Juicy, flavorful grilled chicken is easy with this lemon chicken marinade recipe. Using just a few pantry staples, it packs lemon and garlic flavor into every bite—and it works in as little as 30 minutes. Perfect for beginner grillers who want a foolproof dinner with minimal fuss.
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 👍Why This Lemon Chicken Marinade Works
- 🍋 What you will need
- 👨🍳Quick Overview: Lemon Chicken Marinade
- 🔥How to grill marinated chicken
- ♨️How to oven-bake lemon chicken breasts
- 👨🍳Pro tips to cook lemon chicken right
- 🐓More easy chicken recipes
- 🍽️Serving and leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Featured Comment by Amanda:
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"I 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..."
👍Why This Lemon Chicken Marinade Works
- Great lemon garlic flavor in just 30 minutes
- Works for both grilling or baking
- The acid helps tenderize the chicken without overdoing it
- Simple ingredients that deliver big flavor
- Naturally low-calorie, low-fat, and low-carb
🍋 What you will need
- Olive oil—the base that carries flavor
- Soy sauce—for depth and rich flavor
- Lemon juice—for flavor and to tenderize
- Garlic (minced or crushed)—a key flavor
- Brown sugar—for sweetness and browning
- Salt—only if not brining
- Optional—Dijon mustard, red pepper flakes, oregano, thyme, Italian seasoning, hot sauce, etc.
👍Pro Tip—Be sure to customize it to your taste.
👨🍳Quick Overview: Lemon Chicken Marinade
1. Mix the marinade
Combining soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, crushed garlic, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add salt if you didn't brine.
2. Preparing to chicken
Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat and thin to ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan—for safety, protect yourself with plastic wrap or a large ziplock bag.
3. Marinate chicken
Add chicken to the marinade, remove extra air, and seal. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours, but even as little as 20 minutes can add a lot of flavor. Remove breasts from the marinade; do not rinse off the marinade.
4. Cooking chicken
Grill or bake acording to specific instructions below.
👇For complete step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card or keep reading for tips, flavor options, and serving ideas.
🤔Pro Tip—Marinating Time: This marinade works in just 30 minutes, but even 20 minutes will give good flavor.
If you have extra time, let it soak for up to 4 hours to intensify the flavor.
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🔥How to grill marinated chicken
- Clean and oil the grill grates. Preheat the grill to 450° surface temperature.
- Grill and flip every 5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165°—about 20 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- If you have questions about controlling your grill temperature, please check my Guide to Controlling Grill Temperature.
- For a more detailed discussion, please see How to Grill Chicken Breast on a Gas Grill.
How to Grill Chicken Breasts on a Gas Grill
Are you tired of dry, rubbery grilled chicken breasts? Learn to grill juicy and flavorful chicken breasts with this never-fail recipe, including pro tips on preparation, grilling temperature, timing, and seasoning.
♨️How to oven-bake lemon chicken breasts
- Preheat the oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional.
- Place them in a shallow baking dish and bake until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F, about 25 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- More details at How to Bake Chicken Breasts in a Convection Oven.
How to Bake Chicken Breasts
The best way to bake chicken breasts. Your dinner will be ready in approximately 30 minutes and will be consistently healthy, moist, and tender. Quick and easy, with just a few secrets that any home cook can master.
👨🍳Pro tips to cook lemon chicken right
Cooking time is always dependent on the exact temperature and on the thickness and size of the chicken.
Leaving the chicken in the marinade for more than 4 hours can break down the texture and make the chicken mushy.
Replace the brown sugar with honey for a special flavor.
Fresh lemon juice does bring more flavor, and you can then add some zest. A medium lemon typically yields about 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice.
Use skinless, boneless chicken breasts of approximately the same size and thickness. If thicker than ¾ inches, cover with plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan to even the thickness.
Chicken thighs may be used, but they should be skinless; however, both bone-in and boneless options will work. While safe at 165°F, 180°F is a better final internal temperature for tenderness.
While you can marinate skin-on chicken, very little of the marinade will penetrate the skin to flavor the meat. I suggest marinades for skinless chicken.
