The secret to good grilled chicken is marinating it! Marinating chicken keeps it moist and adds loads of flavor. One of my favorite marinations is a balsamic marinade. It is sweet, tangy, and gives the chicken a delicious char.

Best Ratios for Marination:

Creating a marination that tastes good is essential to the chicken being good. You can play around with a lot of ingredients to make the marination delicious. Here is the ratio I go by when making marinades!

  • 1/4 cup acid (vinegars, citrus juice, etc)
  • 3/4 cup fat (avocado oil, olive oil, etc)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning of choice (Italian, garlic powder, dried rosemary, etc)
  • 2 tsp sweetener of choice (like honey, maple syrup, or sugar)

Key Steps to Marinating:

  • Make sure the marination tastes good before marinating your meat with it! If it doesn’t taste good, your meat won’t either.
  • Give your meat enough time to marinate. 12 – 24 hours is ideal! If you are in a pinch, 1 hour is the minimum I would go.
  • Make sure to drain the marination off the meat before grilling. If you add a ton of the liquid to the pan, it will steam instead of grill the meat.
@kellyscleankitchen

Balsamic grilled chicken makes for the best meal prep! Recipe on my website! #chicken #marinade #cooking

♬ Ms. Jackson (Instrumental) – Outkast
  • SERVINGS:  2
  • PREP TIME: 10 Mins
  • COOK TIME: 15 Mins
  • TOTAL TIME: 25 Min

This is my go to for the best grilled chicken!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast
  • salt

Marination:

  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 3/4 cups avocado oil or neutral oil

Preparation:

STEP 1.

Season the chicken with salt and place in a ziploc bag.

STEP 2.

Make your marination. In a blender or container for your immersion blender, add the balsamic vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and Italians seasoning. Blend until mixed.

While blending, slowly add the oil a little bit at a time to emulsify. Add until you reach desired thickness. Add to the ziploc bag and marinate for 12-24 hours, or minimum 1 hour if you are rushed.

STEP 3.

Drain the chicken from the marination right before cooking and set aside.

STEP 4.

Turn the grill or cast iron to medium high heat. Grill the chicken on both sides until you have a char and internal temperature is 175*F if you are grilling thighs. This takes about 5-8 minutes per side. Remove and rest for 5 minutes.

STEP 5.

Serve and enjoy!

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