20 Marinated Chicken Recipes That Put Your Fridge to Work (2024)

Home Recipes Ingredients Chicken

Alyssa AsaroUpdated: Aug. 01, 2023

Marinading adds so much flavor with minimal effort. These marinated chicken recipes are some of our favorites.

1/20

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken

Looking for a marinated chicken recipe that’s juicy and flavorful? Let a sweet and savory overnight marinade with brown sugar, ginger and soy sauce do all the work.

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2/20

Taste of Home

Grilled Glazed Drummies

These chicken wings are more mild than traditional hot wings, but still bring layers of flavor with a sweet and sour ginger, honey and soy sauce blend. Give yourself at least four hours for the drumettes to marinate. If you enjoyed this recipe, then you must try sweet and sour chicken.

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3/20

Roasted Honey Mustard Chicken

You can’t go wrong with honey mustard. This roasted chicken only needs to marinate for three hours. Toss any leftovers into what’ll easily become your new favorite chicken salad.

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4/20

TMB studio

Sticky Chicken Wings

Sweet and sticky chicken wings are always a crowd-pleaser. The brown sugar marinade makes every bite worth the stack of napkins you’ll need to get through them!

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5/20

Taste of Home

Sheet-Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken

This sheet-pan chicken with roasted potatoes and a bright pop of lemon is so easy to make. No need to plan too far ahead: You only need to marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.

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6/20

Taste of Home

Sheet-Pan Tandoori Chicken

This sheet-pan marinated chicken recipe is easy to put together but tastes like a special occasion dinner. The chicken marinates all day in an aromatic blend of spices and yogurt. You can adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to make it milder or hotter.

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7/20

Tropical Island Chicken

This overnight marinated chicken is perfect for summer. The ginger, garlic and soy sauce aroma alone will have you drooling! Sesame seeds add a satisfying texture.

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8/20

Grilled Basil Chicken and Tomatoes

Tomato and basil is a classic combination for a reason. Serve this marinated chicken dish with pasta, potatoes or a green salad.

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9/20

Taste of Home

Filipino Chicken Adobo

The chicken only needs to sit for 20 to 30 minutes to soak up all the flavors of the mildly sweet and tangy sauce. The vinegar helps make this marinated chicken extra tender.

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10/20

Five-Spice Chicken Wings

The overnight marinade is the key to these crispy five-spice wings. We recommend making extra sauce for dipping.

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11/20

Taste of Home

Slow-Cooked Mandarin Chicken

This orange and olive chicken requires planning ahead, but most of the work is hands-off. Let the chicken marinate overnight, then cook it on low in the slow cooker all day. The end result is saucy and moist. It’s perfect over rice.

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12/20

Caribbean Chicken

You won’t find a marinade this flavorful at the grocery store. It requires little prep work and has a big payoff. Friends and family will request this sweet and spicy chicken all the time.

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13/20

Taste of Home

Flavorful Chicken Fajitas

Need a meal in hurry? These one-hour marinated chicken fajitas are beautifully seasoned with just the right amount of zing. Serve them with a selection of toppings, like shredded cheese, sliced red onions and salsa.

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14/20

Honey-Glazed Chicken Kabobs

These sweet and savory kebabs are a whole meal. But if you’re looking to serve a feast, some garlic bread on the side goes a long way. The six-hour marinade works with steaks as well.

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15/20

Roasted Lime Chicken

This roasted chicken is sub-lime! You’ll impress your guests but more importantly your tastebuds with this herby marinade.

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16/20

Orange-Spiced Chicken

Chinese five-spice powder is your grocery store’s best kept secret. So orange you glad you came across this overnight marinade recipe?

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17/20

Apple juice and chicken? Sign us up! This marinade goes on both the chicken and the vegetables, so all you have to do is grill and enjoy.

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18/20

Oven-Fried Chicken Drumsticks

With a Greek yogurt, mustard and garlic marinade, you won’t even be able to tell the chicken isn’t actually fried. You can make the marinade and coat the chicken the night before, so everything is ready when it’s time to cook.

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19/20

Ranch-Marinated Chicken Breasts

Ranch and chicken is one of our favorite combinations. Use the leftover sour cream marinade for a zesty wrap—it packs more of a punch than you’d expect.

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20/20

Grilled Basil Chicken

This light summer meal is perfect with grilled romaine. Make it the night before so it’s ready for dinner.

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Next Up: Make the best steak marinade.

Originally Published: May 05, 2020

Alyssa Asaro

Alyssa has been with Taste of Home for just over a year, but has been in food and lifestyle publishing since 2018. As an associate editor, she writes and edits recipe collections and runs several newsletters, including Top 10, Slow Cooker & Casseroles, Quick Dinners and Balanced Plate.When she's not planning her next trip overseas, you can find Alyssa trying out new Chicago restaurants or watching a movie.

20 Marinated Chicken Recipes That Put Your Fridge to Work (2024)

FAQs

How long can raw marinated chicken stay in the fridge? ›

The USDA recommends not keeping poultry in marinade for longer than two days, as it's possible that the marinade will start breaking down the meat's fibers and cause it to become mushy. A good rule of thumb is to keep marinating time under 24 hours.

What are the three main ingredients when marinating? ›

A typical marinade is made up of three essential components: an acid (such as vinegar, wine, or citrus), an oil (such as olive oil or sesame oil), and a flavouring agent (such as herbs and spices). These elements work together to transform the taste and texture of your dish in different ways.

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What is the formula for chicken marinade? ›

Making a chicken marinade at home is fast and simple. Marinades are usually 2 parts oil to 1 part acid (something like wine, lemon juice or vinegar), and some salt.

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How long should you marinate chicken? ›

As a rule of thumb, you can marinate chicken anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours for bone-in chicken or 2 hours for boneless. Past 12 hours, you risk the ingredients of the marinade (such as sugar, acid, and salt) breaking down the muscle fibers in the meat, causing it to go overly soft or mushy.

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How to tell if marinated chicken has gone bad? ›

If your chicken is slimy, has a foul smell, or has changed to a yellow, green, or gray color, these are signs that your chicken has gone bad. Toss any chicken that's past its use-by date, has been in the fridge for more than 2 days raw or 4 day cooked, or has been in the temperature danger zone for over 2 hours.

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Is raw chicken good in the fridge for a week? ›

How Long Does Chicken Last in the Refrigerator? Surprisingly or not, raw chicken, whether it's whole or cut into parts (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings), lasts in the fridge between one to two days, according to the Cold Food Storage Chart from FoodSafety.gov, one of the federal consumer resources for food safety.

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What liquid is best for marinade? ›

Marinades generally consist of cooking oil, an acidic liquid, such as vinegar, wine, tomato, or citrus juice (or a natural enzyme, such as ginger or pineapple), and flavorings, including garlic, molasses, honey, fresh or dried herbs, and spices.

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What liquid tenderizes chicken? ›

You might have wondered why most chefs or cooks prefer to soak their chicken in buttermilk or yogurt overnight. Well, the answer is simple: they are tenderizing the chicken for cooking later, and that's the secret behind their super delicious, juicy chicken.

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What is the best oil for marinade? ›

Extra virgin olive oil is ideal for marinades due to its flavor complexity and higher concentration of polyphenols, which can help tenderize the meat.

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Should I poke holes in chicken before marinating? ›

In addition to proper seasoning, there's another trick to getting super flavorful chicken breasts — just pierce the breast with a fork a few times, or score it with a sharp knife. This works for a few reasons, but one of the most important aspects is that it helps marinades penetrate deeper into the meat.

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How to speed up marinating chicken? ›

Make cuts into the chicken pieces before marinating. This is perfect for bone-in chicken pieces that take longer to cook. More than cooking time, making these cuts also make marinating the chicken faster, easier, and even tastier!

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What does it mean when chicken is mushy? ›

“Raw chicken can have a somewhat slimy feel to it, but if it has a slimy feel after it is rinsed off and patted dried, it's no longer good,” Danielson said. Another test is to press down on the meat. If the flesh is so soft it leaves an imprint, it's likely bad.

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Can I eat marinated chicken after 5 days? ›

Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.

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How long can marinated meat stay in the fridge before it goes bad? ›

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends storing marinated meat in the refrigerator for no more than 3-5 days. This time frame accounts for the potential growth of harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

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How long does homemade marinade last in the fridge? ›

Once you've opened your marinade, you've generally got 1 month to use it if stored in your refrigerator. If you've mixed up your own marinade at home, it's best to use it immediately, but it can be refrigerated for up to 3-5 days. Freezing marinade is also an option; it can be safely frozen for up to 6 months.