15
Aug
Articles, Cooking

Healthy Chicken Marinades

Posted on by Michael | 20 comments

If you’re looking for easy, healthy chicken marinades, look no further!

These ten different recipes from Cook are all refined sugar-free and Whole30, Paleo, and gluten-free friendly.

Marinated chicken is more moist and flavorful than regular old chicken, and every recipe can be used to marinate chicken breasts, thighs, legs, and wings.

Orange Cumin Chicken Marinade

This recipe has a great balance between light citrus and earthy cumin.

  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 clove garlic
  • pinch salt & pepper

Ginger Sesame Chicken Marinade

Inspired by Asian recipes, this is a quick and simple, ultra flavorful marinade. Coconut aminos are salty and rich, and the ginger, garlic, and green onion lend bold, lightly spicy flavors.

  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos (can be substituted with soya sauce)
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
  • 3 green onions sliced
  • 1 clove garlic minced

Garlicky BBQ Chicken Marinade

There’s nothing more classic than bbq chicken. When you add minced garlic, it pumps up the flavor and totally makes this next level. Since bbq sauce is a vinegar-based sauce, it has the acid component of a marinade already built-in.

  • 1/4 cup of store-bought BBQ sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Marinade

Spicy, buttery, zesty, and rich, buffalo ranch marinade is next level flavorful! Since buffalo sauce is made with ghee or oil, the fat component of the marinade recipe already exists.

  • 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
  • 3.5 Tablespoons melted ghee or butter
  • 4.5 Tablespoons hot sauce
  • a pinch of garlic powder and onion powder
  • 2 Tablespoons ranch seasoning
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Fajita Chicken Marinade

Lightly spicy and always a crowd-pleaser, this fajita chicken is a great complete meal when served with sautéed frozen bell peppers and cauliflower rice.

  • 1.5 Tablespoons fajita seasoning use your favorite storebought or homemade fajita seasoning blend
  • 3 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon minced cilantro optional

Lemon Garlic Chicken Marinade

This is a classic chicken marinade! With so much flavor from lots of garlic, lemon, and herbs, this chicken is a total crowd-pleaser.

  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons lemon juice squeezed from about 1 – 1.5 lemons
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil

Pesto Chicken Marinade

Pesto is such a versatile condiment, and since it’s jam-packed with garlic, lemon, and basil flavor, it’s great as a base for marinade!

  • 1/4 cup pesto
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Spicy Mango Chicken Marinade

This marinade has tropical mango and lime flavors, bright cilantro, and spicy jalapeno.

  • 1 mango pureed
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon minced jalapeno
  • 1 Tablespoon lime juice squeezed from about 1/2 lime
  • 1 Tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

“Honey” Mustard Chicken Marinade

Mixed with grainy mustard, vinegar, and oil, it mimics the unmistakable honey mustard flavor.

  • 5-6 dates minced
  • 2 Tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3 Tablespoons olive or avocado oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a small dish.
  2. Set the chicken breasts in a shallow dish or ziplock bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken, then turn the chicken so it’s fully coated on all sides. Allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Cook the Chicken and enjoy!

Will you be trying any of these marinades? Comment below to let us know

Leave a Reply

20 thoughts on “Healthy Chicken Marinades”

  4. Lusanda M. says:

    I will be trying out the Spicy Mango Chicken marinade.

    I love marinades because they add flavour to meat. A good marinade contains flavorings, spices, herbs, etc. Because a marinade is also acidic it carries these flavors into foods. Of course, it can only travel so far, so marinating a thick roast will not get the added flavor you would get with a thin cut, but it is still beneficial. When selecting a marinade look for a flavor that will complement the food you are marinating.

    Marinades typically contain some kind of oil. Olive oil is my particular favorite. In fact, the best oil to use is a light oil containing mono- and/or diglycerides. These natural emulsifiers help penetrate meats faster than other oils, so check the labels for a good marinade oil. The oil also serves to hold in moisture on meats and to reduce the moisture loss during cooking. This also helps prevent sticking on the grill.

  6. Monwabisi M. says:

    Me and my partner we always looking out for new recipes and we enjoy cooking together… we definitely going to try all 10 of them, I’m so excited I can’t wait

    Thank you for the article

    #Manbox