Beer Chicken Marinade (Grilling Recipe!)

5 stars from 1 review

This Beer Chicken Marinade will be a summertime go-to recipe! Made with simple, fresh ingredients for the most tender and flavorful chicken.

Author: Donna Elick

Servings: Pounds Cooked Chicken

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Inactive Time3 30

Total Time3 52

Ingredients

5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts trimmed and washed
1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh basil or 3 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoons fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic large cloves, smashed
12 ounces bottle dark ale beer I used Black Toad from Trader Joe's

Instructions

Place chicken in a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Set aside.
Combine olive oil, lemon juice, basil, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic in your food processor or blender.
Blend until your mixture is smooth. Combine 1/4 cup marinade mix and 1/2 cup beer in an airtight container, reserve this mixture. Place in the refrigerator.
Pour the remaining marinade mixture and 1 cup (8 ounces) of beer over the chicken in the resealable bag.
Squeeze out as much air as possible and reseal bag. Turn your bag a few times to make sure chicken is well coated with the marinade. Allow the chicken to marinate in refrigerator for 3 -24 hours.
Preheat yours grill to medium-high.
Remove the chicken and reserved marinade from refrigerator and set on the counter to come to room temperature, about 30 to 60 minutes (you never want to grill cold meat, the temperature change will toughen the meat).
Grill the chicken about 3 minutes per side. When you turn your chicken apply the reserved marinade to the cooked side of the chicken. Grill the other side until your chicken is seared nicely and when you press down on the chicken it is firm but not hard.
Remove from the grill and place on a tray, tent the chicken with foil.
Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes, to redistribute the juices.

Notes

You can also cook this in the oven. Preheat oven to 450°F. Pour off 1/2 of marinade, add the chicken and remaining marinade to a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

I used a dark ale for this recipe but you can use whatever your favorite is.

Nutrition