Greek Chicken Marinade
Greek Chicken Marinade is the BEST way to add a ton of flavor to your grilled chicken, made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, fresh dill, and a mix of herbs and spices!
This Greek Chicken Marinade is made with wholesome ingredients like olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh herbs, and spices for an amazing flavor that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner. Best of all, this marinade comes together in just a few minutes, and you can prep dinner ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to heat up the grill! From start to finish, this recipe takes under an hour to make.
If you loved this recipe, you’ll also love my Marinated Chicken Drumsticks, Greek Pasta Salad, and my Homemade Tzatziki Sauce!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Fresh Flavors – This Greek chicken marinade is full of bright Mediterranean flavors like lemon, fresh dill, and olive oil along with some easy pantry spices.
Perfect for Meal Prep – This marinade adds a lot of flavor to chicken. Just marinate it in the morning and meal prep lunches that evening for the week! This chicken works over salad, rice, or pasta.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken. I like to use this marinade with chicken breast, because it’s great over a greek salad, over rice, or with pasta.
You can also use this marinade with chicken thighs, chicken tenderloins, or chicken legs.
Olive Oil. This helps add flavor and also helps the spices stick to the chicken while it’s cooking. You could also use vegetable oil or avocado oil.
Red Wine Vinegar. This adds a nice tangy flavor, and also helps keep the meat tender. You cold also use apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
Lemon Juice. I like to add a bit of lemon juice to my marinades because it adds a bright flavor and acidity that helps balance out the savory notes in the spices.
Fresh Dill. You can use fresh or dried dill, but fresh will have the best flavor. You can also add other fresh herbs like parsley or mint.
Herbs & Spices. I like to keep things easy, so I’m using some classic flavors from Greek Cuisine, with spices I already have in my pantry. Just some dried oregano, dried thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, ground nutmeg, kosher salt (or sea salt), and black pepper.
You can use fresh garlic cloves, but it’s not my first choice because the garlic bits can burn on the grill.
Kitchen Tools
For this recipe you’ll need a medium mixing bowl, and a grill (or a medium skillet or baking dish) to cook the chicken.
How to Make Greek Chicken Marinade
In the mixing bowl, whisk together all of the marinade ingredients until well combined.
Add the chicken to the bowl and turn the chicken a few times until it’s completely coated in the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the chicken for at least 20-30 minutes.
Once time is up, preheat the grill to medium-high heat, about 400°F. Remove the chicken breast from the marinade and let any excess drip off. Discard the used marinade.
Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 5-7 minutes on one side, then turn over and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes on the other side, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
Once done, transfer to a plate and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.
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Recipe Variations
- Add some heat with red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or hot sauce.
- Instead of lemon juice try using lime juice or orange juice. Or add more flavor with a teaspoon of dijon mustard.
- You can use this recipe and swap out the seasoning for anything you’d like. Try making grilled rotisserie chicken breast with my Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning, or just something quick and easy with Ranch Seasoning.
- If you don’t want to grill, you can also cook the chicken in a baking dish. Or try slicing the chicken and cooking it on a sheet pan over bell peppers.
- Make this in the air fryer at 375°F for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until fully cooked.
Recipe Tip! The cooking time can depend on how thick the chicken breast is. If the chicken is on the thicker side, you can flatten it between two pieces of parchment paper with a rolling pin, or a meat mallet, similar to how you’d make chicken parmesan. Do this before marinating the meat.
Frequently Asked Questions
The marinating time depends on if you’re using acidic ingredients, like vinegar or citrus juices. The acidic juices help tenderize the meat. With marinades that have those ingredients, like this Greek marinade, I don’t like to take it past 12 hours. Make sure you refrigerate it while it’s marinating.
If your marinade is just oil and spices, you’d be ok to make this the day before. Just cover the chicken while it’s marinating and make sure to refrigerate it.
Recipe Tip! If you want really nice grill marks, add the chicken when the grill is already hot, and don’t move the chicken around too much while it’s cooking. I also like to close the lid of the grill to help it cook a little faster.
More Marinade Recipes
- Easy London Broil Marinade
- Grilled Turkey Legs with Spiced Marinade
- Marinated Pork Chops
- Greek Marinated Chicken Thighs
Storage
Refrigerate fully cooked Greek marinated chicken for 3-4 days in an airtight container. Discard the leftover greek marinade.
Freeze leftover chicken for 2-3 months in an airtight container.
Cooking Tips
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 12 hours. The acids in the marinade help tenderize the chicken, so you don’t want to go too long or it can get mushy.
- Too much oil on the grill can cause flare-ups, so make sure you let the excess marinade drip off the chicken before grilling it. Also, discard the marinade, because it’s had raw chicken sitting in it.
- If you’re worried about the chicken sticking to the grill, you can lightly oil the grill grates with a paper towel and some vegetable oil before heating the grill. But this Greek marinade has enough oil in it, so I don’t think you need to worry about it for this recipe.
- Keep an eye on the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Chicken breast dries out pretty quickly after it hits 165°F.
- If you flatten the chicken a bit before marinating, try to keep it an even thickness. This helps prevent the ends from finishing cooking before the middle.
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Greek Chicken Marinade
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- 1 Grill
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, (about 2 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- In the mixing bowl, whisk together all of the marinade ingredients until well combined. Add the chicken to the bowl and turn the chicken a few times until it's completely coated in the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the chicken for at least 20-30 minutes.
- Once time is up, preheat the grill to medium-high heat, about 400°F. Remove the chicken breast from the marinade and let any excess drip off. Discard the used marinade.
- Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 5-7 minutes on one side, then turn over and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes on the other side, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Once done, transfer to a plate and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- If you want really nice grill marks, add the chicken when the grill is already hot, and don’t move the chicken around too much.
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 12 hours. The acids in the marinade help tenderize the chicken, so you don’t want to go too long.
- Too much oil on the grill can cause flare-ups, so make sure you let the excess marinade drip off the chicken before grilling it. Also, discard the marinade, because it’s had raw chicken sitting in it.
Nutrition
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