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Home Recipe Index Chicken & Turkey

Asian Sesame Chicken Marinade

★★★★★ 5 /5 Updated: 1/31/23
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This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.

With just a few key Asian-inspired ingredients, you can create an easy, asian chicken marinade for your favorite cut of chicken. After cooking the chicken, serve it in wraps, on salads, or over rice.

Asian chicken marinade in a small mason jar and two chicken breasts in a freezer bag with marinade

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Ingredients in Asian Chicken Marinade

Marinating chicken is THE key to infusing flavor into typically lean, bland poultry cuts. This complex marinade requires mostly pantry staples to turn that lackluster cut into something that makes your tastebuds sing.

ingredients in small white bowls for Asian chicken marinade with a whisk

Let’s meet the key ingredients in this Asian Chicken Marinade recipe:

  • Avocado or peanut oil – A fairly neutral oil keeps things moist without an overpowering flavor.
  • Rice vinegar – This traditional Asian vinegar provides the acid component to the marinade.
  • Soy sauce – Adds saltiness and that mouthwatering “umami” flavor.
  • Honey – Just a hint of sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the soy sauce.
  • Sesame oil – A touch of this oil adds a deep nuttiness. Don’t go overboard.
  • Pepper – Gives a little bite. Add more if you’d like.

How to Make and Store the Asian Chicken Marinade

If you find that you are using this chicken marinade frequently, you could make a large batch of it (scale it up 2-3x) and store it for future use. There are two main ways to store the marinade: The refrigerator or the freezer.

Asian marinade in a small mason jar

Store it in the refrigerator

The marinade will store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in a jar to use when ready.

Store it in the freezer

Here is an out of the box idea: make a big batch of marinade and freeze it in small portions! If you freeze it in a mason jar, be sure to allow at least 1 inch of headspace at the top because the contents will expand. Scaling up the recipe is a great use of time and resources too. Just one of the many reasons we love freezer meals!

chicken breasts in marinade in a gallon sized freezer bag

When ready to use the marinade, let it thaw (if necessary) and pour it over chicken in a zip-top bag or container with a lid. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours to infuse flavor.

Use Asian Chicken Marinade as a freezer meal

Another great use of your time is prep a few freezer meals out of this marinade. Like most of our chicken freezer meals, simply combine the ingredients (the marinade & the chicken) and freeze for later. No need to let the chicken marinate before freezing either. When you want to use it, let the chicken thaw one of these safe ways.

Then, grill, slow cook, pressure cook, or bake your marinated Asian Sesame Chicken. You choose your method! We’ve included instructions for how to cook boneless chicken breasts any of these ways in the recipe below.

chicken breasts in marinade in a gallon sized freezer bag

Ideas for Serving Asian Sesame Chicken

Idea #1: Asian Chicken Wrap

One unique way to serve this marinated chicken is in an Asian Chicken Wrap. To make it, grill the chicken, chop it, and serve it in a wrap with thinly shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, julienned water chestnuts, and a little brown rice. Boil the remaining marinade, strain out the solids, and use as a sauce.

Idea #2: Asian Slaw Salad with Chicken

Grill the chicken and chop it up. Boil the marinade, strain out the solids, and let it cool. Create a salad of shredded coleslaw, shredded carrots, frozen edamame (that’s been thawed), roasted sunflower seeds, roasted almonds, and dried cranberries. Feel free to add chopped apples or pears, too. Top it with the chicken and cooled sauce, which works as a dressing! It’s delicious.

Idea #3: A Simple Asian Chicken Dinner with Brown Rice

Just serve the cooked chicken on top of rice. Stir-fry your favorite Asian veggies as a side. You can find a bag of these in the freezer section to make it easy. Again, you can boil the marinade, strain it, and use it as a sauce over the veggies, rice, and chicken. So simple and healthy!

MORE CHICKEN MARINADES YOU MUST TRY

Try some of our other favorite healthy chicken marinades to mix things up:

  • Lemon Garlic Chicken Marinade
  • Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade
  • Balsamic Herb Chicken Marinade
  • Honey Dijon Chicken Marinade
  • Southwest Chicken Marinade
  • The BEST Savory Chicken Marinade

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chicken breasts in marinade in a gallon sized freezer bag
★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews

Asian Sesame Chicken Marinade

With just a few key Asian-inspired ingredients, you can create an easy, delicious marinade for your favorite cut of chicken. This recipe works for 1 1/2 – 2 pounds of chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders. 

