- If you don't want boring chicken, give it a good marinade.
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Chicken marinades are the best way
to give your favorite protein some big flavor
and maximum juiciness.
From a bright, Greek lemon to a savory teriyaki
and a sweet, honey mustard to a zesty, cilantro lime,
I'll share six chicken marinades
with you today that the whole family will love.
You can marinate the chicken for a few hours
in the fridge for an easy weeknight meal
or you can pop the chicken in the freezer
for a healthy future meal that's a cinch to make.
So, let's dive right in.
All of the chicken marinades I'm sharing today will marinate
about a pound of chicken which,
depending on the size of your chicken breasts,
is usually two to three chicken breasts.
The first flavor is a Greek lemon marinade
and since I know you're gonna ask me,
yes I'll show you how to write these labels
on the stasher bags at the end of the video,
so hold tight.
But to get started with this one, you'll add a quarter cup
of olive oil to a bowl along with the juice of one lemon
which is about three tablespoons of juice.
And definitely use fresh lemons here
and not jarred juice.
To that, add two minced garlic cloves,
two teaspoons of dried oregano,
one teaspoon of dried thyme, one teaspoon of Dijon mustard,
and to finish it off, one teaspoon of kosher salt
and half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
Then, whisk that together until it's blended and emulsified.
You can marinate the chicken in a glass bowl in the fridge
or you can use a plastic bag or a stasher bag,
which is my personal preference,
but you use what's easiest for you.
For this Greek lemon flavor,
I'll show you how marinate in the glass bowl
and all you have to do is add your chicken breasts
and then pour the marinade on top
making sure that the chicken gets covered.
Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap
or a lid and place it in the fridge
for at least 30 minutes and up to about eight hours.
If you're using the stasher bag, add the chicken to the bag
and I'm just gonna get my hands all oily
as the chicken is already coated, but that's okay.
Then, pour the marinade on top.
Squeeze any air out of the bag.
I just fold the top over to do that
and then seal it tightly across.
You can also squish and squeeze the chicken
in the bag to make sure it's well coated.
Then pop the bag in the fridge.
The next flavor is cilantro lime
and you guys know I am a sucker for this flavor.
To make this marinade, add a quarter cup
of olive oil to a bowl along with a quarter cup
of cilantro leaves that are just roughly chopped.
Then zest and juice two limes.
You should get about three to four teaspoons of lime zest
and four tablespoons of juice from the two limes.
Also, when you're buying limes,
don't buy ones that are rock hard
as they'll have less juice.
To that, add two minced garlic cloves,
one teaspoon of ground cumin,
half a teaspoon of chili powder,
one teaspoon of kosher salt,
and a half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
Whisk that all together until it's well combined
and then add your chicken breast to a bag
and pour the cilantro lime marinade on top.
Seal the top zipper on the bag, give it a good squeeze,
and your cilantro lime chicken is ready to chill
and marinate for a bit.
Up next is honey mustard, which is my favorite sweet
and tangy chicken marinade.
To make this flavor,
add three tablespoons of honey to a mixing bowl.
And I should have done what I did on the last video,
which was to coat the measuring spoon with a little bit
of oil so that the honey just sort of plops out
and doesn't do a long trickle.
Then add three tablespoons of Dijon mustard
and you can use stone ground mustard as well
if you prefer that, two tablespoons of olive oil,
which helps to thin out this thick marinade
and, for a little acid, add two teaspoons
of apple cider vinegar.
To finish this one off, add one minced garlic clove,
one teaspoon of kosher salt, and half a teaspoon
of freshly ground black pepper.
Whisk that all together until the honey
and mustard are blended and then add your chicken to a bag.
Pour the marinade on top.
Seal the bag tightly, give it a good squish,
and pop it in the fridge.
Next up is teriyaki and this is an Americanized version
of teriyaki
rather than my more authentic teriyaki chicken recipe
that's on my website.
To make this, add a quarter cup of Tamari soy sauce
or coconut aminos to a bowl
along with one tablespoon of sesame oil,
one tablespoon of rice vinegar, one green onion
that's thinly sliced, two teaspoons of fresh ginger
from about a half inch piece of ginger
or you can use jarred, minced ginger,
which I always have as backup in my fridge,
and finish it off with two minced garlic cloves.
