Easy Blender Lemon Chicken Marinade

Your go-to summer chicken marinade is about to get even better with this delicious blend of fresh flavors. With zesty lemon, aromatic garlic, and a medley of fresh herbs, this easy lemon chicken marinade recipe is a snap to make in the blender. It serves as both a mouthwatering marinade and a delectable sauce to drizzle over the grilled lemon chicken, intensifying its taste. The ideal choice for making a delicious, fuss-free summer meal.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Like This Recipe
• Recipe Ingredients
• Substitutions and Variations
• Recipe instructions
• How to Pound Chicken Breasts
• Tips for Perfect Grilled Chicken Breasts
• Serving Suggestions
• Recipe FAQs
• More Recipes With Lemon
• ⭐️Did you Make This Recipe?
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Like This Recipe

• Different ways to use it, as a lemon chicken marinade, sauce, and dressing.
• An easy chicken marinade that works for shrimp and fish too.
• Use immediately or make the marinade, add chicken breasts, and freeze for future meals.
• Get outside and use your outdoor grill, or indoors with a grill pan.
• Use it to marinate chicken chunks for skewers.

For another chicken marinade recipe, try these baked teriyaki chicken thighs with homemade teriyaki sauce.

Recipe Ingredients

Simple ingredients, flavorful chicken.

Lemon Marinade Ingredients

• Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is best for lemon chicken marinade. It adds nice flavor. You could use a healthy neutral oil like this or avocado oil (no vegetable oil).
• Acidic component: Fresh lemon juice. For more lemon flavor use lemon zest too.
• Herbs: Start fresh parsley and add other fresh herbs of choice to the mix; thyme, dill, rosemary, mint, cilantro, basil, and oregano are all tasty.
• Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves, zested fine to blend in easily.
• Mustard: Mustard naturally emulsifies marinade and Dijon gives it a little tang. Use a smooth Dijon for the great flavor.
• Honey: Just a little sweetness to temper the tart lemon flavor. For zero-sugar use this marvelous sugar-free honey (it's what I use).

For Grilled Chicken

• Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts work beautifully and are so easy. Boneless chicken thighs work too if you like dark meat. If you prefer chicken tenderloins (chicken tenders), marinate and grill using a grill basket so they don't fall through the grates. They cook quickly.

Please see the recipe card for measurements, salt and pepper.

Here's a great way to use these lemon chicken breasts, to top a Caesar pasta salad. It's a family-pleasing entree salad.

Chef's Tip: Buying chicken. Buy raw chicken by weight, not pieces, as chicken breasts really vary in size. Depending on your appetites, figure 6-8 ounces per person. Leftovers are great, do don't worry about cooking extra. Use it for a terrific leftover chicken salad for the next day's lunch with extra lemon chicken marinade as salad dressing.

Substitutions and Variations

• Vary the fresh herbs that you choose.
• Fresh herbs really work the best in this lemon chicken marinade, but dried or part dried can be substituted. For example, start with 1 tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian parsley as it's usually available, then add approximately a ½ teaspoon of 1 dried herb to the mix, then blend and taste. Allow the dried herbs time to rehydrate before using.
• Use all fresh oregano and mint and make it more of a Greek chicken marinade.
• Substitute ½ teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic for 2 fresh garlic cloves.
• Make it a lime chicken marinade with fresh squeezed lime juice or a combination or lime juice and lemon juice.

For another delicious marinade option, use my homemade Italian dressing recipe.

Recipe instructions

Step 5: Marinate chicken 60 minutes on the kitchen counter, indoors. Yes, this is food safe to do. Get the grill ready, drain off marinade and grill chicken on a pre-heated grill until done, approximately 12-15 minutes in total depending on the heat of your grill and the thickness of the chicken breasts.

As soon as you pull the chicken breasts off the grill, brush them with fresh lemon chicken marinade to add flavor and moisture for juicy chicken.

How to Pound Chicken Breasts

Why pound chicken breasts? Because you won't get a dry or undercooked thicker end. Chicken breasts grill more evenly giving you much better results. No more dry chicken.

Place between layers of plastic wrap, in a zip bag, or directly on a cutting board, smooth side up. Pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts to a more even thickness focusing on the thicker end when pounding. Don't pound so hard as to tear the meat.

For pounding, use a handy buy-it-once in your life meat pounder tool, or the flat bottom of a small heavy skillet. You'll get better control with the meat pounder.

Tips for Perfect Grilled Chicken Breasts

Serving Suggestions

As the lemon chicken marinade intentionally makes extra, serve grilled chicken breasts with fresh marinade as the sauce. It's delicious! Here are a few great sides for lemon chicken marinade and grilled chicken breasts:

• Sweet corn succotash with bacon (or without)
• Healthy homemade coleslaw (lightly creamy)
• Baby Dutch yellow potatoes
• This easy, no-cook 3-bean salad.
• Simple 5 minute green beans

Extra garlic lemon chicken marinade works beautifully as a salad dressing or to dress grilled vegetables, like this grilled zucchini, another terrific side dish for grilled chicken breasts.

For the perfect dessert, serve this easy lemon posset. Make it in minutes!

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes With Lemon

Do you love lemon? Me too! Try a few of these lemon recipes. And if you have an ice cream maker, try this delicious homemade lemon ice cream for a real summer treat.

⭐️Did you Make This Recipe?

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