Juicy tender chicken in a mouthwatering marinade, skewered, and grilled to perfection? SIGN ME UP! This grilled chicken marinade incorporates soy sauce, honey, beer, and delicious spices to give you juicy tender meat. Skewered with bell peppers, red onion, whole cloves of garlic, and zucchini…This grilled chicken marinade is literally the best!
Why this recipe works
Grilled chicken is bland with just salt and pepper. Marinating chicken prior to grilling it imparts flavor into the chicken breast, turning a blank canvas into a delicious work of art. Marinating chicken prior to grilling, also helps keep it from drying out due to the high heat of the grill.
Marinade ingredients
- The dry spices used in the grilled chicken marinade are: thyme, sage, red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper, and a bay leaf.
- Low sodium soy sauce, olive oil, honey, and minced garlic are added to the marinade as well. The soy sauce in the marinade helps salt the chicken and keep it moist while cooking. The sugar in the honey helps caramelize the outside of the chicken.
- If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, you can substitute garlic powder.
- Whisk all these marinade ingredients together and add the bay leaf.
Beer
Beer has enzymes that will help break down the chicken and makes it extra tender. It also adds an additional layer of rich flavor to the meat. My favorite beer to marinate with is Guinness, but I have also used IPA’s and ambers with this same recipe.
Chicken
Slice chicken breast into 1 ½ inch chunks and add to the marinade. This recipe skewers the chicken with vegetables, but you can also use this marinade for whole chicken breasts. Cover the chicken and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. The longer it marinates, the more flavor.
Vegetables
Slice the vegetables to use on the skewers in between the chicken. You can choose your favorite vegetables, I usually use: red onion, assorted bell peppers, zucchini, and whole garlic cloves. Mushrooms also work well with the recipe.
Tips for cutting bell peppers
- Using a pairing knife at a diagonal, cut around the crown of the bell pepper
- Grab the stem and twist to remove the seeds
- Slice in half and using your pairing knife, shave the white membranes out of the inside. These are bitter.
- Cut into 1 inch squares to be skewered.
Skewering
If using bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them for 10 minutes prior to skewering, to avoid them burning on the grill. When skewering the chicken, you can follow any order you would like. The zucchini and bell peppers sometimes slip off the end as they shrink on the grill. I also double up the onion pieces since they are thin.
Grilling
Preheat your grill on high for 10 minutes and using a grill brush, scrape off any previous bits. Lower the heat to medium (425F-450F). Place the skewers on the grates and grill until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Time will depend on how thick your chicken pieces are. While the skewers grill, rotate them every so often with tongs so each side gets evenly cooked.
Once the grilled chicken has reached 165F internal temperature, remove them from the grill. The vegetables should be tender and charred.
Use a fork to slide the grilled chicken and vegetables off the skewers or you can serve on the skewer for everyone to remove themselves. I usually pair this dish with a side of rice.
Looking for other grill recipes?
- Grilled Jerk Chicken Skewers
- Marinated Steak Skewers with Chimichurri
- Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers
- Fall-Off-The-Bone Dry Rub Ribs
- Marinated Flank Steak
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The Best Grilled Chicken Marinade
This grilled chicken marinade incorporates soy sauce, honey, beer, and delicious spices to give you juicy tender meat. Skewered with bell peppers, red onion, whole cloves of garlic, and zucchini...This grilled chicken marinade is literally the best!
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 ½lbs bonesless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh minced garlic or ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried sage
- ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can of beer (Guinness stout or beer of choice)
Vegetables
- 3 bell peppers, trimmed, stems removed, and sliced into squares
- 1 zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into ½ inch slices
- Cloves from 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 1 red onion, peeled, sliced into squares
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Clean chicken breast and cut into roughly 1 ½ inch cube pieces
- In a large bowl add all the ingredients (minus the beer) and whisk together. Once mixed, pour in beer, and stir to combine. Add in chicken, mix, cover with a lid or wrap, and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours or overnight.
- While chicken is marinating, slice up all of your vegetables that are going onto the skewers. Once done, drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix to coat the vegetables.
- Preheat your grill on high for 10 minutes and use a grill brush to clean any previous remnants. Lower the heat to medium (425-450F).
- Once the chicken is done marinating, place the ingredients on the skewers. Alternate between assorted vegetables in between each chicken piece. Since red onions are thin, I double up on the onion pieces.
- Grill until meat is fully cooked through (165F degrees) and vegetables are charred. Rotating every few minutes so the chicken and vegetables are evenly cooked.
- Serve the skewers on their own or with your favorite side dish!
Notes
- If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for 10 minutes prior to grilling so they do not burn or catch fire when cooking.
- Internal temperature of chicken should be 165 degrees
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 343Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 53mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 2gSugar: 13gProtein: 20g
*Note: Nutrition information is an estimate. Values vary based on different brands and ingredients*
Super dumb question here…there is bacon in the title of this entree but no mention of bacon in the directions? Am I missing something?
Hi Audrey, are you looking at the right recipe? This recipe is titled “the best grilled chicken marinade”
I’m sure this is a dumb question… The only beer we have on hand right now is Busch Light!!! Would that be awful? I’ll try to make it to the store today to buy something better……. But if you think Busch Light would be okay……….?
Hi Meghan! I haven’t tried it with a beer like that, the marinade does take on a lot of the beer flavor, so I would shy away from it but if it’s all you have on hand you can go for it. Let me know how it turns out!
Would this recipe work well using chicken thighs for the kabobs?
I haven’t used thigh meat with this recipe, but I don’t see why not! Let me know how it turns out if you do!
Do you have to use Guinness ? Would another beer …
Hi Susan, yes you can use another beer. I’ve used amber ale’s and IPA’s with this recipe too!
Can the vegetables be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until the next day along with the chicken?
Hi Mary, yes the vegetables should be fine overnight pre-prepped. I would put them in a Tupperware or seal them in something to stay fresh.
Haven’t made a chicken kabob for so long. When I saw your post today I thought “ tonight is the night”. Delicious! Will definitely do this Marinade and recipe again. Thanks!
Hi Marc, I am so glad you enjoyed the chicken marinade! Thanks for making it.
Do you think adding pineapple juice to the marinade would be ok?
Hi Sheila, I haven’t tried it before… so I can’t speak to the taste when the pineapple is added to the rest of the ingredients in the marinade. If you do try it, let me know how it turns out!
OMG . The best chicken ever, I let it marinate for 8 hours!!!! Then bbqd , we are fans !!!!!!!! 💕
I’m so glad you loved it Pamela!
How long is the maximum for marinating? Was thinking of doing overnight?
Hi Erin, overnight will be fine! Keep it under 24 hours, because then it can affect the texture.
I made this, but marinated beef cubes instead of chicken. My entire family LOVED IT; there were no leftovers!
My husband asked that I keep this meal in rotation. Thanks for the recipe – EXCELLENT flavor.
Carolyn I’m so happy that you and your family loved the recipe! Great idea to use it on beef, I’ll have to try that!
Surprised how high the carb count is. Is it the honey?
Marinade’s are tough to calculate because you discard most of it once you remove the chicken and a lot cooks off on the grill too. My nutritional calculator doesn’t account for that, just all the ingredients used in the marinade.
How could I prep this for a camp trip? Could they be frozen?
Hi Cami! I haven’t tried freezing the chicken in the marinade myself, but you can definitely do that! It can keep for up to 8 months in the freezer. I think it would be a great addition to your camping trip.