Quick and easy with wonderful taste, this simple marinade for grilled chicken breasts makes a great main course for a special dinner or the perfect topping for a lunch salad.
Editor’s Note: Originally published April 17, 2010. Updated with updated text and photo re-editing. The marinade stayed the same but the cooking technique updated to my current method. Please enjoy this tasty recipe.
This could easily be a weeknight recipe since 20-30 in the marinade works well. Just enough time to heat, clean and oil the grill. If you brine first (not a bad idea ever with grilled skinless chicken), do not add the salt.
My Rating
A very solid 4 and could be a lower 5 if you brine.
Pro Tips: Quick Marinade For Grilled Chicken Breast
The Chicken:
We all know that skinless boneless chicken breast can be tasteless and have a hockey puck quality if not done correctly so careful grill is a must.
The first tip is to try to cook chicken breasts of about the same size and thickness. If one is just thicker, a meat mallet or bottom of a heavy pan can be used to even them out.
A brine is always a good thing, and if you have time, you will be glad you did. A recommended quick brine of 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons salt for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
This is relatively heavy in salt and is recommended by Cooks Illustrated. The chicken gets saltier if over 1 hour so I’m suggesting 1-hour max.
To me (a safety guy), I don’t like raw chicken at room temperature for more than 20 minutes. Actually, 20 minutes will do a fairly good job of brining these.
While we no longer recommend rinsing chicken, you should always rinse carefully after brining. Also, don’t add any more salt after a brine is used.
This marinade is extremely tasty and has soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and a little salt.
The Grill
The most important part of this recipe is to not rush the cooking. I used a grill surface temperature of 450 which is a tad above medium on most grills. Total grill time of about 30 minutes.
If you have questions about controlling your grill temperature, please check my A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat.
Optional brine: If you have time, brine is always a good thing for skinless boneless chicken breasts. I suggest a brine with a simple brine of 2 cups water and 2 tablespoons table salt for 20-120 minutes. If you brine, remove the salt from the recipe. If you like the minimal salt taste, use only 1 tablespoon of salt.
In a 1-gallon zip lock bag, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, crushed garlic, and lemon juice. Add salt if you didn’t brine. Add chicken to bag, remove extra air and seal.
Place in a large bowl after mixing well. If using in 30 minutes or less, leave at room temperature. If longer then refrigerate. You should then remove from refrigeration about 30 minutes before grilling and rinse.
Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of 450-500 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
Remove breasts from marinade and place over direct heat.
Flip about every 5 minutes. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165. About 30 minutes of total grill time.
Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
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Quick Marinade For Grilled Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts - well trimmed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional Brine
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat.
- Optional brine: If you have time, brine is always a good thing for skinless boneless chicken breasts. I suggest a brine with a simple brine of 2 cups water and 2 tablespoons table salt for 30 to 120 minutes. If you brine, remove the salt from the recipe. If you like the minimal salt taste, use only 1 tablespoon of salt.
- In a 1-gallon zip lock bag, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, crushed garlic and lemon juice. Add salt if you didn't brine. Add chicken to bag, remove extra air and seal. Place in a large bowl after mixing well. If using in 30 minutes or less, leave at room temperature. If longer then refrigerate. You should then remove from refrigeration about 30 minutes before grilling.
- Clean and oil grill grates and preheat to a surface temperature of 450-500 which is about medium-high on most grills. I recommend a surface thermometer to be able to control your grill well.
- Remove breasts from marinade and place over direct heat.
- Flip about every 5 minutes. Remove from the grill at an internal temperature of 165. About 30 minutes total grill time.
- Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- A brine is always good when you grill chicken.
- If you brine, rinse off the brine carefully and do not add any salt to the marinade.
- Grill surface temperature must be correct.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
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Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Originally published April 17, 2010
Mr Stewart
January 28, 2019 at 8:28 pmI am going to try using this recipe using a instapot (electric pressure cooker) & a 10lb bag of leg quarters after I removed the skin and de-bone it all. I am making 3 cups of rice in the pot first and setting it aside. Then after letting the chicken marinade in the refrigerator for at least and hour, maybe two, I will put it all in to the pot and cook it 8 minutes on high. While doing all of that I will whip up some sriracha green beans in the skillet. I might try to thicken what juice is left in the pot after cooking with a tablespoon or two of corn starch and equal parts cold water slowly stirred in to the juices and brought to a boil to thicken.
DrDan
January 28, 2019 at 11:30 pmWelcome to the blog.
