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This simple yet delicious chicken marinade does two things well. It tenderises the chicken breasts, which prevents them from drying out during cooking. It also imparts delicious flavour of lemon, garlic and smoked paprika. This marinade recipe is ideal for grilling or oven baking!
For another chicken marinade recipe, check out Mojito Grilled Chicken Thighs.
The grilling season is here and we couldn’t be happier. Yay, for lighter meals cooked outside, fresh produce and summer holidays!
Burgers are great but most of the time I find myself wanting something a bit lighter. I prefer grilled chicken for my BBQs and if you share my affection, you will want to know my secret for tender and juicy chicken breasts cooked over fire.
4 Ingredient Chicken Marinade
- buttermilk
- garlic
- smoked paprika
- lemon juice
Buttermilk marinade
Marinade is a liquid mixture that is designed to add flavour and improve the texture of various meets through tenderising them.
The marinade recipe I am sharing today is quite special if not slightly unusual. It is buttermilk based.
Buttermilk is a magic ingredient as it tenderises the chicken and makes it juicier, which is extremely important when cooked in the intense heat of the grill.
How long can I marinate chicken for?
I recommend marinating chicken overnight for best flavour, always in the fridge. 2 hours is the shortest amount of time, in which the chicken will still benefit from this marinade.
You should never marinate chicken longer than for 2 days according to food safety guidelines.
What container should I use for marinating?
Avoid using metal, aluminium foil or glazed pottery containers as the acid in the marinade will react with the listed materials.
Can I use chicken marinade as a sauce afterwards?
Generally yes but only after it’s been boiled for at least 10 minutes. However, it is not the case with the buttermilk based marinade. It should NOT be used as a sauce but discarded.
Side dishes to go with your grilled chicken:
- Greek Orzo Salad
- Russian Potato Salad
- Mediterranean Salad with Fried Halloumi and Hummus
- Herby Farro Salad
Chicken Marinade Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 250ml / 1cup buttermilk , or kefir
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.smoked paprika, I used Spanish smoked paprika
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1kg / 2 lbs chicken breasts, or skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the buttermilk, pressed garlic, smoked paprika and lemon juice. Pour over chicken breasts or thighs and marinate for at least 8 hours. Salt and pepper the chicken before grilling.
- Grill chicken breasts on the grill for approximately 6 minutes on each side until cooked through and internal temperature registers at 165F/75C.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds delicious, but it’s winter here and rainy/snowy, not grilling weather. If you baked in the oven-what temperature and for how long?
Thanks!
Hi Paulette, I am not a big fan of cooking chicken breasts in the oven. I feel like the method doesn’t do much for the exterior of the chicken breasts and they often come out dry. If I wasn’t grilling these, I would just pan fry them.
Hi. I was reading through the comments and felt sure I saw someone ask about using the marinade as a sauce afterwards and you didn’t recommend it…but now I can’t see that comment, so my question is (and I’m sorry if you’ve already answered it and you now have to repeat yourself) but is the buttermilk marinade suitable to use as a sauce once the chicken is removed and is cooking?
Thanks
Hi Ruthie, I actually answer that question in the post itself. 🙂
“CAN I USE CHICKEN MARINADE AS A SAUCE AFTERWARDS?
Generally yes but only after it’s been boiled for at least 10 minutes. However, it is not the case with the buttermilk based marinade. It should NOT be used as a sauce but discarded.”
Thank you… I knew I’d read it…apologies for not re-reading more carefully. So next question…. how come ??
Ta
Buttermilk is not the type of liquid that would benefit from being boiled at high temperature for at least 10 minutes. It just doesn’t work as a sauce.
Hi! To clarify, you mix up the marinade AND chicken in the bag and freeze. Then when you thaw, the chicken marinades AND thaws at the same time. You can also skip freezing if you’d like, and just mix up the chicken and marinade the night before!
There are 0 freezing instructions in this recipe. In fact I wouldn’t recommend it.
Sounds GREAT. My question is can I make Keto butter milk ? 1/4 cup whipping cream, and 3/4 teaspoon cider vinegar ??
Hi Sherry, I’ve never tried making keto buttermilk, so can’t advise but you can just replace buttermilk with oil and vinegar. It’s the acidity in buttermilk that aids in tenderizing the chicken and since you are replacing them with vinegar, there is really no point in adding whipping cream.