🐓More easy chicken recipes
Check out some other flavorful chicken recipes, such as Garlic Lemon Butter Marinaded Grilled Chicken Breast, Grilled Buttermilk Chicken, Grilled Honey Garlic Chicken, or Italian Grilled Chicken Breasts.
🍽️Serving and leftovers
Serve these flavorful lemon garlic chicken breasts as the main course or in a sandwich or wrap. Sliced, it is also wonderful on a salad or in a rice bowl.
For some matching side dish recipes, try Stovetop French Fries, which can be made with either fresh or frozen fries, Simple Spinach Salad with bacon, or Grilled Mixed Vegetables.
Leftovers
Store leftovers refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for 3 months. Serve reheated, covered, in the oven, or sliced for use on salads or in wraps.
❓FAQs
Use two cups of water and one tablespoon of table salt for one to two hours. If you brine, rinse after brining. And skip the salt in the marinade.
Marinades combine oil, acid, herbs, and spices to tenderize and boost flavors. In my house, you also must add garlic.
For safety, once used, marinades should be considered contaminated and discarded or boiled before reused. If you want to brush the marinade on the meat during cooking, reserve a small amount ahead of time, or make a bit extra if necessary.
Try it with shrimp, pork chops, or tenderloin.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Easy Lemon Chicken Marinade for Grilling
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts - well trimmed
Marinade
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce - low sodium preferred
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic crushed or minced
- ½ teaspoon salt - skip if you brine
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Mix the marinade in a 1-gallon ziplock bag or a bowl, combining soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, crushed garlic, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add salt if you didn't brine.
Preparing to chicken to brine
- Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat and thin to ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan—for safety, protect yourself with plastic wrap or a large ziplock bag.
- Add chicken to the marinade, remove extra air, and seal. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours, but even as little as 20 minutes can add a lot of flavor. Remove breasts from the marinade; do not rinse off the marinade.
Cooking—brief grilling and baking instructions
- Grill at 450°F surface temperature with the lid closed. Flip every 5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165°—about 20 minutes most of the time, but check the temperature a few times early.
- OR bake in a 425°F preheated oven. Place the chicken in a shallow baking dish and bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F—about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Always rest for 5 minutes off the heat before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This is a marinade recipe, not a chicken recipe. The cooking instructions are brief. Refer to the recipe post for more comprehensive reference articles if you are unsure.
- Try to use chicken breasts of about the same size and thickness. Even them out some with a meat mallet if needed. Maximum thickness of ¾ of an inch.
- Both grill time and oven time can vary depending on the thickness of the chicken and the exact cooking temperature. So, check the internal temperature a bit earlier than you think.
- An internal temperature of 165 ° in the thickest part of the chicken is the minimum safe temperature.
- Once used, the marinade should be discarded or boiled before reuse. If you want to brush some on during cooking, reserve a small amount or make more as needed.
- Nutrition is calculated without brine, assuming 10% of the marinade is absorbed, and a 10-oz skinless, boneless chicken breast is used.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Originally published April 17, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Michelle Johnson says
Hi! 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 says
Hi 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 says
I 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 says
Hi Serina,
I have been known to do things like that. It is all about ratios.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Ferdinand lemaire says
My chicken was the best! Looked way better than in these pictures.
DrDan says
Thanks 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 says
I can't grill at my apartment. when say use a grill pan do you mean in the oven or on stove top?
DrDan says
Hi 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 says
My grill broke & I have the chicken marinating! Can I put this in a crock pot? Please advise! Thanks
DrDan says
The 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 says
Yum! Totally transforms chicken, especially when you're short on time for a marinade. We're trying it on thin sliced pork chops tonight.
Empress says
Omg 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 says
This 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 says
Hi 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 says
I 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. says
I 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 says
I 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 says
this 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 says
Thanks! 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 says
Do 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
todd little says
very good marinade. upping the brown sugar next time and marinading for more than 1/2 hour
DrDan says
Thanks 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 says
my bad I see now that the info is indeed there - sorry! trying this tonight!
DrDan says
Sorry 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 says
would 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 says
Its all in the recipe above. Check it.
Chris says
Brining is a definite plus for boneless skinless breasts. I like the marinade, good flavor profile.
Ray says
I need a nice quick marinade for tonight. I can't wait to try this.