Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade

Whether you bake, grill or roast, My Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade means you need never serve dry chicken ever again!

Marinades are wonderful for helping to keep chicken moist and tasty. I marinate poultry for at least a couple of hours before I cook it, longer if I have time. Having said that, even a half hour in a marinade will improve the flavour and texture of your chicken. I just pop the chicken pieces in a ziplock bag, pour the marinade in, seal and pop the bag on a plate in the fridge. It’s the work of moments.

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Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade – a Family Recipe

My Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade is loosely based on a marinade developed by my late Dad. He adored cooking, particularly in the summer, when he would spend hours out on the deck barbecuing delicious meals for family and friends. He wrote down a few of his recipes but I couldn’t find this one, so I made it up from memory. I think it’s pretty close.

Full of flavour, my Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade makes for delicious chicken meals, whether you are serving the meat hot with a side dish or cold in a sandwich or salad. I always make extra so there are leftovers as the cold chicken tastes great too.

Versatile and Adaptable Recipe

You can use fresh or dried herbs in this recipe, although I prefer to use dried because my Dad always did. We weren’t all that into smokey flavours in our family, hence the ordinary paprika. Prefer a smokier taste? Switch it out for the smoked variety.

If you are on a low sodium diet, do feel free to omit the salt. It will alter the flavour slightly but the chicken will still be delicious!

How To Cook The Chicken

This recipe is fabulous for grilling chicken as the marinade helps it resist drying out even in the fierce heat of the barbecue.

If I’m baking or roasting the chicken indoors, I like to use a cast iron braising pan. This Le Creuset cast iron casserole is like the one I have owned for five years now. I really love Le Creuset pans because they cook brilliantly and they last forever.

I also have a larger a Dutch oven style casserole – that my late mother-in-law bought me 28 years ago. It’s still going strong. That’s the thing I love about cast iron pans. They may be expensive, but they can become real heirlooms.

You can use this Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade for all kinds of chicken pieces but my favourites are ‘chicken supremes’ or ‘supreme of chicken’. They are boneless chicken breasts but with the wing bone still attached. For some reason, cooking them like this seems to make the chicken taste better.

You can marinade and cook the chicken with the skin on or off, depending on how you like it best.

Perfect for summer barbecues or cooking indoors all year round, my My Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade is mild enough to make cold chicken suitable for use in all your favourite recipes but flavourful enough to be served hot on its own with any side dish. It could make you look at chicken in a whole new way!

Created by: April J Harris

Easy Lemon and Herb Chicken Marinade

Course Main Course

Cuisine Canadian

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Ingredients

  

• ⅓ cup mild olive oil
• ⅓ cup lemon juice that's 2 to 3 lemons, depending on the size
• the grated rind of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried chives
• a generous pinch of salt this can be omitted if you are on a low sodium diet
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 heaped teaspoon paprika

Instructions

• In a large pitcher, mix together the oil and lemon juice.
• Add the garlic, basil, chives, salt, pepper and paprika.
• Whisk well.
• Pour over chicken pieces and marinate for at least a half an hour, preferably at least two hours or up to 12 hours before cooking.
• Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade.
• You can use the remaining marinade to brush on the chicken before cooking but you should discard any that is left after that point for food safety reasons.
• Bake, broil or grill until the chicken is completely cooked with no pink remaining inside. (Internal temperature of the meat should be 165°F.)
• Serve hot or cool quickly and refrigerate for later use.

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