Italian Dressing Chicken Marinade

Making a delicious full of flavor and tender Italian chicken is so easy to do thanks to the addition of Italian dressing. This Italian dressing chicken marinade will give you the most flavorful and tender chicken and it only needs a few ingredients and about 30 minutes to do its magic. This Italian chicken dressing is made a lot in our house and it is always a hit with everyone who tries it.

Making a marinade for your chicken is easier than you think thanks to this simple Italian dressing for chicken made from lemon, garlic and olive oil. The lemon in this dressing helps tenderize the chicken (it actually cooks it a bit like ceviche) and the addition of garlic and salt give it tons of flavor.

Because of this effect that the lemon has on the meat, this Italian chicken marinade does not need to marinate very long, making it an ideal marinade for those who are in a rush.

This Italian dressing is a favorite marinade that I use on my Mediterranean chicken kabobs and I also use this on my Mediterranean grilled tuna steak.

This Italian dressing is great on chicken but it is also delicious used as a dressing for salad or as a dip.

Italian Dressing Marinade

In addition to this dressing being an amazing marinade for chicken, I love using this Italian chicken marinade as an Italian dressing as a topping for steak.

To use this Italian dressing marinade as a topping for other meats, just add salt and pepper to your meat then cook the meat until it is cooked all the way through.

Place the cooked chicken or steak on to a plate and pour this delicious Italian dressing over the cooked meat. Let it rest for a few minutes to pick up all of those delicious flavors.

This is actually my favorite way to use this delicious Italian Marinade.

Just make sure you are not using this as both a marinade and topping for your meat because this would cause cross contamination which you do not want.

Ingredients needed

There are just a few ingredient you will need to make this easy Italian dressing chicken marinade. Although the ingredients list is simple, I promise it is really big on flavor!

• Olive oil. You can use any type of olive oil for this Italian marinade.
• Lemon Juice. Fresh or bottled work fine.
• Garlic. Fresh garlic is important when making this Italian chicken marinade so try not to use powdered.
• Kosher salt.
• Pepper.

How to make

Making this Italian chicken marinade is so easy! Just mince up the garlic and add that along with all of the other ingredients to a medium bowl. Mix well and your Italian dressing is complete.

How to marinate chicken with Italian dressing

When using this Italian chicken marinade, you want to keep in mind that because it has lemon juice in it, it will cook the chicken a bit before any heat is added to the chicken.

This tenderizes the meat beautifully and gives it so much flavor.

Here is how to make chicken with this Italian dressing

• Make the Italian chicken marinade and place it in a large bowl.
• Choose how you want the chicken to be served and prepare the chicken accordingly (cubed for kabobs or whole chicken breasts.)
• Add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade making sure to coat all of the chicken.
• Allow to sit for 30 minutes or up to one hour.
• Cook either on the grill, on the stovetop or in the oven.

Variations For This Italian Dressing Chicken Marinade

• Adding the juice of an orange to the marinade. One of my favorite dishes is my grilled citrus kabobs and it uses this Italian chicken marinade and I add a little bit of fresh squeezed orange juice. So good!
• Add herbs. You can add some dried Italian seasoning, dried thyme or dried oregano to the marinade. I would suggest no more than ½ tsp.

Tips for Working with this Italian Dressing Marinade

• Since this Italian marinade has an acid in it (the lemon juice), make sure you do not marinate your meat longer than 2-3 hours. If you do, you will notice the chicken turning all white and getting a little tough. It is normal for the chicken to turn a little white during the marinating process however!
• If you prefer to use this as a topping (dressing) instead of a marinade, make sure to let the Italian marinade sit on the meat for a few minutes so it has time to pick up the flavors.

Storing

Storing this Italian chicken marinade is very easy. You can make it ahead of time and place it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

To store this Italian marinade, just make the entire recipe and place in a container with a tight fitting lid. Store for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Pairing Ideas

Here are some of our favorite things to serve with chicken marinated in Italian dressing:

More Delicious Sauces You May Like

• Red Chimichurri
• Easy Green Chimichurri
• Poblano Cream Sauce
• Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Blackened Seasoning
• Gochujang Mayo

Some more chicken marinade ideas for you:

If you love the idea of adding spices and flavor to your chicken, you may like some of these easy spice blends: