Name: Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients: 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup fresh rosemary sprigs (chopped); 1 lemon (juiced and zested); 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

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Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade, an easy homemade marinade for the BEST grilled chicken! Full of fresh lemon and rosemary!

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It’s grilling season so this Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade is perfect for this time of year. Be sure to check out my other marinades like my Mexican Steak Marinade, Teriyaki Marinade, and Coffee Marinade recipes for more ideas. This Lemon Rosemary marinade is not only great on chicken but great on seafood and fish, and even as a salad dressing.

This chicken marinade is so EASY to make! It’s basically just a vinaigrette or salad dressing. You probably have most of the ingredients right in your house.

You will need a lemon and fresh rosemary for this lemon chicken marinade. Please use an actual fresh lemon and fresh rosemary in this recipe. It makes a huge difference!

How to Make Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade

For this easy chicken marinade, all you need to do is whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl, or put the ingredients in a mason jar, cover, and shake!

For the marinade you’ll need:

a fresh lemon (juiced and zested)
olive oil (whatever you have around is fine)
fresh rosemary (remove all the leaves from the woody stems)
garlic powder (you can use fresh garlic although sometimes the lemon juice will turn it green so I like to use garlic powder)
salt
black pepper
onion powder
Dijon mustard (the mustard gives a nice “tang” to the dressing but doesn’t overpower it)

So again, whisk it all together or shake it in a mason jar or container until well combined.

Use this chicken marinade as desired. However, as a chicken breast marinade I would not let the chicken sit in it more than 30 minutes or so. Definitely, don’t use it as an overnight chicken marinade. For more great tips, see my How to Marinate Chicken post.

Since it’s an acidic marinade with the lemon juice, the marinade can start breaking down the chicken and make it chewy and tough. For chicken thighs, you could marinate a bit longer.

Uses for this Grilled Chicken Marinade

So besides using this marinade for grilled chicken, you can also use it as a…

marinade for other things like fish/seafood or pork
salad dressing
sandwich spread
sauce for roasted or grilled vegetables
dressing for pasta salads

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are many more.

Instead of fresh lemon and rosemary, you could try using your favorite fresh herb and citrus combination. Fresh orange, lime, or even grapefruit might be great. As would other fresh herbs such as dill, oregano, basil, or thyme.

Have fun experimenting with other fresh citrus and herbs!

You can store this marinade in the fridge a few days but the oil will harden. Just bring to room temperature or heat in the microwave for a little while.

Hope you enjoy this homemade quick and easy Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade! For dessert, you may want to try this great Lemon Loaf Cake!

Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Marinade - easy grilled chicken marinade with fresh herbs and lemon

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