Grilled Chicken Marinade with Lemon and Garlic
~ This super easy and wonderfully flavorful marinade for grilled chicken will become your go-to grilling recipe! Featuring ingredients you’ve already got in your pantry, dinner will be marinating in no time, and ready to grill when you are! Kid-tested and 100% approved! ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Includes Make-Ahead Steps • Gluten Free • Paleo •
In our house, we don’t celebrate special events for only just one single day. No way. We love to combine ’em together and turn celebrations into month-long parties!
For example, my birthday is in May, and so is Mother’s Day. So, May is my month. (Obviously, right?!?)
My husband’s birthday is in June, just like Father’s Day. June turned into his month! (Welllllll … mostly his … our anniversary is also in June, so I kinda claim part of it as “our” month. But that’s beside the point.)
So May = me, June = him. Following? Great! (And don’t worry … the kids each have their own month, too! We’re equal opportunity celebrators here!)
To me, it also seems like Father’s Day = summer, and we can all agree that summer = grilling. So if I can recall back to grade school when we learned deductive reasoning, then this would also mean that Father’s Day = grilling. AmIright?
Plus, dads and grilling just sort of go together! (At least at my house. He’s the grill master.)
With it being my handsome husband’s month and all, and with Father’s Day this weekend, I just knew what needed to happen today!
I’m incredibly excited to share one of our favorite recipes that HE makes all the time!
Our Favorite, Absolute Best Grilled Chicken Marinade
It’s an awesome (and totally simple!!) marinade recipe for the most phenomenal grilled chicken! We eat chicken this way all summer long. It’s seriously yummy!
He’s been making this for years, and the marinade is perfect for creating chicken that’s adaptable into all sorts of meals. We love it in wraps, on salads, or nestled beside some grilled veggies and roasted potatoes. No matter how we serve it, (like I just said!) it’s seriously yummy. Every single time!
My husband got the idea for the recipe from a family friend. Our friend had gone to culinary school after high school (but then took a very different career path), and he comes up with some pretty impressive dishes. One day on the golf course, my husband asked him if he had any good ideas for easy grilled chicken recipes.
“Ummmm … sure … maybe some lemon and garlic – and throw in some cumin, too!”
Not really a recipe (for us recipe-followers), but a great starting point! In no time, our most favorite grilled chicken recipe was born.
I’m not joking when I tell you that we have this at least once a week at my house during grilling season. (I would never joke about such things.) And I’m totally serious when I tell you that our kids are always excited when Daddy grills up some chicken with this marinade.
And I’m absolutely telling the truth when I say that you’ll love it, too!
Remember back in January when we made that super-simple yet awesomely delicious salmon? Well, this recipe is wonderful in kinda the same way. Really easy ingredients. Hardly any prep. Just … seriously yummy.
Perfect Sides for This Grilled Chicken
Round out your scrumptious grilled chicken dinner with quick and easy side dishes, like:
- Simple grilled or roasted asparagus (like in our photos)
- Super-easy Rosemary Roasted Potatoes (also in our photos)
- Summer-y Blistered Green Beans
- A basic green salad or our Superfoods Brussels Sprout Salad
- Refreshing grapes or watermelon wedges
- And for dessert? Since you’ve got that grill fired up, anyway, why not try our Grilled Tropical Fruit or our Banana Split Grilled Dessert Nachos? YUM!
So whether you’re celebrating a special day (ahem … all month long!) or just a simple family dinner, this incredibly flavorful, fabulously simple marinade recipe is the perfect way to create your very best grilled chicken ever!
Happy Father’s Day to all the great guys out there!
Grilled Chicken Marinade with Lemon and Garlic
An easy, wonderfully flavorful chicken marinade for the best grilled chicken ever! So quick, with ingredients you probably have on hand!
• Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Includes Make-Ahead Steps • Gluten Free • Paleo •
Ingredients
- chicken (see note)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- lemon slices for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Pierce chicken several times with a fork, and place in a gallon zipper bag.
- In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
- Add marinade to zipper bag, coating chicken well.
- Seal bag, being sure to remove all air.
- Massage marinade into chicken.
- Refrigerate until ready to grill; we recommend 4-8 hours.
- Grill chicken (see note).
- Serve as desired (with sliced lemon for garnish, alongside vegetables, on top of a salad, in a sandwich or wrap, etc.).
Notes
Chicken: We prefer using boneless, skinless chicken breasts with this marinade, and we find that this recipe works best for marinating about 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of chicken.
Grilling chicken: Grill your marinated chicken until the chicken is cooked through but still tender and juicy (with an internal temperature of 165°F), turning once during grilling. The exact grilling time for your chicken will vary depending on the cut of chicken you choose and the size and thickness of your chicken, as well as the temperature settings and power of your specific grill. Allow grilled chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving, to allow juices to redistribute.
Make-ahead option: If you want to prep this marinade even further in advance, you can mix the marinade ingredients together up to a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate, then stir again before adding the marinade to the chicken.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 servings Serving Size: 1/4 pound chickenAmount Per Serving: Calories: 235Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 218mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 35g
Nutrition information is calculated for one pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts and assumes that about half of the marinade is discarded and not eaten. Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only, and may additionally vary depending on your choice of ingredients or preparation. No guarantees are made regarding allergies or dietary needs. Always consult a physician or dietician for specific advice and questions.
Definitely happy I found it – bookmarking!
Wonderful, Arlette! I’m so happy you enjoyed this easy marinade so much that you’re bookmarking it to make again – that’s always really high praise! 😀 ~Shelley
This is my kind of perfect meal. Wonder grilled chicken and roasted potatoes are best thing together. Love this meal.
Lol, Jo! “Wonder” grilled chicken – that’s an awesome description! It really is pretty WONDERful! And yes – fabulous with roasted potatoes. Although, it’s pretty great with just about any side dish you happen to be making. So adaptable! Thanks for the great comment and the smile – have a WONDERful week! ~Shelley