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This Marinated Grilled Chicken cooks up super juicy and delicious, and we’re sharing our ‘secret’ marinade recipe with you today!
This Marinated Grilled Chicken recipe has been one of my long-standing, favorite ways to prepare boneless, skinless chicken.
Way back when – long before I met my husband Jack – I’d make this grilled chicken recipe just about every time I had friends or family over for dinner. It’s easy to make, very delicious, and you can serve the grilled chicken breasts hot off the grill. Or, you can grill the chicken in advance, then slice and serve warm or chilled for buffets, sandwiches or salads.
This is one of those recipes that is so good, everyone always asks me to share it with them – and now we’re sharing it with all of you today!
How do you make this easy Marinated Grilled Chicken?
This Marinated Grilled Chicken has a ‘secret’ ingredient. 😉 You’ll simply mix a packet of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix
with with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, oil, sliced onions and garlic.
Marinate the chicken, then grill it up – and the results are moist and delicious chicken with a wonderful, caramelized color and amazing flavor!
We also strained the onions and garlic used in the marinade, then sauteed those up in a pan until tender and caramelized. Then we served them with our grilled chicken.
How long should I let my chicken marinate?
In the recipe below, we marinate the chicken overnight in the refrigerator for the best flavor and results. But if time is tight, a general rule of thumb is that you’ll want to marinate the chicken before grilling for at least six hours to give the meat a chance to absorb the flavor.
And never marinate chicken for more than two days, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
How do you keep this Marinated Grilled Chicken moist when grilling?
One of the best ways to ensure that your Marinated Grilled Chicken stays nice and moist when grilling is to use an instant-read food thermometer to check when your grilled chicken is done. Stick the probe thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, and remove your chicken breasts from the grill when the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Cover your chicken with foil while it rests – the internal temperature of the chicken will continue to rise a bit and it should reach an internal temperature of 165°F which is the USDA’s minimum safe internal temperature for chicken. (If you cook the chicken longer and the internal temperature rises, it will dry out.)
Also, chicken breasts that are uniform in thickness cook more evenly so you avoid over-cooking the edges while the inside of the breast needs more time to cook. If your chicken breasts are very large or thick, butterfly them to achieve an even thickness.
Can I use this marinade with other meats?
Absolutely! This same marinade can used to marinate steak tips – and I also add about a quarter cup of brown sugar to the mix when using this recipe with beef. (It adds a nice caramelized sweetness to the grilled steak tips.)
This Marinated Grilled Chicken is a great way to feed a crowd this summer. And any leftovers are perfect in other recipes that call for cooked boneless, chicken breast meat.
This post originally appeared on A Family Feast in May 2013. We’ve updated the post and photos.
You may also like these other Grilled Chicken Recipes:
- Grilled Chicken Skewers with Thai Chili Peanut Sauce
- Citrus Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Honey Lime Chicken
- Grilled Marinated Chicken with Tropical Salsa
- Citrus Grilled Chicken
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Marinated Grilled Chicken
This Marinated Grilled Chicken cooks up super juicy and delicious, and we’re sharing our ‘secret’ marinade recipe with you today!
Ingredients
- 4–8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 4 large cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1/3 cup oil (your choice – canola, vegetable, olive)
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
Instructions
- Trim all fat from the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You may also want to ‘butterfly’ (see instructions here) the breasts if they are very thick so that they cook evenly on the grill. Place the trimmed chicken pieces in a large zipper seal bag.
- Add the sliced onion, smashed garlic cloves, oil, soy sauce, vinegar and Good Seasons pack to the bag with the chicken. Seal the back tightly, removing as much of the excess air from the bag as possible.
- Gently squeeze all of the contents of the bag so that the ingredients mix together and all of the chicken is coated. Place the bag in a large bowl or on a plate (in case the bag leaks) and place in the refrigerator.
- Allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator overnight – or for a minimum of 6 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat your grill. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill the chicken until cooked through – 10-20 minutes depending on the temperature of your grill.
- If you wish, you may drain the onions and garlic from the marinade and sauté until caramelized.
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Notes
This recipe makes enough to marinate up to 8 chicken breast halves.
Marinated chicken recipe is just in time for grilling season at the lake!!! We don’t grill at our city condo , however, I’m going to try it on my grill pan….it will miss the flavor of being cooked on the BBQ grill. There are so many ways to use grilled chicken breast. The caramelized onions and garlic will take it to another flavor level.
Thank you Martha and Happy Summer
Linda
Hi Linda – Happy summer to you too! (Although it has been cool and rainy these last few days…) This chicken recipe will work well cooked on a grill pan. Hope you enjoy it!
Made this chicken for dinner and it was delicious. I took the leftovers and made chicken sandwiches with them and they turned out great to. Thanks so much for the recipe. I will definatly be using it often.
Thanks Joan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This looks mouthwatering, Martha! When I’m drooling, it’s because the photos are stunning…which yours are! I’m going to be trying this with your broccoli salad you posted today! YUMMM!!!
This looks fantastic! I’m pinning it and cannot WAIT to try it. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks Trixie!!
Looks scrumptious!
Can’t wait to fire up the grill, this sounds so good. I love finding recipes for boneless, skinless chicken that doesn’t dry it out on the grill!
Love this recipe! Pinning it. I would buy more kitchen stuff. I can’t get enough of it.
Thanks Christie! (I’d buy more kitchen stuff too!) 🙂
Loving all the recipes! So glad I found you on Facebook.
Thanks Ilyssa!
Thank you so much for joining in Martha!
This chicken look absolutely amazing (as does everything you post) – can’t waite to try the recipe.
Thanks Paula!!
Would be marvelous except I live in the U>K> and can’t buy the Good Season Italian mix!!
Sorry to disappoint Jude! We’re actually trying to recreate the spice mix ourselves and if we get it right, we’ll share the recipe. Thank you for visiting us today.
Jude, you should be able to purchase through Amazon.com or similar sites. There shouldn’t be an issue through customs, it is just a dried seasoning mix.
I frequently purchase things from Amazon.co.uk. The shipping time can be a little extensive, but it’s the only way to get certain items!