Buzz
Marinating chicken enhances its flavor and keeps the meat from drying out when cooked. To marinate the chicken, you'll need oil, vinegar or another acidic ingredient, and a generous amount of spices. Mix the marinade with the chicken and let it sit (refrigerated) for 4 hours or overnight before cooking. There are many fantastic marinade recipes for chicken, including mustard-based marinades, Italian-style, Chinese-style, and spicy Chipotle marinades, which are among the most popular choices.
Ingredients
Mustard Marinade
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
Italian-Style Marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
500g chicken (breast, thighs, wings, or other cuts)
Chinese-Style Marinade
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar or molasses
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
500g chicken (breast, thighs, wings, or other cuts)
Spicy Chipotle Marinade
- 1/4 cup of canned Adobo Chile Chipotle hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 1 tablespoon of Paprika powder
- 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 0.5 kg of chicken (breast, thighs, wings, or any other part of the chicken)
Steps
Prepare the sauce
Finely chop the garlic and other fresh ingredients. To ensure the flavors of garlic, onion, chili, and ginger penetrate the chicken, chop them as finely as possible. This way, the fresh ingredients will spread evenly across the chicken instead of concentrating in one area.
Mix the ingredients well. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and use a whisk to mix them thoroughly. The oil should blend with the other ingredients instead of separating.
- You can also place the ingredients in a blender and pulse for a few seconds to mix them more evenly.
- Alternatively, you can put the marinade in a jar and shake it up.
Don't worry about using the exact ingredients. The great thing about preparing a marinade is that if you're missing an ingredient, you can always substitute it with another one. If an ingredient isn't available, check your pantry for a potential replacement. Here are some convenient substitutions you can consider:
- Lemon juice instead of vinegar, or vice versa
- Any type of oil instead of olive oil, or the other way around
- Honey or maple syrup as a substitute for sugar, or vice versa
Marinate the chicken
Choose any chicken part to marinate. A marinade recipe can enhance the flavor of any chicken part, such as breasts, thighs, legs, or wings. You can marinate a whole chicken or cut it into pieces and marinate them separately. You can also choose to marinate bone-in or boneless chicken pieces.
Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. This step helps to remove any lingering packaging odors and allows the marinade to better penetrate the chicken.
Place the marinated chicken in a food storage container. Choose a container that can hold enough chicken so that the marinade can cover the entire chicken once poured over it. Seal the container once marination is done.
- If you don’t have a plastic or glass container, you can use a food storage bag.
- Avoid using metal containers as the chemicals in the metal can react with the marinade and alter the flavor.
Place the chicken in the refrigerator and let it marinate for at least 4 hours. During this time, the flavors of the marinade will infuse into the chicken. You can marinate the chicken for 4 hours or keep it in the fridge overnight for the most flavorful result.
Cook the marinated chicken
Oven-baked chicken. Baking chicken in the oven typically brings out the best flavors. Simply preheat your oven to 200°C, place the chicken on a baking sheet, cover it with aluminum foil, and bake until the internal temperature reaches 70°C.
- The cooking time depends on the amount of chicken. It takes around 40 minutes to bake 0.5 kg of chicken.
- You can drizzle more marinade over the chicken before baking to enhance the flavor.
- When the chicken is nearly done, remove the foil, return the chicken to the oven, and bake for a few more minutes to crisp it up.
Grilled chicken. Grilling is a fun method but requires a bit of skill. Make sure to preheat the grill before placing the chicken on it so that it gets direct heat. Without this step, the chicken could burn.
Pan-fry the chicken. You can heat some olive oil in a large pan. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken pieces and cover the pan. Slowly fry the chicken for about 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 70°C.
What you'll need
- Bowl
- Sealable plastic bag
- Spoon
