Balsamic Chicken Marinade
Published 8/25/2020 • Updated 3/17/2024
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Marinate your chicken in this delicious 5-ingredient balsamic chicken marinade. Easily make flavorful balsamic chicken for dinner or meal prep the marinade and chicken to freeze it for later.
Say hello to the best balsamic chicken marinade! It is honestly one of our favorite marinade recipes because it pairs so well with so many dishes.
You can marinate any cut of chicken in this delicious marinade, and one of our fave ways to use it is on these balsamic chicken thighs served over pappardelle pasta with gooey pearl mozzarella and roasted tomatoes. It’s such a delicious combination.
How easy is it to make? Combine the ingredients for your balsamic chicken marinade and then transfer it into a container or gallon-size bag. Submerge your chicken into the marinade and let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
What You Need for Balsamic Chicken Marinade
This marinade packs a ton of flavor for using only a few ingredients!
- Balsamic Vinegar: Infuses a rich, tangy-sweet flavor and helps tenderize the chicken.
- Olive Oil: Provides a rich texture and enhances the overall richness of the dish.
- Dijon Mustard: Adds a zesty kick and helps emulsify the marinade.
- Brown Sugar: Balances the acidity of the balsamic with a bit of sweetness.
- Dried Thyme: Adds a warm herby flavor to the marinade.
here’s a tip
One important thing to remember about marinades is that the higher quality ingredients you use, the more flavorful it will be.
Substitutions & Variations
Olive oil: Prefer avocado oil or vegetable oil? Most oils will work in this marinade.
Brown sugar: Other sweeteners like honey, maple or granulated sugar will also work, but our preferred sweeteners are brown sugar or maple due to the warm flavor they add to this marinade.
For a thicker sauce: Start by removing the chicken from the marinade. Then, remove 1/4 cup of the marinade and whisk 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into it. Add the cornstarch sauce back into the pan with the remaining marinade and bring to a light simmer until it thickens, and then add the chicken back into the pan to cook.
try it!
Balsamic Chicken Thighs
Our go-to balsamic chicken thighs are a great way to use this amazing balsamic chicken marinade. Serve them over pappardelle pasta with pearl mozzarella.
A few marinating tips
- Feel free to use either a baking dish or gallon-size plastic bag to marinate your chicken in.
- Make sure your chicken is fully submerged in the marinade. If you’re using a baking dish, flip your chicken halfway through the marinating time.
- Make sure to marinate your chicken in the fridge and not on the countertop to prevent food-borne illness.
How long should you marinate chicken for?
We recommend marinating your chicken for at least 30 minutes. We’ve found the sweet spot for flavor infusion to be around 2 hours, but you can also let it sit overnight in this marinade, which is a great option for meal prep.
Ways to Cook Balsamic Chicken
- Oven: Follow our easy baked chicken tutorial for directions on how to bake the most perfect marinated chicken.
- Grill: Balsamic chicken tastes amazing on the grill!
- Instant Pot: Plop your chicken and marinade right into your Instant Pot and in no time, you’ve got dinner.
- Slow Cooker: Slow cook your balsamic chicken and then shred it.
- Sous Vide: Want super tender chicken? Use your sous vide to get perfect marinated chicken every time.
Check it out!
6 Baked Chicken Breast Recipes
You are going to love these 6 oven baked chicken breast recipes. Check out how to bake chicken breast perfectly every time and get 6 delicious flavor variations!
How to Freeze Marinated Chicken
This marinated chicken makes for an amazing freezer recipe. Here’s how easy it is:
- Place 1.5 lbs of chicken (your cut of choice) in a gallon size bag.
- Whisk together marinade ingredients, and pour over the chicken. Remove as much air as possible and close the gallon size bag.
- Write “balsamic chicken” and the date on the bag, and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Serving Suggestions
We recommend serving your marinated balsamic chicken over pappardelle pasta like we do in this balsamic chicken thighs recipe, but any pasta will do. Looking for something on the greener side? We love serving balsamic chicken with our caprese quinoa salad, The Cheese Knees’ classic caprese salad, roasted broccoli, or our balsamic sea salt roasted brussels sprouts.
Balsamic Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Place all ingredients for the balsamic chicken marinade (minus the chicken thighs) into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place chicken thighs into a glass container or gallon-size bag. Then, pour the marinade on top of the chicken, making sure it is covered.
- Let chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or for best results, overnight.
Tips & Notes
- Any cut of chicken will work for this recipe.
- Nutrition information uses 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- This recipe was slightly updated on January 25, 2024.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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is the 1b of chicken for one serving or should that be split upon all 4 people?