The Best Savory Chicken Marinade
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This Savory Chicken Marinade packs a punch! In fact, I think it’s the BEST you’ll find. With just a few pantry staple ingredients, boring chicken is taken to a whole new flavor level! Enjoy your marinated, cooked chicken a la carte, on top of a salad, on a sandwich, or in a wrap.
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Ingredients in The Best Savory 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.
Let’s meet the key ingredients…
- Olive oil – Keeps things moist.
- Red wine vinegar – Acid must be in balance with oil in any good marinade. Red wine vinegar lends an interesting twist to this recipe, but almost any vinegar will work.
- Dijon mustard – There isn’t much in this recipe, but it’s enough to add a bit more acid and a small amount of mustardy flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce – This everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type sauce makes this marinade different than our others–more savory.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic brings a pungent taste that brightens up this marinade.
- Salt – A must in any chicken marinade.
- Ground black pepper – Gives a little bite. Add more if you’d like.
How to Make and Store the Marinade
You can mix up this marinade and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in a jar to use when ready. Or, you can freeze it in a mason jar too, but allow at least 1 inch of headspace at the top for expansion.
When ready to use the marinade, 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. If you plan to freeze the chicken in the marinade, do not let it marinate first.
Then, grill, slow cook, pressure cook, or bake your marinated Savory Chicken. You choose your method! We’ve included instructions for how to cook boneless chicken breasts any of these ways in the recipe below.
Ideas for Serving The BEST Savory Chicken
- Grill it up and serve a la carte with Cream Cheesy Mashed Potatoes and Oven Roasted Broccoli.
- Slice the cooked chicken and serve over Our Favorite Cobb Salad.
- Grill and serve on a whole grain bun with your favorite cheese, lettuce, tomato, and condiments. Add bacon to take it over the top!
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
- Asian Sesame Chicken Marinade
- Southwest Chicken Marinade
- Honey Dijon Chicken Marinade
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The Best Savory Chicken Marinade
This Savory Chicken Marinade packs a punch! With just a few pantry staple ingredients, boring chicken is taken to a whole new flavor level.
This marinade amount is perfect for 1 1/2 – 2 pounds of chicken breasts.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Add the oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt 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.)
- Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- 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 about 3 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
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Notes/Tips
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.
I felt inclined to comment on here and say that I tried the recipe and added garlic powder and onion powder, but this is the best marinade I’ve ever tried. Every bite was juicy and delicious.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for leaving a review!
These were a definite win with my husband! Served with jasmine rice & green beans. Quick, easy, using ingredients I had on hand (I used stone ground mustard instead of dijon).
★★★★★
Great to hear that, Lois. Really appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback and ideas here!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Im not usually a recipe-repeater but I make this one over and over again. It’s so good and my kids love it too. Every time chicken breasts are on sale I make several batches of this marinated chicken and freeze them. By the time they thaw in the fridge, they are perfectly marinated. Can’t say enough good things about this recipe!
★★★★★
Yay! Love that, Melanie. Do you ever use it on our Cobb Salad? That’s my favorite way to use it.