Favorite Everyday Chicken Marinade

By vealam

This marinade is extremely versatile! My family loves to serve it with tons of freshly grilled vegetables during the summertime. It is also a great all-purpose marinade for main course salads and tastes fabulous with stir fries and any Asian-inspired meals.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 grams) creamy, unsalted natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 2-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled, and finely diced
• 4 large cloves of fresh garlic, finely diced
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (roughly 1/2 of a very juicy orange) *you can absolutely substitute with bottled 100% pure orange juice
• zest of half a fresh orange (if using you're using fresh orange juice, but optional if you're not)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (roughly 2 to 2.5 lbs)

Preparation

Step 1

Fold over the top half of a large freezer Ziploc bag and add all of the marinade ingredients (except the chicken) to the bag. Close the bag (squeeze out any excess air) and combine the ingredients together--you want to make sure the peanut butter is thoroughly incorporated--by squishing the contents of the bag with your hands. Alternatively, you can place all of the marinade ingredients in a small mixing bowl, whisk them together, and then pour the mixture into the Ziploc bag.
Using tongs (or your hands), add the chicken breasts to the Ziploc bag, squeeze out the excess air from the bag, and reseal. Make sure all of the marinade is evenly coating both sides of the chicken breasts. Place the bag flat on a large plate (I like to place mine on a quarter-size baking sheet, as I can store it easily in the fridge), casserole dish, or mixing bowl and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or as long as 2 hours. Avoid marinating the chicken for much longer than 2 hours, as the chicken will start to get mushy. If you are home, I like to flip the bag halfway through, , but this is not essential!
Ideally, remove the chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes prior to cooking, so that it comes slightly closer to room temperature. Heat a large cast-iron grill pan (these taste even better on an outdoor grill, if you have access to one--but it is not essential) over medium-high heat. You do not need to season the chicken prior to cooking, as the soy sauce in the marinade takes care of this for you.
If using an indoor grill pan, grease the pan lightly with cooking spray. Grill the chicken (I prefer to do this in batches, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, so that the grill pan stays hot) for 4 to 5 minutes per side (cooking time is roughly 10 minutes per inch of thickness)--adjusting the heat accordingly.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean plate or serving platter and allow it to rest for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Avoid skipping this as this will ensure that all of those delicious juices stay in the chicken. Once rested, slice the chicken against the grain and serve.

Notes:
Feel free to swap out skinless boneless chicken breasts with skin-on or bone-in chicken breasts (which have even more flavor!)--and adjust the cooking time as necessary. For indoor grilling, I find skinless boneless chicken breasts to be the best bet.