creates a bit of a protective layer so it doesn’t burn easily during cooking.

You can whisk these marinades, but you can also blend them. Just a heads-up: blending oil can sometimes make it a little bitter. This happens because of compounds in the oil that open up when blended. If you’re going to blend, I’d suggest using a neutral-flavored oil instead of olive oil.

When using fresh garlic and onion (from the allium family), use about half the amount you might think, especially for longer marinades. They can be quite strong and become bitter if overused.

All these little tips – like how to store, label, choose fresh versus dry herbs, and use onion substitutes – apply to every single one of these marinades.

Always save a little bit of the fresh, unused marinade aside for basting the chicken as it finishes cooking. And no matter which marinade you choose, always keep an eye on your heat, especially when making air-fried garlic parmesan chicken wings or similar dishes. You want the chicken and marinade ingredients to brown up nicely, not burn.

Serving Suggestions

The Garlic, Herb, and Lemon marinade is perfect for a Greek lemon chicken and potatoes dish, or for making chicken souvlaki. It’s also simple and delicious served over rice. Traditional sides like fruit salad, potato salad, and coleslaw go really well with this one.

The Chicken for Heat marinade is obviously made for things like fajitas! Serve it with peppers, onions, guacamole, and tortillas.

The Asian-Style chicken is great with rice and veggies, or as the main marinade for your favorite quick and easy veggie noodle stir fry recipes.

The Balsamic Chicken marinade is wonderful served over salads or as the main protein alongside any potato, rice, or vegetable side dish.

I love serving the Italian chicken with roasted vegetables, on top of fresh salads, or with potatoes.

These are all so good! They’re easy to make with ingredients you probably already have, and they’ll really make your chicken dinners shine.