Yield: 5 servings 1x
Prep: 5Total: 5
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Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup oil (recommended: peanut or avocado)
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar (make sure it’s not “seasoned” rice vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce (Gluten-Free option: coconut aminos or gluten-free Tamari Soy Sauce)
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions

Make It Now:

  1. Add the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil and pepper to a gallon-sized freezer bag, seal, and shake. Either seal and refrigerate until ready to use, OR add 1.5-2 pounds chicken to the bag, seal, and squish around to make sure the chicken is covered in marinade. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
  2. Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
  3. Cook the chicken however you’d like (grill, slow cook, pressure cook, or bake). See tips below in the Notes.

Freeze For Later: Follow step 1. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Prepare From Frozen: Thaw, using one of these safe thawing methods, and follow Step 3. No additional marinating time needed once it is thawed!

COOKING NOTES:

How to Know If Chicken Is Done: Chicken is done when it reaches 165°F internal temperature. (A digital meat thermometer is a must to help cook chicken perfectly.)

How to Cook Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts:

  • Bake in Oven: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chicken in a casserole dish or on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes, until done.
  • Slow Cooker: Place chicken and marinade in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Really! That’s all it takes to get it done, otherwise you’ll overcook and dry it out.
  • Instant Pot: Place chicken, marinade, and 1/3 cup chicken broth in a 6 quart Instant Pot. (Note: If using an 8 quart, add an additional 1/2 cup of broth.) Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes and use a quick release of the pressure when the cook time is up. (Note: It will take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure before the cook time starts.)
  • Grill: Pound out the chicken to about 3/4 inch thick (or cut it in half lengthwise) to help with fast and even cooking. Preheat grill to medium-high heat and clean the grates well. Grill for about 4-5 minutes per side, maybe longer depending on the thickness, until done.

Equipment

Freezer Bag Stand

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Slow Cooker

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Instant Pot

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Notes/Tips

Where We Get Our Chicken: We get our meat from ButcherBox. The chicken is organic and curated from small, trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, wild salmon, and grass-fed beef–and have used it for years ourselves. 

© Author: Thriving Home
Method: Any cooking method

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ingredients in small white bowls for Asian chicken marinade with a whisk
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Rachel Tiemeyer

Rachel Tiemeyer

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Rachel dreams about creating recipes (literally) and uses her husband, her 3 kids, and even the neighbors as guinea pigs several nights a week. She believes that good food has the power to bring families and friends closer together and continues to wake up excited about her job each day, even after 10+ years!

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  1. AvatarTony says

    Posted on 11/21/22 at 12:32 pm

    Is a must for busy people. So ready to make and cook after a long day at work.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 11/22/22 at 7:49 am

      Thanks Tony!

      Reply
  2. AvatarRozele says

    Posted on 10/31/22 at 6:10 pm

    All I have is seasoned rice vinegar. Can I still use this?

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 11/1/22 at 8:58 am

      Hi Rozele. Seasoned Rice Vinegar generally has added salt and sugar (check your specific bottle to see if anything else is added). Because of that, you would want to cut back on the salt and honey in our recipe. It’s hard to say how much since we have not tested it. Good luck and let us know how it turns out if you use it so other readers know what worked for you!

      Reply
  3. AvatarAnna says

    Posted on 10/14/22 at 3:52 am

    So good and so easy. The whole family loved the sesame flavour

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 10/14/22 at 9:28 am

      Hi Anna! So glad your whole family loved this one! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

      Reply
  4. AvatarErin says

    Posted on 9/8/22 at 1:36 pm

    Made this yesterday and let the chicken marinate for about 3 hours. It had a nice subtle flavor that we all enjoyed. Going to work on making more of these and letting them marinate or freeze because I think the flavor will only get better! But for an easy quick dinner, this was spot on!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla FletcherCarla Fletcher says

      Posted on 9/8/22 at 3:12 pm

      So glad you liked it Erin. Yes, I have found that the longer chicken in particular marinates, the more flavorful it becomes. Thank you for leaving a review!

      Reply
  5. Avatarstacy says

    Posted on 9/6/22 at 11:06 am

    awesome!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla FletcherCarla Fletcher says

      Posted on 9/7/22 at 1:42 pm

      Glad you like it Stacy!

      Reply
  6. AvatarCaroline heminway says

    Posted on 7/15/22 at 9:11 pm

    Made this recipe last night and let marade overnight it came out really good. I followed the recipe exactly expect I added lots of garlic cloves.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 7/17/22 at 2:34 pm

      I’m with you on lots of garlic. Thanks for the review!

      Reply

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