Clean recipe · cooking.nytimes.com
Chicken Marinade
Introducing your new go-to chicken marinade. Made from just a handful of pantry ingredients, this simple marinade adds serious flavor to grilled, seared or baked chicken. The acid in the lemon juice and Dijon help tenderize the chicken, the soy sauce adds a salty, savory note and the honey lends a bit of sweetness and encourages the chicken to brown. When using a marinade for chicken, aim for several hours in the refrigerator — too long, and it will begin to break down the meat, resulting in a rubbery texture. For this recipe, anywhere from 2 to 8 hours of marinating is ideal.
Original recipe: cooking.nytimes.com
- Yield:
- 2 servings
- Prep:
- 5 min
- Cook:
- 5 min
- Total:
- 10 min
Adjust servings, check off ingredients, and save a copy in the recipe reader.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon honey or light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 large garlic clove, minced or grated
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, rosemary or thyme, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds chicken pieces, bone-in or boneless, skin-on or skinless
Instructions
- Combine oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, Dijon, soy sauce, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add chicken to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Bring the chicken in the marinade to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Remove the chicken and brush off any excess marinade before cooking.