Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This Asian chicken marinade really boosts the flavor of chicken. You’ll find yourself coming back to this recipe time and time again.
How long it takes: 15 minutes to make the marinade but allow time for the chicken to marinate, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Equipment you’ll need: measuring cup, ziptop bag
Servings: 4
Super Easy Chicken Marinade
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.
Why not add a little excitement to plain chicken? It’s easy and you’ll be amazed by how much better chicken is with a good marinade. Next up, you might want to try tequila lime chicken marinade, honey mustard chicken marinade, or balsamic chicken marinade! Grilled teriyaki chicken is pretty amazing, too!
What makes this marinade special:
- Pantry-friendly ingredients: Most items are probably already in your kitchen.
- Make-ahead convenience: Marinate for at least four hours or overnight to save time and deepen flavor.
- Versatile cooking methods: Grill, bake, or slice and stir-fry for different meals – you can find baking directions in the recipe card!
How To Make Asian Chicken Marinade
This recipe is enough to marinate at least one and a half pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts. There will be plenty of marinade so if you have more chicken, just go ahead and add it.
Make marinade and add it to the chicken. Simply stir up the marinade in a large measuring cup or small bowl. Put the raw chicken pieces into a zip top bag or a shallow glass dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken, turning the pieces so they are thoroughly coated.
Marinate. If you’re using a bag, squeeze out any excess air, seal the top, place the bag in a bowl or pan (you don’t want to risk a leak which makes a big mess in your fridge), and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. If you’re using a dish to marinate the chicken, just cover the top with plastic wrap or a cover and refrigerate.
How To Grill Marinated Chicken
Preheat the grill to medium heat (350°F). Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Place the chicken pieces on the grates and grill, turning once with tongs, until the chicken is done, about 15 to 20 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to test the internal temperature. It should be 165°F.
Always use a clean plate for the cooked chicken. Don’t put it back onto the plate that you used to bring the raw chicken to the grill because it could contaminate the cooked chicken.
Always discard leftover marinade. It should not be reused or used for basting.
How To Serve This Chicken
Garnish Asian chicken with sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, and/or sesame seeds. But hey, go with what you happen to have in the house! If you happen to have fresh parsley or chives, no problem, that will be just fine. Be creative.
I like to serve Asian marinated chicken with white rice or jasmine rice topped with sliced almonds. Fried rice or coconut rice and a side of Asian style slaw are good go-alongs, too. Marinated grilled chicken is also great as a protein in this cabbage salad with honey lime dressing.
Should you poke holes in chicken when marinating it? If you are looking to speed up the process (i.e. you don’t have four hours), poking holes in the chicken will allow the marinade to permeate the meat more quickly. Use a skewer or fork, or score with a sharp knife. Most of the time, I feel that this step is unneccesary.
How long should you marinate chicken? It is possible to marinate chicken too long. The acid in the marinade (in this case, vinegar) helps tenderize the chicken but if you leave it too long, the surface of the chicken will deteriorate. Try not to marinate chicken more than twelve hours in an acidic marinade (one that contains vinegar or citrus).
Do you rinse marinade off chicken before cooking? Rinsing the marinade off isn’t necessary at all. Allow the excess to drip off before placing the pieces on the grate. If you’re worried about flare-ups in your grill, gently pat the chicken with clean paper towels to remove excess marinade.
Can you freeze chicken in marinade? Yes! Place the chicken with the marinade into a leak-proof freezer-safe container or resealable bag. Label and freeze for up to one month. For best results, thaw overnight in the fridge before grilling.
Recipe Variations
- Add more spice. Increase the fresh ginger or red pepper flakes, or both.
- Add more garlic. Try using fresh garlic, minced or pressed, or increasing the amount of garlic powder.
- Use honey. Try substituting honey for the granulated sugar. The flavor is great!
- Use rice vinegar. If you have rice vinegar on hand, try substituting that for the white vinegar.
- Try it on other meats. This marinade works well for other types of chicken. It’s great on drumsticks! You could also use it on pork or steak.
- Rather have BBQ chicken? Try this BBQ rub on your chicken with homemade BBQ sauce.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan #31. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!
More Chicken Marinades
Asian Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth (low or no sodium preferred)
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or minced garlic cloves)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (see note)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or to taste, see note)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (chicken thighs or drumsticks are good, too)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, sesame oil, ginger, and red pepper flakes.1 cup chicken broth, ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce, 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Place chicken in zip top bag or a shallow glass baking dish.1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- Pour marinade in bag or over chicken in dish; seal bag or cover dish.
- Place in refrigerator for at least four hours and up to 24 hours (I put the bag in a pan or bowl just in case of leakage).
- When ready to grill, remove chicken from marinade, letting the excess marinade drip off. Grill over medium direct heat until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through (165°F internal temperature).
Notes
- Spice level: Adjust to your preference by either adding more red pepper flakes, or simply omitting them.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: This adds lots of Asian flavor but isn’t absolutely essential. My household is sesame-free because of severe allergies so I leave it out. Be sure to buy toasted sesame oil which is dark brown in color. A little goes a long way — it has loads of flavor.
- Ginger: Freshly grated ginger root is the most flavorful but in a pinch, you can substitute a teaspoon of ground ginger.
- Baking directions: Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove chicken from marinade (discard marinade) and place in a greased baking dish. Spray lightly with olive oil spray. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove from oven and let set for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Nutrition: Nutrition calculation may not be exact, due to much of the marinade being discarded.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!Note: This post was updated June, 2022. The recipe was developed before we had sesame and nut allergies in our home.
Give me some raw meat, a big metal spatula and a cold beer and I’m happy to cook too. Not “guy” specific.
Haha love that, I really can’t say I’m not the same way too. ;)
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!