Lemon Chicken Marinade
It works as both a marinade for the raw chicken and a sauce to finish the grilled chicken at serving. Serve with grilled vegetables. Marinade yield is 1 cup; half for marinade and half to use as sauce after grilling. Recipe doubles easily.
Servings: 4
Calories: 527kcal
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
Grilling Tips:
For a gas grill or pellet grill, heat grill on high until hot then clean the grates with a stiff grill brush. Turn the heat down to medium. Brush the grill grates with tongs and a wad of folded paper towels dipped in a little high heat oil to help prevent sticking. Place chicken breasts on the grill, smooth side down first.
To get restaurant-worthy grill marks, think 10:00 and 2:00 like the positions on a clock. Start chicken breasts with one end pointed at 10 and allow the marks to develop, then move to 2 and you’ll get perfect grill marks. After a few minutes when the chicken is golden, turn the chicken breasts over and complete grilling on the other side.
Nutritional calculation notes: As you don't consume all of the marinade at once, it is difficult to accurately calculate the numbers. Approximately half the marinade is used for the chicken then discarded, the other half used to finish and at serving.
Marinade per 2 tablespoons: 164 kcals, 18 gr fat, 1 carb, 0 protein.
Chicken breast per 6 ounce servings: 185 kcals, 2 gr fat, 0 carbs, 39 protein.
Nutrition
Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 28g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 518mg | Potassium: 674mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 223IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg