The best chicken marinade

on May 23rd, 2008The best chicken marinade

Chicken breasts marinated with this recipe in my grill pan, which is by Berndes of Germany. It's a brand favored by foodies but often overlooked by others. It performs beautifully and is much less expensive than prestige brands.

It’s not hyberbole. This really is the best marinade recipe I’ve ever used. It’s also a recipe for chicken fajitas, but I love the marinade so much I often use it on its own.

This gets raves. The herbs are right, the acids are right and the chicken is moist and delectable whether it’s grilled outdoors or in, with a grill pan, contact grill or the broiler. I’ve done it all those ways and it never disappoints, but I admit my favorite is over charcoal with the added flavor only charcoal imparts. I like this chicken as a main course or sliced and used in salads.

Which reminds me. I’ve never understood the American practice of marinating meat and poultry in bottled salad dressing. I really don’t want my food to taste like a salad unless it is a salad. If speed and convenience are the reasons, this goes together in about two minutes. If the lack of a good marinade recipe is the reason, problem solved.

I got this in the long-ago days of Usenet, which I believe still exists in some form in the labrynth of Google. I added basic directions — it was just a list of ingredients — and the red pepper flakes, which are traditional, but other than that it was perfect as is. The lack of salt is not a typo; it’s in the Worcestershire sauce.

Chicken fajitas with marinade

Marinade

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup/2 ounces white wine vinegar
1/4 cup/2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Fajitas

8 (8-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
1/2 cup picante sauce
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped green chiles

For the marinade: Combine ingredients in a bowl or resealable bag. Add chicken, turning to coat, and refrigerate 4 hours or more. Discard marinade and grill chicken by whichever method you choose.

For fajitas: Slice chicken into 1/2″ strips. Serve in warmed tortillas with sauce, yogurt and chiles.

Makes 8 fajitas.