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This balsamic chicken marinade is fast, simple, and uses everyday pantry ingredients. Whip it up in 5 minutes!

close-up of balsamic grilled chicken on a plate with parsley garnish

If you’re looking for an easy balsamic chicken recipe, you’ve come to the right place! This is a tasty addition to the menu for your Memorial Day BBQ.

How to make balsamic vinegar marinade for chicken

Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic powder to a small bowl. Whisk together. This quantity is good for marinating 3-4 chicken breasts. Recipe easily doubles (or triples) if needed.

I suggest marinating for at least 30 minutes in order to get the best flavor. It’s not necessary to marinade chicken overnight, but the longer you leave it, the more pronounced the flavor will be.

balsamic chicken marinating in a ziploc bag

To make this balsamic grilled chicken, I simply marinated the chicken for 30 minutes and then grilled it for about 5-6 minutes/side.

The chicken can be served with any number of sides (potato salad, pasta salad, grilled corn, cowboy caviar, rice, etc.) or it’s delicious in salad.

plate of grilled chicken breasts with balsamic marinade

Hope you enjoy this easy balsamic marinade recipe!

This balsamic chicken marinade is ready in 5 minutes and uses everyday pantry ingredients. This marinade makes the best grilled chicken!
5 from 3 votes

Balsamic Chicken Marinade

This balsamic chicken marinade is fast, simple, and uses everyday pantry ingredients. Whip it up in 5 minutes!
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients 

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon mustard (I used yellow)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Add the marinade ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.
  • I suggest adding the chicken to a large ZipLoc bag along with the marinade and marinating for at least 30 minutes (up to a few hours) in the fridge. You may also use a covered bowl to marinate the chicken. 
  • To prepare the chicken in the photos, I cut 3 chicken breasts in half lengthwise, added them to a large ZipLoc with the marinade, and let them sit for 30 minutes in the fridge. I grilled them over medium-high heat (gas BBQ) for 5-6 min./side. 

Notes

  • This recipe works for 3-4 chicken breasts or 4-6 chicken thighs.

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You may also like my balsamic chicken pasta or my easy honey mustard chicken kabobs.


Hi! I’m Natasha.

Salt & Lavender is a recipe blog with a focus on delicious comfort food using everyday ingredients. Beat the weekday grind with hundreds of easy-to-follow and hassle-free recipes!

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10 Comments

    1. Hi Jamie! I don’t see why not. I can’t really speculate exactly how it will turn out, but if you’ve made chicken in similar ways before, it should work. I would just make sure there’s enough liquid in there so it doesn’t dry out.

  1. 5 stars
    Tried this tonight. My hubby and I liked it a lot, even though the marinade time was super short. Since time was limited, I cut the chicken up into kabob size pieces before marinating. Marinated for about 20 minutes before skewering and grilling. It was good even with the short marinade time. We’re already looking forward to trying this recipe again with a longer pre-grill time!

  2. After marinading the chicken,could I bake it instead? I live in an apartment with no grill access but still want to try this delicious looking marinade!

  3. 5 stars
    This is so easy and good! I did this with 1 1/2 pounds of chicken and it was perfect. The whole family (2 and 5 year olds included) loved!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