The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
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The Best Chicken Marinade recipe is easy and delicious and makes the best grilled chicken and baked chicken you’ve ever tasted. It’s quick to make, uses simple ingredients, and makes juicy, tender chicken that tastes incredible!
Use this chicken marinade recipe year-round on your favorite cuts of chicken when you are grilling or baking, and enjoy! It makes the perfect marinade and produces some of the most juicy, delicious, and flavorful chicken ever! Everyone always loves the chicken I’ve marinated with this. I think you will enjoy it too!
We’ve used this simple yet scrumptious chicken marinade for many years, especially when making grilled chicken. But the beauty of this recipe is that it makes a delicious marinade for baked chicken, too, so there’s no need to save the recipe for warm weather grilling season!
I originally only included this marinade recipe with my grilled chicken legs recipe many years ago. This recipe was requested so often that I thought it only fitting that the BEST Chicken Marinade recipe got its own spot on Add a Pinch.
How to Make the BEST Chicken Marinade
Here’s how you make this quick, easy, and delicious marinade.
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
This marinade recipe works best for about 5 pounds of chicken. You’ll need:
- Olive oil – Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Spices – salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne
- Garlic – fresh garlic cloves, chopped
- Onion – chopped
- Fresh parsley – chopped
- Beer – Use the beer of your choice. You can substitute with ginger ale, apple cider, or apple juice if you wish. Beer helps tenderize the chicken and adds to the flavor.
I rarely cook with beer, but it works great in this recipe to help make the chicken tender. Use whichever brand you prefer – I usually use Corona or Yeungling, but any beer will work. If you can’t use beer or prefer not to, one of the substitutes listed also tastes delicious.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Combine the ingredients. In a medium to large-sized mixing bowl, stir together all of the spices with the olive oil. Mix in the chopped onion, garlic, and fresh parsley. Slowly pour in the beer (or substitute if using one), as it may foam over if poured too quickly. Mix all ingredients together until combined.
Pour mixture over chicken. Place the chicken you plan to marinate in either a large, sturdy zip-top bag or another airtight container. Pour the marinade over the chicken in your zip bag or container. If using a zip-top bag, press as much air as possible out of the bag as you seal it.
Chill the marinade-covered chicken. If using a zip-top bag, place it on a baking sheet. If in a container, make sure the lid is secure and airtight. Make sure that all of the chicken is well coated with the marinade and place in the refrigerator to chill.
How Long to Marinate Chicken in Refrigerator:
- At least 1 hour
- Preferably overnight for best results
- No longer than 2 days
Every few hours, turn the bag from one side over to the other to keep the chicken coated with the marinade.
Freezer Instructions for Chicken in Marinade
You can freeze the raw chicken in this marinade. Here are the steps.
Package in a freezer-safe container. Place the chicken into a freezer-safe container and pour the marinade over the chicken, making sure all of the raw chicken is well coated. Remove as much air as possible as you seal the container. Place the bag on a baking sheet to freeze if using a zip-top bag. Label the container with the contents and date.
Freeze chicken with marinade. Place the container in the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw, then cook as desired. Remove from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator overnight. After the chicken is thawed, then remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Then, cook the chicken according to your favorite chicken recipe.
What Chicken Recipes Can I Use With This Marinade?
You can use this recipe with many of your favorite chicken recipes! We love it for our grilled chicken and our simple baked chicken!
More Delicious Marinades and Sauces
Here’s The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
The Best Chicken Marinade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 cups beer, ginger ale, apple cider, or apple juice
Instructions
- Pour olive oil into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup.
- Mix together salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper and add to olive oil. Add garlic, onions, and parsley. Mix together well with a fork. Slowly add beer as it will cause the mixture to foam and bubble slightly.
- Pour marinade over the chicken in the zip top bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal. Turn the bag from side to side to make sure all chicken has been coated with the marinade.
- Place the bag flat on a small, rimmed kitchen sheet pan and into the refrigerator. Allow to sit up to 1 hour or overnight for best results, turning the bag over every few hours to keep the chicken coated.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2012.
I accidentally used this on steaks I was grilling and the flavour was fantastic.
Thanks so much, Conrad! So happy you enjoyed this marinade!
I didn’t like this at all. In fact I was so disappointed i ended up throwing out the rest of my chicken 🙁
Hi Janese,
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy the marinade.
I’m so sorry you didn’t care for it.
I didn’t love it at all. Disappointed because it had a 5 star review and ingredients I love but I didn’t read the reviews. Now that I’ve read some I’m not the only one who thought this was uninteresting and I did marinate it overnight. Will go back to my standard marinade of 1/4 c soy sauce, 3 T honey, 2 T vinegar, 1 1/2 t garlic powder, 1 1/2 t ginger, 3/4 c oil. Thought I’d put up another review so people don’t blindly see the 5 stars and the title of Best Grilled Chicken Marinade Recipe and end up disappointed. I made this for a big group and no one tried to convince me that my description of uninteresting was wrong.
We do not use a lot of red bbq sauce on chicken here in the Buffalo area. I would love for you to try the marinade recipe I got from our local Field & Stream that they use on their yearly chicken bbq. And then let me know what you think. I have never seen anything like it on any website or on any of the cooking shows.
1 cup oil, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/8 pepper, 1 egg.
What kind of beer can I use?
I use an IPA like Magic Hat or Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA, or something with some hoppy flavor. Bland beer (aka Coors Lite) just doesn’t work for me and adds zero flavor.
Made this for this first time and loved it! I used apple cider vinegar instead of beer.
Love this recipe but I add Iron Works dry rub about 1 Tblsp
Man it’s good, the beer really works, I marinade it for over 3 hrs min
Left this to marinade for around 20 hours and basted once in bbq but not much taste
Tried the marinade as it looked as if it would be easy and contains the ingredients we like. Put it on the chicken in a bag on refrigeration for about 90 minutes but the flavors did not come through after grilling for 3 to 4 minutes each side. Perhaps some basting or post dressing would help.
LOVE this marinate.
To someone who said they couldn’t taste it after 90 minutes: The marinade works best when left overnight, or at least several hours. 90 minutes isn’t enough time to soak in the flavor.
Thanks for the recipe. It was delicious with boneless breasts on the grill. Will increase garlic and peppers next time.