Best Chicken Marinades in 2023: 7 Yummy Marinades For Epic Meal Prep

Tis the season for meal prepping! 

Actually, I think every season is the perfect season for some marinated chicken, baby!

As someone who LOVES chicken, I always strive to switch flavors up to make sure that I’m not getting bored of what I’m having.

Meal prepping and marinating some chicken ahead of time will save you tons of hours in the kitchen — perfect for those busy weeknights when you just don’t have the time to marinade that day.

So to help you out, I’ve put together 7 of the best chicken marinades so that you can pick and choose your favorite flavor profile — or even prep a bunch and pop some in the freezer so that you can have delicious chicken in the blink of an eye.

Here’s what you’ve got to choose from (I tried to give you all kinds of options because I personally LOVED creating all of these!):

1. Tuscan Italian Marinade
2. Balsamic Grilled Chicken Marinade
3. Cilantro Lime Chicken
4. Lemon Greek Marinade
5. Mojo Chicken Marinade
6. Jamaican Jerk BBQ
7. Chinese 5 Spice Marinade

Can I Marinade Chicken Ahead of Time?

You sure can! In fact, the purpose of this post is to give you tons of different ideas so that you can take an afternoon to marinate a bunch of chicken and pop most in the freezer to have whenever you need it.

But in general, I always marinate chicken at least a few hours ahead of time (preferably in the morning, or even more preferably overnight). 

The 7 Best Chicken Marinades

Before you get all marinade crazy and start throwing these together, let me give you a little break down of what I’ve put together for you:

Tuscan Italian Marinade: Italian seasoning, lemon and red pepper flakes? Yes, please!

Balsamic Grilled Chicken Marinade: A classic combo for grilled chicken, we’ll combine balsamic vinegar with dijon mustard, worcestershire and some spices.

Cilantro Lime Chicken: We’ll combine lime juice with some cilantro and a surprise for a yummy combo the whole family will love.

Lemon Greek Marinade: This simple marinade combines oregano and lemon for a perfect weeknight meal.

Mojo Chicken Marinade: There’s nothing like a mojo, and this simple marinade lets you use orange juice instead of fresh oranges for ease. 

Jamaican Jerk BBQ: A fun spin on classic Jamaican Jerk Chicken but with a BBQ twist.

Chinese 5 Spice Marinade: A delicious combination of Chinese five spice, ginger and soy sauce.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

7 Yummy Chicken Marinades

This includes: Balsamic Grilled Chicken, Cilantro Lime, Chinese 5 Spice, Jamaican Jerk BBQ, Lemon Greek, Mojo & Tuscan Italian

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese, Cuban, Greek, Italian, Jamaican, Mexican

Keyword: chicken marinades

Ingredients

Balsamic Grilled Chicken

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• ⅛ cup soy sauce
• ⅛ cup worcestershire sauce
• ½ lemon juiced
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Cilantro Lime

• 1 teaspoon adobo
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tbs Mike's Hot Honey sub: 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 lime juiced
• Cilantro chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil

Chinese Five Spice Marinade

• 4 tbs soy sauce
• 4 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 3 teaspoon chinese five spice powder
• 3 teaspoon honey
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ginger

Jamaican Jerk BBQ

• 1 ¼ cup ketchup
• 1.5–2 tbs Walkerswood Jerk Paste or more, depending on your heat level
• 2 tbs worcesershire sauce
• 1 tbs honey
• 6 oz pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Lemon Greek

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 lemon zested
• ½ lemon juiced
• 1 tbs oregano
• 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Mojo

• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 limes juiced
• 3 cloves garlic mined
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil

Tuscan Italian

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tbs Italian seasoning
• 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ lemon juiced

Instructions

For Jamaican Jerk BBQ

• Add all of the ingredients to a sauce pan and simmer for ~10 minutes.

For all other marinades

• Whisk together in a bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust salt as needed. Pour over your chicken. Let sit at least a few hours.