The Best Chicken Thigh Marinade

Flavouring and tenderising chicken thighs in a marinade is a no-brainer, but there are a few tricks to doing it right. Marinades are a simple way to elevate any meal.

A marinade will make the chicken extra juicy and delicious. For starters, all you need to know is that all marinades have three key components that work together: acid, oil, and salt.

  • Acid – An acidic ingredient tenderises the meat such as lemon or lime juice, vinegar, soy sauce, yoghurt, or mustard as an acid.
  • Oil or Fat – Oils and fat saturate the meat, making sure the flavour is fully infused. For your oil base, try olive, peanut, truffle, sesame, walnut, or chilli oil. You can also use milk, coconut milk, buttermilk, or yoghurt.
  • Salt – Salt intensifies the flavours of the marinade. Just be sure not to use too much as it can quickly dry out the meat.
  • Bonus flavour – For an added delicious flavour profile, add your own punctuation marks with fresh or dried herbs, spices, and chilli peppers; onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, citrus zest; prepared condiments like mustard, ketchup, or plum sauce.

As with any recipe, the key is in the proportions. If you get too heavy-handed with any of the ingredients you could spoil the meat.

The trick to a great marinade is balance and flavour. Get that right and you’ll have a hit with your marinated chicken thighs at your next dinner party!

Here is one of Arkenz ltd’s best chicken marinade recipes. Give it a try!

Baked Garlic Sesame Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

 8 chicken thighs (your choice of bone-in/boneless or with skin or skinless)

Garlic sesame marinade

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 60 ml low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 218 Celsius.
  2. Mix marinade ingredients and pour over chicken in a sealable bag or small covered bowl and refrigerate. Marinate chicken for a minimum of 15-20 minutes and up to eight hours before cooking.
  3. Bake for 12 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then flip and bake for 8 more minutes.
  4. Check that chicken reaches 73 Celsius with a thermometer.
  5. Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes.

Choose from hundreds of marinade recipes to suit your cravings: Asian, Mediterranean, or even barbecue. To find the finest halal chicken for any of your recipes in the UK.