Asian Chicken Marinade – full of flavor!
This Asian chicken marinade will infuse your chicken with so much flavor! You’ll find yourself coming back to this recipe time and time again.
One of the things I love most about summer is firing up the grill for a quick and easy dinner. I love the smell of the food cooking on the grill, and sitting in the sunshine while the food cooks, cold beverage in hand.
About this Asian Chicken Marinade
This easy marinade is made with pantry staples and requires minimal prep, making it perfect to maximize outdoor time.
The ingredients include sesame oil and grated ginger, but if you don’t have them available, this will be great without them too. This chicken marinade has plenty of flavor with red pepper flakes, garlic, and soy sauce.
How to serve: I garnished the chicken with parsley because it is what I had on hand the day I shot this, but ideally, these grilled chicken breasts would be served garnished with sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, and/or sesame seeds.
I like to serve Asian marinated chicken with jasmine rice topped with sliced almonds, and a side of Asian style slaw. It would also be great as a protein in this cabbage salad with honey lime dressing.
How to make this marinade your own:
Marinades are very forgiving and flexible! Here are some ideas:
- Like it a little more spicy? Increase the fresh ginger or red pepper flakes, or both.
- Really love garlic? Try using fresh garlic, or increasing the amount of garlic powder.
- Try substituting honey for the granulated sugar. The flavor is great!
- If you have rice vinegar on hand, try substituting that for the white vinegar.
- Try using this marinade on other types of chicken. It’s great on drumsticks!
More Great Marinade Recipes:
Asian Chicken Marinade
This Asian chicken marinade will infuse your chicken with so much flavor! You'll find yourself coming back to this recipe time and time again.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium)
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
Instructions
- In a medium bow, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, sesame oil, ginger, and red pepper flakes.
- Place chicken in zip top bag or a shallow baking dish.
- Pour marinade in bag or over chicken in pan and cover dish, or seal bag.
- Place in refrigerator for at least four hours and up to 24 hours (I put my bag in a pan or bowl just in case of leakage).
- When ready to grill, let excess marinade drip off and grill chicken over medium direct heat until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through (165°F internal temperature).
Notes
- Nutrition calculation may not be exact, due to much of the marinade being discarded.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 316Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 1234mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 55g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Verdict: I love this marinade. It has so much flavor. I also really like that all the ingredients are typically stocked in my pantry.
Husband’s take: Ben loves this grilled chicken!
Changes I would make: None.
Difficulty: Easy. Especially if someone else does the grilling for you! Just another reason to love summer. Give a guy some raw meat, a big metal spatula and a cold beer, and he’s happy to cook.
Note: This post was updated in April, 2020. The recipe was developed before we had sesame and nut allergies in our home.
29 Comments on “Asian Chicken Marinade – full of flavor!”
This was an awesome marinade. We cut ours into strips and threaded them onto a skewer so they would cook faster. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Yum! That is a great idea! I’m glad they turned out well for you, thanks for telling me about it! :)
A new twist on chicken.Will try it!!
Looks fantastic, love the flavors. I always grill extra chicken to have the next day too.
I was JUST searching for grilled chicken recipes that didn’t involve barbecue sauce and this looks perfect!
Perfect! Glad you came across my site!
We love Asian food. We love to grill. Gotta try this recipe soon! Great pics to go along with the recipe. :)
Thanks Tami!
Thanks Jason! I had fun browsing your blog!
You should join! It’s fun! I hear there are 80 something new people for next month, crazy!
You should get a grill pan. I have a cast iron one and I love it.
Oh my gosh I LOVE this recipe!! Can I share it on my blog?
Great Looking Recipe! Will have to try soon! Thanks for sharing!! =)
@alanecooke
Kudos to you for making a piece of meat beautiful. Seriously, I have a horrible time making dinner look good for the camera and you hit it spot on. Sounds like a great meal.
Thanks Kristen. That means a lot, because my photography skills are definitely hit or miss at this point in the game :)
Shhh…now I sound lazy ;)
Beautiful pictures Rachel. I’m bookmarking!
Love this post – and I can definitely use fake chicken. Thanks for sharing all the other recipes too!
Looks delicious and beautiful photos!
We love grilled chicken! Always looking for new recipes. We’ll be trying this one soon!
Oooh that chicken looks GREAT!
Sounds and looks delicious. Great idea to add sesame oil and ginger. I don’t think you could go wrong with those additions! :)
That chicken sounds yummy. We always love summer grilling, too :)
Katie
PS- I host a recipe swap every Wednesday and I’d love to have you if you get a chance.
Yum, the marinade on that chicken sounds so delicious – sounds like an amazing dinner! :)
We love grilling and my husband loves asian flavors, so this sound perfect. Your pictures make it look so good!
This is getting bookmarked because it looks so delicious!
I love all those flavors together – delicious!
My goodness that is some stunning chicken! I just love all the flavors that are combined here. My mouth is already watering thinking about dinner, and what I’d need to grab at the store to make this happen *tonight*.
I think the addition of the ginger sounds great. The more flavor packed in, the better, in my opinion :)