Sesame Ginger Grilled Chicken

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 sesame ginger. It is sweet, tangy, and gives the chicken a delicious char. It also makes for fantastic meal prep because it locks in both moisture and flavor. If you are a fan of Asian flavors, you will love this marinade.

Key Ingredients and Substitutions:

• Chicken Breast – I chose to use chicken breast in this recipe as a high protein meal prep option. If you don’t want to use breast, chicken thighs are even better!
• Coconut Aminos – I love using coconut aminos as a soy free soy sauce substitution. It is also gluten free and not nearly as salty as soy sauce is. If you prefer soy sauce, you can use that but water it down so it isn’t too salty.
• Garlic and Ginger – fresh garlic and ginger are preferred for better flavor here. However, you can substitute garlic powder and ginger powder if you are in a pinch.
• Sesame Oil – only use a touch of sesame oil! Too much will be overpowering. You can also use peanut oil here instead.
• Lime Juice – fresh lime juice is essential for this recipe to balance the other ingredients in the marinade. You can also use rice vinegar here.
• Red Pepper Flakes – the amount of spice here is very minimal. I cannot handle much spice and can eat this easily. You can omit if you are worried about spice.
• Fish Sauce – fish sauce is great because it is packed with umami! It doesn’t taste fishy at all, so don’t worry about that. You can omit completely if you like.

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.