This lemon chicken marinade recipe is easy, simple, and quick. Tangy, citrusy, and packed full of flavor, this homemade herb garlic lemon marinade for chicken is made with a few simple ingredients and can be ready in 5 minutes. Marinate chicken with lemon for a delicious, restaurant quality, flavorful meal.
Lemon Chicken Marinade Recipe
This lemon chicken marinade is the best and you will love it not just because it's easy, simple, and quick but also because it's flavorful, authentic, and inexpensive. The flavors in this lemon herb marinade are amazing and it's made with just 5 simple ingredients.
This homemade marinade for chicken is made with healthy ingredients that can be found in the kitchen pantry and you probably don't need to make a trip to the grocery store.
Let me tell you, this lemon juice chicken marinade is one that will soon be your favorite. It's that good!
The lemon marinade for chicken tenderizes the chicken, infuses it with flavor, and makes it moist, and juicy. When you have tried it, you won't want to marinate chicken any other way. It's amazing!
This marinade is perfect for all parts of the chicken be it chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken legs, wings, and even other poultry.
It is a simple chicken marinade yet packed full of flavor. Easy, quick, budget-friendly, made with acid, oil, herbs, and spices, It ticks all the boxes for what a good chicken marinade should be.
Lemon marinated chicken is not complete without this marinade. After marinating chicken with it, you can broil it, air fry, bake, grill or broil which makes it suitable for making that marinated chicken for dinner in no time at all.
It stores well as you can freeze this juicy chicken marinade for up to 3 months. When you need to use it, just bring it out thaw and marinate chicken with it.
This will marinate up to 2lb / 1kg chicken. You can double the recipe if you wish.
This garlic lemon chicken marinade is sugar free, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, and
I have not used sugar or honey in this marinade however if you want sweet and glaze , add a tablespoon of honey.
Related: simple chicken marinade, and Honey mustard marinade
Ingredients for Lemon Marinade For Chicken
Lemon- I highly recommend freshly squeezed, however, if you don't have that you can use bottled lemon juice.
Garlic- minced garlic, garlic powder, or granules.
Olive oil- I like to use extra virgin olive oil for my marinades but you can use olive oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil for this recipe.
Black pepper - Adjust this to your taste.
Rosemary- This goes well with chicken and lemon. It is aromatic, flavorful, and a little goes a long way.
Parsley - This herb is so good and makes it to almost all my marinades. It packs a punch.
Dried thyme
Salt- Salt to taste.
How To Make Lemon Chicken Marinade
Rub the lemon on a flat surface so it's easy to juice. Cut the lemon and juice the lemon into a small bowl.
Add olive, dried thyme, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, and salt. Mix till well combined.
It is ready to use.
How To Marinate Chicken With Lemon
Clean the chicken, cut out fat, or skin. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
Put the chicken in a ziploc bag and pour the marinade over them.
Zip the Ziploc and gently shake the bag to rub in the marinade with the chicken.
When the chicken is evenly coated, place the Ziploc in the fridge and marinate chicken for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
When ready to cook, bring the chicken out, and cook as desired.
Discard the remaining marinade in the bag.
How To Store
To Store the marinade: Pour the marinade into an airtight container or Ziploc, label it and store in the fridge for up to 48 hours or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To store lemon marinated chicken: label the Ziploc with name and dates, massage the bag to get the marinade all over the chicken then put the bag in the freezer where you can store it for up to 6 months. When ready to cook, bring it out and put it in the fridge to thaw overnight or cook from frozen.
Lemon Marinated Chicken
There are many ways one can cook lemon marinated chicken. It can be cooked in the oven, air fryer, grill, pressure cooker.
How To cook it in the oven- After marinating the chicken as detailed above, arrange them on a baking paper-lined tray.
Bake it in the oven at a temperature of 400F/200C until cooked.
Chicken breast and boneless chicken cooking times are 25-35 minutes, while bone-in chicken thighs take 45-50 minutes.
Here are some other recipes:
Air fryer lemon chicken breast
Marinated chicken in air fryer
Chicken is cooked when the internal temperature is at least 165F/75C and the inside is no longer pink.
Tips
- Marinate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours. Unless freezing don't marinate for more than 4 hours as the acid in the lemon can start breaking down the protein and make it tough.
- You can make the marinade and store it. It lasts up to 6 months in the freezer.
- Adjust the pepper to how you like your spice.
- If marinating frozen chicken, thaw first before adding the marinade.
FAQS
Is it ok to marinate chicken in lemon juice
Yes, it is. Lemon makes a great ingredient for marinade because it is a naturally acidic fruit that is tangy and tenderizes the chicken to infuse flavor. The oil coats the chicken so it crisps nicely and doesn't come out dry, the Lemon acid tenderizes the chicken and infuses it with flavor, herbs, and spice flavor.
What happens when you marinate chicken in lemon juice for too long
When chicken is marinated in lemon juice for too long, which I would say anytime over 3 hours, it starts breaking the proteins down and can make the chicken chewy and rubbery.
How long can you marinate in lemon juice
For 30 minutes up to 3 hours is the best time. After this time, they start to break down and
Marinated Chicken Recipes
I hope you like this lemon chicken marinade recipe as much as we do. If you find this post helpful, please rate it 5 stars and leave me a comment below. I love reading from you.
Don’t want to miss a thing? Subscribe to the blog for free weekly recipes in your email. Also, follow recipe vibes on Instagram and Pinterest. Subscribe to my Youtube channel for recipe videos.
Lemon Chicken Marinade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium Lemon produce 3-4 tablespoons juice.
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon Parsley
- ¼ teaspoon Dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper or to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 kg Chicken
Instructions
- Rub the lemon on a flat surface so it's easy to juice. Cut the lemon and juice the lemon into a small bowl.
- Add olive, dried thyme, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, and salt. Mix till well combined.
- It is ready to use.
How To Marinade Chicken With Lemon
- Clean the chicken, cut out fat, or skin. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
- Put the chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over them. Zip the Ziploc and gently shake the bag to rub in the marinade with the chicken.
- When the chicken is evenly coated, place the Ziploc in the fridge and marinate chicken for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
- When ready to cook, bring the chicken out, and cook as desired.
- Discard the remaining marinade in the bag.
How To Cook
- After marinating the chicken as detailed above, arrange them on a baking paper-lined tray.
- Bake it in the oven at a temperature of 400F/200C until cooked. Chicken breast and boneless chicken cooking times are 25-35 minutes, while bone-in chicken thighs take 45-50 minutes.
Notes
- Marinate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours. Unless freezing don't marinate for more than 4 hours as the acid in the lemon can start breaking down the protein and make it tough.
- You can make the marinade and store it. It lasts up to 6 months in the freezer.
- Adjust the pepper to how you like your spice.
- If marinating frozen chicken, thaw first before adding the marinade.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Great! Rate it by clicking the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leaving a comment below. Don't forget to share this post with your friends, families, and also on your favorite Pinterest and Facebook groups.
Leave a Reply