Your go-to summer chicken marinade is about to get even better. This easy lemon chicken marinade blends fresh lemon, garlic, Dijon, olive oil, and herbs into a bright, flavorful sauce that does double duty as both a marinade and a finishing drizzle for grilled chicken. Make it in minutes in the blender, marinate your chicken, then brush on a little clean marinade after grilling for extra flavor. It's simple, fresh, and perfect for an easy summer dinner.
Marinades are meant to add flavor to meat and poultry, but too often they fall short. Not this lemon chicken marinade. Fresh lemon, herbs, and garlic bring bright, bold flavor, while Dijon mustard helps create a creamy, emulsified marinade that clings beautifully to the chicken. For the best flavor, brush the grilled chicken with a little clean marinade right after it comes off the grill, and serve extra on the side as a sauce. It's simple, but it makes the flavor pop.
↓ Recipe
Lemon Chicken Marinade Recipe Highlights
- Use it three ways - As a lemon chicken marinade, a finishing sauce, or a bright dressing.
- beyond chicken - Try it with shrimp, fish, or chicken skewers.
- Grill indoors or out - Cook on an outdoor grill or inside with a grill pan.
- Great for skewers - Marinate chicken chunks, thread onto skewers, and grill.
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.
- Acidic component: Fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Herbs: Start fresh parsley and add another fresh herb 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 great flavor.
- Honey: Just a little sweetness to temper the tart lemon flavor. For zero-sugar use this 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 (use a pastry brush) 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
- Be sure the grill grates are clean and oiled before starting.
- To get perfect grill marks, use the 10:00-2:00 rule. Start the pieces angled at 10:00, then rotate the piece to 2:00 after grill marks have formed. You can also just go one direction and not turn them.
- Start grilling on the top or presentation side (rounded side) for great grill marks, then turn and finish for a few minutes, about 11-13 minutes in total depending on the heat of your grill. I grill mine for about 8 minutes on the top and another 3-4 on the flip side.
- Chicken is done at an internal temperature of 165°F, so grill just a few degrees short and pull them off the grill. The temperature will rise after taking off the grill and chicken stays moist.
For another chicken cutlet recipe, try these air fryer chicken cutlets. Dinner made in minutes.
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
Marinating chicken adds flavor. According to Harold McGee, world renowned authority and award winning author on the chemistry of food and cooking, "today meats are marinated primarily to flavor them and to make them more moist and tender". The acid in marinades does weaken muscle tissue and increase its ability to retain moisture, but marinades penetrate slowly, and not much in the case of chicken.
Longer marinating time is not the answer, as chicken can get a mushy texture and from the acid in the citrus juice. Long marinate times generally do you (or your chicken) no good. Where marinating imparts more flavor is when cooking thin slices of meat, as in sliced skirt steak or chicken for stir fry.
All that being said, I pound my chicken breasts to a more even thickness, marinate for 1 hour, and finish it with clean marinade immediately after grilling. It's moist, juicy, and delicious.
For boneless, skinless chicken, 60 minutes is enough time to impart flavor and a little moisture. It's food-safe to marinate chicken on an indoor kitchen counter if the temperature is under 90°F for up to an hour: for longer, refrigerate. Most kitchens are not near that temperature. You really don't need to marinate chicken any longer anyway.
Oil, acid, and flavorings such as garlic and herbs are the basics for a good marinade.
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.
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Chicken Marinade
Equipment
- Grill or barbecue
- Mini blender great size for dressings
Ingredients
Lemon chicken marinade (yield 1 cup)
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 large lemons
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs of choice parsley, mint, dill, rosemary, thyme
- 2 teaspoons smooth Dijon mustard
- 1-2 teaspoons honey or no-sugar honey
- 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped or zested
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Chicken
- 1 ½ - 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
Make the marinade (makes extra)
- Add all marinade ingredients to a blender and blend about 20 seconds until smooth and emulsified.
Trim and prep the chicken
- Place chicken breasts in a heavy duty zip style plastic bag smooth side up. Using a meat pounder, pound the thicker end of the chicken breasts to make them thinner and more even in thickness. Pound chicken firmly but not so hard that you tear the meat. Larger chicken breasts take more pounding than smaller ones.
Marinate the chicken
- Pour about 4-5 tablespoons of marinade or a little more into the zip bag and seal the bag pressing the air out. Refrigerate chicken 1 hour at room temperature or refrigerated. You can also marinate them in a flat casserole dish, turning to coat them well.
Grill the chicken breasts
- Before grilling, drain off marinade and discard. Place on a plastic film or parchment covered quarter sheet pan to transport to the grill.
- Grill chicken until done, about 12-14 minutes depending on your grill and how thick the chicken is. Using a digital thermometer to test for temperature, pull chicken off the grill at 160 degrees. It will rise to the perfect 165° and stay juicy. Brush or drizzle with fresh lemon chicken marinade for added flavor and serve more on the side. Leftover chicken keeps up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container, remember to label and date. Makes great chicken salad the next day.
Notes
Nutrition
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Kelly says
Loved this recipe! The chicken came out so moist and flavorful. We used the extra sauce to drizzle over steamed broccoli - so good!
Sally Cameron says
Love to hear that Kelly! Thanks for commenting! This has been my go-to grilled chicken recipe all summer, and then using the extra to make a creamy chicken salad.Good idea on the broccoli!
Debbie says
Hi Sally, I made the lemon chicken marinade for dinner tonight. I used about 3/4 fresh rosemary and 1/4 fresh parsley. I didn't pound the chicken but did cut the breasts lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces, depending on the size of the breast. It was sooooo good!!! Very moist, tender and flavorful!!! Thanks Sally!!
Aly says
This was an amazing marinade! I was skeptical at first about the lemon/mint combo (esp because my family is picky about anything that whispers "healthy") but it turned out great! Definitely will make again and will have the leftover marinade drizzled over my lunch salad tomorrow 😀
Marla says
Beautiful grilled chicken.
Cookin' Canuck and I would love if you linked up this recipe & any 2 other side dishes in this weeks Get Grillin' event posted on both of our blogs. We have a fabulous Ile De France Cheese giveaway. You just need to link up on one site 🙂 http://su.pr/17fizq
Sally says
Sally, your site looks great!! I love these grilled chicken breasts--I make something similar with mint and lemon--great minds think alike 🙂
Dr. Patrick Mahaney says
This looks like something I am capable of making! I love lemon, mint, and watermelon all together.
PM
Rivki Locker (Ordinary Blogger) says
This looks wonderful. I never think of using mint in savory dishes. Thanks for the suggestion. Will have to try this soon.