Sounds like a well thought out plan that should work great. I don’t use my instapot much. My mother had a few “accidents” with her pressure cooker and I’m not in a hurry.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Robert
August 13, 2018 at 8:22 amI broke down a whole chicken last night, 2 wings, 2 drumsticks, two thighs, then I left both breasts on the bone. I doubled the recipe, brined the whole thing for 30 minutes, then marinade for 30. I had to grill everything for 10 -15 min longer, but my god did this turn out amazing. I fed a family of 5 ( 3 kids – 8,6,3) and we ran out of chicken. EVERYONE at the table asked to have more. This recipe was a keeper and goes into the family recipe book. Luckily my wife keeps all of the ingredients in the house (we had to make our own brown sugar, but that wasn’t that hard) Truly AMAZING.
scott l
July 18, 2018 at 4:04 pmAwesome looking marinade recipe…excited to try it, thought I was going to be doing so tonight, but wifey just informed of a change in plans…lol.
Steve
June 20, 2018 at 8:12 amDr. Dan, are you closing the lid when grilling the chicken?
DrDan
June 20, 2018 at 8:23 amClosed. General rule: Less than 1/2 inch (fish) is open. 1/2-1 inch can be open but it is much harder control and over 1 inch is always closed. So always assume closed unless otherwise stated. It is open in the photos just to get the photos.
Elizabeth
June 12, 2018 at 4:59 pmThank you, Dr. Dan…this sounds amazing! If I’m grilling 4 Breasts, was wondering if I should double all of the ingredients, both for Brine and Marinade?
DrDan
June 12, 2018 at 5:13 pmThe brine is fine for 4 breasts. The marinade will need to increase by 50-100%
Dan
Megan
February 15, 2018 at 8:42 pmAmazing marinade! Had chicken breast in fridge and needed something to do with them and stumbled across this. Quick and easy. I did this before going to work at 9am, and let it sit all day and didn’t cook it till about 8pm. The longer the better. Since I had 5 breasts I upped the number in the recipe but didn’t use any salt since the soy sauce is salty enough and it came out amazing! Definitely going to use again.
DrDan
February 17, 2018 at 12:55 pmHi Megan,
This is one of those recipes I forget about for a year then use it over and over again. Then I forget about it.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Michelle Johnson
January 22, 2018 at 12:34 pmHi! I’m trying this tonight. Have the breasts brining right now (for two hours), then I’ll marinade for two hours. Do I have to rinse the breasts after brining? I usually brine my whole turkeys and typically rinse… I’m so excited to taste this! Thanks Dr Dan!
DrDan
January 24, 2018 at 1:24 pmHi Michelle,
Sorry for the delayed reply. Always rinse off a brine. If a brine did it’s job, you already have some extra salt. No need to add to that.
Dan
Serina
December 4, 2017 at 9:03 amI read the ingredients and cooked this recipe without reading any instructions and my guessed ratio turned out great after marinating for around 90mins, i even cooked it in a grill pan on top stove with a little olive oil and turned a couple of times… Perfect!😊
DrDan
December 5, 2017 at 8:43 amHi Serina,
I have been known to do things like that. It is all about ratios.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Ferdinand lemaire
November 18, 2017 at 8:53 pmMy chicken was the best! Looked way better than in these pictures.
DrDan
November 18, 2017 at 8:57 pmThanks for the note.
I have excuses for the pictures. First generation digital camera and 4th month of the blog. Maybe I should redo this post next summer.
Dan
angela
April 13, 2017 at 12:55 pmI can’t grill at my apartment. when say use a grill pan do you mean in the oven or on stove top?
DrDan
April 13, 2017 at 1:14 pmHi Angela,
With all the sugar in this, I would not be doing it stovetop. And in the oven, the chicken will take too long and again may burn before the chicken is done. Maybe not if you filp… If you try it in the oven, it would take 30-45 minutes depending on size and oven. Cook to 165 of course. I’m not sure how good that would work.
Dan
tina
January 5, 2017 at 9:23 amMy grill broke & I have the chicken marinating! Can I put this in a crock pot? Please advise! Thanks
DrDan
January 5, 2017 at 9:35 amThe crockpot would work but I would prefer the oven especially if you have a grill pan. If no grill pan than cast iron. If no cast iron then oven safe pan. A little oil in the pan to coat the pan and 350-375 degrees about 30 minutes plus minus depending on size, pan and oven. Use a meat thermometer and you are done at 165. I would probably flip after about 15 minutes. (I’m guessing at the time since this is not how I normally do this so keep an eye on it and thermometer ready. My guesses are usually fairly good.)
You could do a pan sear method but I’m worried about burning the sugar.
Lexy
March 20, 2016 at 7:00 pmYum! Totally transforms chicken, especially when you’re short on time for a marinade. We’re trying it on thin sliced pork chops tonight.
