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.