Favorite Marinade

By Kate Riley June 7, 2010

Yo.  It’s grilling season.  And I like to fire up the grill.  A lot.  

Yep, I cook up most suppers out on the grill all summer long.  To me, it’s so easy to roast up the meats and veges on the BBQ outside.   Barbequed food is always so tasty, and it is one of my favorite things about summer.

Now that June is here, and the Q is officially fired up about four to five times a week, I thought I’d share the creative concoction that I turn to time and again.  It has my basic requirements:  simple, fast, and tasty. 

I don’t do a lot of recipes around here, but I do consider myself a foodie, meaning I just love food in all forms, but especially the savory stuff.  So today, I’m here to share my most favorite marinade for poultry.  But you don’t need a BBQ to enjoy – you can use this same marinade recipe to enhance your poultry in a pan.

It’s simple.  It’s tasty.  Try it, you’ll really like it. 

grill pan marinade

   

The marinade is made from five simple ingredients – easy to store in your fridge and/or pantry.

My Most Favorite Chicken Marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup beer

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/5 cup worcestershire sauce 

2 tbsp chopped garlic

 

Sometimes I use amber beer.

marinade ingredients

 

Sometimes I use light beer.

 marinade ingredients

 

Basically, it’s whatever the Mister is savoring after work on a given week.

Oh, so you thought we we just drank wine out here ? 

Heck no. 

We drink our share of beer too. 

Can I get an ‘Amen’ from the beer drinkers ?

Thank you.

   

On the BBQ:

If you’re grilling, this recipe will coat 6-8 chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before barbequing. 

In the Pan:

This recipe will work for 4-6 chicken breasts in the pan, but you need to set aside 1/3 of the marinade to reduce in the pan.

First, pound your chicken breasts to tenderize.   I usually do it between plastic wrap and only on the underside.  Then marinate with 2/3 of the mixture for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator. 

pound  chicken

   

Next, brown your marinated chicken breasts on medium heat in olive oil 2-3 minutes on each side in the pan.  Then pour on top 1/3 of the mixture that you’ve set aside, cover, simmer, and let it reduce for 10-12 minutes until it turns into a caramel colored gravy.  

It will be oooey, gooey, and completely yummy.   

 marinade chicken in pan

 

Serve it up with vegetables, pasta or rice, anything you wish. 

It’s very very tasty.  

chicken with marinade

 

And enjoy the summer grill season !   Bon Appétit !

 

   .

38 comments

  1. While we love wine too, it is hard to beat a frosty mug of beer in the summertime! I can’t wait to try this marinade. Thanks!

  2. I am also a foodie. I love to cook for a crowd, however I am stuck in a family of people who just simply prefer bland – no seasonings, no fresh herbs, no sauces. Ick! They are boring boring boring. I am so glad I am adventurous enough to try new things for myself, at least.

    I love to grill, but it has been difficult in our apartment. Our main grill is outside, on the balcony, but it stopped working last summer. The George Foreman grill I love to use, but it sucks all the power out and usually causes a temporary black out. So, I haven’t grilled in awhile.

    With all that said, we will be grilling this summer, for shizzle. LOL! We are closing on our house in less than 2 weeks and have a spot planned for where our new grill will be going. And that recipe you posted looks so tasty, I am saving it so I can try it later. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

  3. Looks and sounds so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am not much of a beer drinker – 1/2 of a bottle/can and I start getting a headache.
    Have a great week.

  4. Amen! I am definitely trying this recipe out, it looks delicious, thanks so much!

  5. Quick question- How do you measure 1/5 cup of the Worcestershire sauce?

  6. Hi Ann – to measure, I just take my 1/4 measuring cup then eyeball slightly less. I’m not one for exact measurements when it comes to marinades . . . you could go with just 4 or 5 tablespoons too ! It’s hard to get wrong !

    :-)

  7. We love to grill during the summer too. Thanks for the recipe. We will definitely have to try it.

  8. We love a good marinade! :) Do you use a gas grill or charcoal? We bought our first gas grill at the end of last summer and hope to get more use out of it this year. Chicken on the bbq is one of my faves. Thanks for the easy recipe! :) T will love using some of his beer. ;)

  9. AMEN!! We love to grill (charcoal) at my house. We even grill in the winter (of course we live in GA so it’s not so bad). This marinade sounds yummy. I will definitely have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

    Fat Tire = TASTY!!

  10. The boyfriend is usually the one whipping up the marinades and firing up the bbq in our house, but I think you have inspired me to do it myself! This marinade sounds fantastic and I am definitely going to try it, thanks for sharing!!

  11. Please do tell what type of grill you use. We are in the market for one and would love your advice!

  12. You’re awesome, thanks for this!!! Because this is so similar to my “greek” chicken marinade, I’m sharing with you!!

    1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
    1/3 Cup Dijon Mustard
    1/3 Cup Olive Oil
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/2 tsp. pepper
    freshly minced garlic to taste

    Mix all ingredients, adding oil slowly last (whisking) to emulsify. Pour all into a gallon sized zip lock baggie. Then, add chicken breasts (8 or less). Basically use just as your recipe. I like to add fresh dill.

    Now, here’s a cocktail for you since the beer was omitted above:

    Add 1/2 blender full of ice cubes
    2/3 Cup Beer of your choice
    2/3 Cup frozen pink lemonade
    1/4 Cup Vodka
    Blend thoroughly and serve into cute glasses.

  13. Sounds wonderful! We’ll definitely have to give it a spin! We love to grill as well, but most of marinades start with a citrus base so that they meat tenderizes really well!

  14. Is it really 1/5 cup Worcestershire? I’ve never seen a recipe with that amount of anything…but I’m not much of a cook so my expereince is limited.

  15. Made this tonight – it was FABULOUS. Thanks so much Kate!!!

  16. Hi Friend, Thought you would want to know that your drying rack is featured on TipNut.com today!!
    Way to go !

  17. So sorry but I’m having problems with my computer and am having to answer this way instead of directly responding to you email. I made a mistake (gasp)!! The article was featured on yesterdays TipNut.com. Since I trying to clear out three days worth of emails I got the dates mixed up. You should have no problem finding it…but if you do let me know. OK ?

  18. Cannot wait to try this!!! I just got into grilling this year. I always waited for my hubby to want to be the “grill master”, but after 32 years….I am guessing that’s not going to happen…brilliant deduction, huh?!?!? LOL.

    Anyway, that said, I would love to hear any fish marinades you may have up your sleeve!! Would this one work for fish?

  19. AAAAMEN!! So i tried your marinade last night…i only had two chicken breasts (for the hubs and me) to marinade so with the leftover (which there was plenty to go around), i poured it all over the squash we were grilling as well. I must say – it was VERY TASTY! AND, I made a sauce from it to pour over the chicken when it came off the grill with the marinade from the squash (obviously not from the raw chicken) :) I poured it into a little saute pan, added 1-2 tbs of brown sugar and 2 shallots…simmer for about 10 minutes. I was dipping EVERYTHING on my plate in it! Thanks for the recipe – it’s def a keeper!

  20. Sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try it!!! Any good marinades for fish???

  21. We used this on chicken for our Fathers Day meal. So easy! So centsational!

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