Empress
September 27, 2015 at 10:14 pmOmg this marinade was perfect!! My computer won’t let me rate it but I definitely give it five stars! I added everything in the ingredients exactly except garlic. Because I love garlic I doubled up but you don’t have to. I Waldo seasoned the chicken on both sides first with onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, and lawrys seasoning salt and some pepper before adding it to the marinade because I like my meat really flavorful. I put it in the plastic bag and let Last night and didn’t take it out until about 9 o clock tonight and it was delicious! So about a day but I’m sure if you let it sit for 4 hours or so it would still be just as good! Thank you sooooo much for this recipe I really loved the added brown sugar it balanced out all the other flavors!
Pam
July 29, 2015 at 1:35 amThis was EASY, QUICK and DELICIOUS. I doubled the recipe for 6 chicken breasts. Cut the cooking time to about 14 mins. by pounding them first to an “even” thickness, between 2 sheets of wax paper. Sliced and served warm over cold salad – perfect summer dinner!!
DrDan
July 29, 2015 at 8:01 amHi Pam, I have started to “pound the chicken” some too but haven’t decided yet if I want to do it all the time. First my wife always thinks it should be on a sandwich. Second, the times I have done this it seems dryer and I’m a careful griller. I’m not done evaluating yet.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Meg
July 6, 2015 at 8:21 pmI even slightly screwed up the recipe and it still turned out great! You can check out my review here.
https://semiunemployedgirl.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/inevitable-cooking-fail-1/
Amanda S.
May 18, 2015 at 8:42 pmI made this tonight per instructions (I didn’t get a chance to try the brining part) and I have to give the author some SERIOUS compliments! This is hands down the best chicken marinade I’ve ever tasted or used. It is now my go-to marinade for chicken and I especially love how quick it is to not only make but use considering I rarely think too far ahead for the need to marinate the meat I cook. It’s usually just an afterthought so I love that this had the chicken ready in a short time. Thanks so so much for posting this! And now I can’t wait to look at your other recipes.
David
February 21, 2016 at 5:47 pmI buy chicken breasts in bulk packages, make a big batch of this marinade then vacuum pack and freeze for later use. By the time the chicken thaws it maninated perfectly and makes a quick clean up.
Mary
September 18, 2014 at 7:58 pmthis is a keeper, it was really good!!! I let it marinade for a couple of hours and will definitely be making this again for more people :)
Sarah
August 22, 2014 at 12:19 pmThanks! I tried this last night and loved it. It gave a good amount of flavor after 30 minutes of marinating (will try it for longer next time if I can!). I’ve never tried brining before, so that information is useful for me as well. I’ll have to give that a shot one of these days.
DrDan
August 26, 2014 at 8:17 pmDo try the brine, you won’t believe the change in moisture. I was using this recipe last weekend again. I really like that I always have the ingredients.
Thanks for the comment
DrDan
Leah Noble
June 1, 2014 at 7:13 pmDid you use a tablespoon or teaspoon for sugar, lemon juice, oil and salt? I used teaspoon since there is a lower case “t” by the ingredients, but it tastes very soy saucy…. just checking! Thanks!
DrDan
June 1, 2014 at 7:49 pmI went back to my original notes. You are right… And the garlic was left out. Fixed and please accept my apology. That was apparently a bad day.
DrDan
todd little
March 29, 2014 at 5:00 pmvery good marinade. upping the brown sugar next time and marinading for more than 1/2 hour
DrDan
March 29, 2014 at 6:15 pmThanks for the note. I will try upping the brown sugar next time. If my grill ever gets out the the snow. Longer is better but 30 minutes still gets very good results but not more than a couple of hours with this.
Again thanks for the comment.
DrDan
todd little
March 24, 2014 at 6:22 ammy bad I see now that the info is indeed there – sorry! trying this tonight!
DrDan
March 24, 2014 at 6:49 amSorry for the confusion. This recipe is still in the format from Blogger and need converted so it looks better and is less confusing. I have about 2/3 of 300 done. They take 15 minutes each and I’m still working on it.
DrDan
todd little
March 24, 2014 at 5:48 amwould be real helpful for us newbs to know exactly how much of each ingredient goes in the bag to make the marinade instead of saying combine.
Robert Pulley
June 10, 2018 at 9:14 pmIts all in the recipe above. Check it.
Chris
April 18, 2010 at 7:51 pmBrining is a definite plus for boneless skinless breasts. I like the marinade, good flavor profile.
Ray
June 23, 2018 at 6:39 pmI need a nice quick marinade for tonight. I can’t wait to try this.