With barbecue season upon us, having a good marinade recipe up your sleeve will set you up for success.
Marinades are a great way to pack meat, fish and veggies with flavour and achieve delicious, tender results, whether you’re quick cooking chicken kebabs or slow roasting a leg of lamb. Just make sure you leave your ingredients marinating for at least the time stated to really allow the flavours to soak in – it’ll make all the difference.
This chicken marinade recipe is bursting with zingy, fresh and exciting Asian flavours, and only needs an hour of marinating to give you super-succulent, flavour-packed meat. We’ve shown you how to make lovely chicken kebabs here, but this marinade will work just as well with other chicken cuts, too. If you have any leftover marinade, use it to baste and brush the meat as it cooks for an extra gnarly crust.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN MARINADE
Peel 3 cloves of garlic, trim 6 spring onions and 1 fresh red chilli, then place into a food processor.
Add 1 handful each of fresh coriander and mint leaves. Finely grate in the zest from 1 lemon and squeeze in the juice.
Blitz until finely chopped.
Loosen to a paste with a little olive oil, then season with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Place into a large bowl.
Cut 500g of free-range boneless chicken breast into 2.5cm chunks, then add it to the marinade and stir until well coated. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour.
Thread the marinated chicken between 6 to 8 skewers – you can use soaked wooden skewers or sturdy rosemary stalks with the leaves removed. Add strips of very thinly sliced courgettes too, if you like.
Grill for around 5 minutes on the barbecue, turning regularly, until cooked.
Serve immediately with charred lemon for squeezing over.
For more brilliant ideas to get you mixing and marinating, check out these tandoor-style chicken kebabs or these epic lamb kebabs.