Easy Chicken Marinades

Obtain ready for summer season barbecuing with these 7 easy, make-ahead chicken marinade dishes. Whatever you require to know to make, freeze, and grill a bunch of scrumptious meals with very little effort!

Note: This post includes affiliate links to products I have used and enjoyed, however as constantly feel complimentary to search for the finest offers. See my disclosure for more information.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone! What are your strategies? Swimming? Camping? Household BARBEQUE goodness? Possibly all 3? Our plans include minivan shopping (so joyful, I understand), and some type of sunshine-filled activity yet to be identified. And excellent food on the grill … that’s a must

I enjoy me some great grilled food. I grew up in Central California where it’s frequently over 100 degrees in the summer … and August gets downright intolerable.

I have an unique memory of laying on my parents’ bed one night seeing TGIF (great times!), and throughout the commercial break (at 9:00 at night), there was a quick news/weather upgrade that announced the temperature level outdoors presently was 98 degrees. Yuck.

The hot weather condition never bothered me maturing, however I can see now why my mother hated switching on the oven– or perhaps the range– to make supper throughout those warm months. We grilled A LOT in the summer.

Now that I’m a mom, and the main cook in the family, I’m learning to enjoy barbecuing even more– it’s a terrific option for making delicious, healthy meals with very little clean-up. I’m a fan of anything that reduces the variety of meals I have to clean.

Lately, I have actually been experimenting with something new … or a minimum of brand-new to me. Since what’s the ONE thing that makes grilling tricky to fit into your weeknight meal strategy? Remembering to marinate the meat!

In an effort to make dinnertime run more smoothly, I have actually starting marinading the chicken ahead of time in big batches and keeping it in the freezer. I just purchase huge packs of fresh (not frozen) chicken at the store, make up a marinade, and divide the chicken and marinade into freezer bags in quantities that work for your household (I put 1-2 chicken breasts in each bag, depending on their size).

They marinade as they freeze, so they’re prepared whenever you desire to make grilled chicken in the future. You can just go to your freezer, choose an already marinated bag of chicken (or beef), thaw, and cook! Easy peasy.

Specifically with a brand-new baby en route, I’m searching for ways to stock the freezer (I seriously need a bigger freezer) with easy meals to make after this little guy makes his debut in a few more months. These marinades don’t take up a great deal of room, however they will considerably reduce the effort I need to put in later on. Hooray for performance!

Wan na give make-ahead grilling a try? Here’s whatever you require to understand to develop some scrumptious meals with really little effort … Oh, and make sure to download your

totally free printable cheat sheet that has ALL the marinade dishes on one easy-to-use page. Scroll to the bottom of the post to get it! How to prepare the chicken:

Pick your preferred marinade

1. ( or make a WHOLE lot in one day like I did). It makes it easy to determine and cuts down on dishes.
2. Trim/cut your chicken. Once it’s defrosted, you desire to marinate the meat however you are going to utilize it. I often will cut them into chicken tender-size pieces or slice in half to make cutlets. Cube it if you want to do kabobs. If you want to skip the grill and do stir fry or something, cut into thin strips. Whatever you do, try to create chicken that is of an even thickness so it cooks evenly later.Put chicken in a plastic freezer bag and put the marinade over the top
3. . Make certain you utilize the heavy duty bags … you don’t desire chicken juice leaking all over the location … ewww.Put the bag of marinating chicken in the freezer.
4. , and wait for the magic to happen!When you’re prepared to grill

Thaw the chicken.

1. I suggest pulling a bag of chicken out of the freezer the night before and letting it thaw in the fridge over night.Fire up the grill.
2. According to.Severe Eats 375-450 degrees is perfect for cooking chicken, so aim for a medium high setting on your grill. Cook chicken 3-5 minutes per side.
3. , or up until the internal temperature level checks out 160 degrees. Chicken is supposed to be 165 degrees for safe usage, but if you remove it at 160, camping tent the plate with foil, and let it rest for 5-10 minutes prior to serving, it will end up cooking off the grill and you’ll get a juicier chicken breast. Say no to dried chicken.Eliminate chicken to a plate, camping tent with foil, & & let it rest.
4. for 5-10 minutes prior to serving.Tips to keep in mind

Usage fresh raw chicken.

1. , not frozen. If it’s frozen, the marinade can’t permeate the meat as well.Freeze the bags lying flat.
2. I generally stack mine about 3-4 bags high on the rack in the freezer. This will make them simpler to store and they’ll thaw more uniformly later.Give yourself time to thaw the chicken
3. . This takes barely any active prep time, but you require to remember to get the chicken out of the freezer the night before. You can if you need to speed up the process.use a cold water bath. Utilize a cooking thermometer!. .
4. I NEVER cook without a thermometer to inform me the internal temperature of my meat. They’re not that pricey, and it conserves me from overcooking meat in an effort to make certain it’s cooked through.Here’s a comparable one to mine. Side note

if you require an excellent grill.this is the one I have. and LOVE. I’m not usually a huge brand kind of person, however after having a couple of bad experiences with more affordable grills, we finally bought this fantastic grill in 2015 (for Dad’s Day) … and I’m never looking back. We picked the smaller sized, two-burner grill since we do not host a lots of huge parties, and it works great for us. This is not a sponsored post … I just really enjoy my grill. Okay, back to the dishes …

Here are a few of our household’s favorite marinades that work well in the freezer (for the record, I don’t think I’ve seen a marinade that wasn’t freezable, so feel free to experiment).

Teriyaki Chicken.

1/4 cup soy sauce.

• 1/4 cup honey.
• 1/4 cup canola oil.
• 2 garlic cloves, minced.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Source: The Lots Of Little Happiness.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken.

1 lemon, juice & & passion

• . 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
• 2 garlic cloves, minced.
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary.
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
• Source: The Many Little Delights.

Balsamic Chicken Marinade.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.

• 1/4 cup water.
• 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. garlic powder).
• Source: The Many Little Delights.

Greek Chicken Marinade.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing.

• 1 lemon, zest & & juice
• . 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt.
• 1 Tablespoon red white wine vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder).
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano.
• 1/2 tsp coriander.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
• Source: Adapted from Cooking Classy.

Rosemary Cattle Ranch Chicken Marinade.

1/4 cup olive oil.

• 1/4 cup cattle ranch dressing.
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary.
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
• 1 teaspoon red white wine vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste.
• Source: adjusted from Real Mom Kitchen.

Southwest Chicken Marinade.

1/4 cup oil.

• 1 lime, passion & & juice.
• 2 teaspoons chili powder.
• 1 teaspoon cumin.
• 1 teaspoon oregano.
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder).
• 1 teaspoon onion powder.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
• Source: The Numerous Little Happiness.
• 1/4 cup olive oil.
• 1/4 cup soy sauce.
• 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 Tablespoon dry mustard.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/2 lemon, juiced.
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper.
• 2 Tablespoons red white wine vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes.
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. garlic powder).
• 1 teaspoon onion salt.
• 1 Tablespoon sugar.
• Source: The Many Little Pleasures.