How have I not shared this recipe already? This is our families go-to marinade for all our favorite meats. I like it best on chicken but we also use it on pork and beef. 8 ingredients all put in one bowl, mix together, and in 3 minutes you have the best meat marinade.
A little lesson on using a marinade. Most marinades use some sort of acid in them (this one included). This acid breaks down the tissues in the meat making them more tender. But for the most part- marinades just add more flavor, which is why we love this one so much.
You probably have most of these ingredients in your kitchen. But if not, they are simple to find at the grocery store. What I also love about this marinade is that it is easy to substitute if you don’t have everything on hand. For example, Italian seasoning works just as great if you don’t have the dried basil. Or use garlic salt if you are out of garlic powder, you get the idea.
My favorite use for this particular marinade is with bone-in chicken. Buy a variety of legs, thighs, and wings and let them marinade for a few hours or even a day before you start grilling.
This is also a great marinade to feed a crowd. Pair this with another one of our favorites- Arugula Pasta Salad and some watermelon and you have a great meal for a backyard BBQ. Also- try out my favorite Summer Slushie while you’re living your best summer life.
As always- let me know if you make our favorite meat marinade. Tag me on Instagram or leave a comment, I always love to hear from you all!
xo, Sarah
The Best Meat Marinade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/3 cup Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 3 tbsp Dried Basil
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic, minced
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a small bowl.
- Whisk until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour over your favorite meat and let sit a few hours or up to a day.
Ali
Best marinade ever! I made this for chicken tonight and my husband grilled it….it was the best grilled chicken I’ve ever had!
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Abby W
We tried this marinade recipe on chicken thighs and it was great! I subbed orange juice for the lemon juice (I was out) and marinated the meat for about two hours. I’m not a big fan of chicken, but I will definitely be using this recipe again for chicken – it’s that good!
Rachel Hines
Made this tonight and it was sooo good!! So much flavor and chicken was so juicy!
Katie
So sooo good, Sarah! Thanks for sharing!
Caitlin
A hit with the hubby! And a hit with me. This will be my new go to marinade 🙂
Sarah
CaitlinWahoo! So glad to hear it!
Kris
Wow! Such a tasty recipe.
I was a bit skeptical because there are hundreds of marinade recipes online, but this one was truly fantastic. I like that it doesn’t have a sugar base as I really appreciate savoury and salty flavours in my meals.
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
Sarah
KrisOh yay! I love hearing that!
Kim
Oh my! I tried this marinade tonight for the first time. It won’t be the last.
Sarah
KimThank you Kim! I’m so glad to hear that!
Kate
This is excellent! I did cut back the basil to 3 tsp instead of 3 tbsp since we prefer a little less green:) have made it several times already!
Sarah
KateI love this Kate- make it your own! Thanks for sharing that!
Jordan S
Tried this marinade tonight for chicken thighs. I did coconut aminos instead of soy sauce (and it happened to be a teriyaki flavor one). It was sooo good. 100% doing this marinade from now on (with my substitutions and couple of additions haha)
Amanda
Love this marinade, just used it today for chicken on the grill 😋, let it marinate for 6 hours and this will now be a staple recipe to marinate our chicken with. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah
AmandaI love that- thank you so much for coming back and sharing with me!
Regina Kelly
AmandaTrying out this recipe and curious how much meat this is for? I have a ~2lbs of chicken so I’m going to try and cut the marinade in half and see how it goes!
Kathy
I tried this but wasn’t as good as I expected. I marinated the chicken and wasn’t able to cook the chicken that evening, so I put the whole thing in the freezer….. chicken in the marinade in the dish. I took out of freezer fewe days later, thawed it and then grilled the chicken. Could this process alter the taste/results? I’ve heard something about lemon juice macerating the meat if left in lemon juice too long. Was that my problem?
Sarah
KathyOh that’s very interesting. Definitely could be what you said about freezing- I have never done that. You should make it again without freezing and see if that is what made the difference for you. I’d be interested to hear on that!
Brenda
Do you think it’ll work for skirt steak?
What Is Half of 1/4th Cup? - Baking Options
[…] liquids or chopped ingredients. For example, a salad dressing might need 1/4 cup of oil, or a marinade could call for 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Being able to halve these measurements allows you to adjust the […]
Anon
Did not like this at all
Felicia
This was so easy to make and delicious.
Wanda Dews
Thanks for posting this recipe!!!