Give that a whisk and make sure it's all blended together
then add your chicken to a bag,
pour the marinade on top, seal the bag tightly,
as you do not want this or any of the other marinades
for that at matter, spilling out all over your fridge,
give it a good squeeze,
then pop it in the fridge,
For my Mexican cuisine lovers,
the next flavor is a fajita marinade
and it is oh so good.
To make this, add a quarter cup of olive oil to a bowl
and add the juice from one lime,
which is about two tablespoons of juice.
To that, add one minced garlic clove,
one teaspoon chili powder,
one teaspoon ground cumin, half a teaspoon paprika,
and you can use smokey or sweet paprika.
It's up to you,
one teaspoon kosher salt
and half a teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Give that a whisk to make sure that the spices get blended
then add your chicken breast to a bag.
Pour the marinade on top, fold the bag over, and seal it up.
Then, pop your fajita chicken in the fridge.
The last flavor is an Italian marinade
with a little kick and it couldn't be easier to make.
To a mixing bowl, add a quarter cup of olive oil,
two tablespoons of white wine vinegar,
two teaspoons of Italian seasoning,
two minced garlic cloves,
half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a punch of heat,
though you can reduce this to a quarter teaspoon
if you'd like, and half a teaspoon of kosher salt.
Whisk that together until it's fully combined
and you know the drill from here.
Add the chicken breasts to a bag.
pour the Italian marinade on top, seal the bag tightly,
give it a good squish to make sure
that the chicken gets fully coated,
then pop it in the fridge.
These six, easy chicken marinades will greatly improve the
flavor of your week night meals
and the best part is that there's so much variety
that you'll never have to eat boring chicken breasts again,
but as promised, I'll show you how to write the labels
on the bags and I'll use the Italian marinade
as an example.
Stasher bags have a shiny side and a matte side
and you want to write on the matte side.
The type of marker that you'll use is a chalk marker
which is similar to a dry erase marker
and it's not permanent.
You do not wanna use paint pen markers
which is what I've previously shown you to write
on glass pantry jars as they're more permanent.
Then, just write your label on the stasher bag
and the date, especially if you're storing this
in the freezer and that's it.
Ideally you'd write the labels before you stuffed them full
of food as it's easier to write on a flat surface,
but if you forget, as I did today,
you can see it's still no problem to write out the label
on top.
Now, if you make a mistake and want to rewrite the label
or if you want to remove the label and wash the bag,
all you have to do is wipe it
with a wet sponge and the label will come right off.
It is super easy.
These chicken marinades are also freezer friendly
and I love that the stasher bags will stack flat.
Just pop them straight into the freezer
after you've added everything to the bag.
They'll start to marinate as they freeze up
and moreso when you thaw them overnight
in the fridge before using.
You can cook the marinated chicken a variety of ways,
but I most often bake it or grill it.
To bake it, you can just dump out the entire contents
of the bag into a small baking dish.
If you have a larger baking dish or rimmed baking sheet,
I wouldn't add all of the liquid as it'll spread out
and likely burn when baking, but it's fine for a small dish
and the liquid helps to keep the chicken ultra juicy.
Bake the chicken at 425 degrees Fahrenheit
or 220 degrees Celsius for 20 to 25 minutes
depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
Let it cool for a couple of minutes to allow the juices
to redistribute in the meat,
then slice it up and enjoy it.
If you've cooked a large batch of marinated chicken
for meal prep, you can place sliced or diced pieces back
into a stasher bag and top on salads, bowls,
and other recipes throughout the week
as the cooked chicken will last for four to five days
in the fridge.
In a perfect world,
I would've let this chicken cool for a couple
of minutes before placing it back in the bag
and also not burned my fingers, but you get the idea.
If you enjoyed today's video,
give a thumbs up as that really does help
to support my channel
and, since I'm now out of B roll footage, I'll say goodbye
as I eat the last couple of pieces of this juicy chicken
and I will see you again in the next video.
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