One great Chicken Marinade for Tender Skillet Dinners

Leaving your chicken pieces to soak for a half hour in this great Chicken Marinade guarantees moist results and a beautifully browned finish in the hot pan. Whisking together soy sauce, lemon juice, and minced garlic seasons the raw meat thoroughly, setting you up for an excellent stovetop dinner.

Chicken breasts and cutlets

Large chicken breasts take a long time to cook in the center. You slice them in half flat across the middle to create thinner cutlets. You pound the pieces until they reach an even thickness. A meat pounder, a rolling pin, or your fist works well for this job. Even cuts cook at the same rate.

The Marinade

The liquid requires a container that fits the meat snugly or a sealed zip-top bag. You whisk the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and honey together with the minced garlic, dried oregano, and black pepper. Dried herbs hold up well during a long soak. You avoid using fresh herbs other than rosemary for long marinades because they become too delicate. You can add one teaspoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary if you have it.

You drop the chicken into the liquid and toss the pieces to coat them well. You can keep raw chicken in the marinade for anywhere from 30 minutes up to overnight.

You can make several ingredient swaps based on what you have in your kitchen:

• Replace the honey with two tablespoons of white sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup.
• Substitute standard soy sauce with light soy, tamari, or mushroom soy sauce.
• Swap the regular soy sauce for sweet soy sauce, and skip the honey entirely.
• Replace five tablespoons of soy sauce with one teaspoon of salt dissolved in four tablespoons of water.
• Swap the lemon juice for 1.5 tablespoons of cider, white wine, red wine, balsamic, or rice vinegar.
• Replace the fresh garlic with three teaspoons of jarred minced garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, or 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder.
• If you need to replace the Worcestershire sauce, try using two tablespoons of barbecue sauce or regular ketchup, and just remember to reduce the honey.

You never substitute standard soy sauce directly with dark soy sauce without adjusting the salt and water. You mix two tablespoons of dark soy sauce with 3/4 teaspoon of salt and three tablespoons of water to substitute for the five tablespoons of standard soy sauce.

Stovetop Cooking

You set a skillet over medium-high heat and warm one tablespoon of olive oil before adding the meat. The chicken goes directly into the hot skillet so the meat develops a deep golden crust. Whole breasts or thigh meat stripped of bones need 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Thinner cutlets and tenderloins cook in just 2 minutes per side. You use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature registers 165°F (75°C). You turn the dial down if the outside darkens before the center finishes.

If you prefer to skip the stove, bone-in chicken bakes up wonderfully. Simply roast the meat at 350°F for 50 minutes, taking a moment to spoon the pan drippings over the chicken a couple of times while it cooks. To get that lovely brown exterior, just slide the finished pieces under the broiler right before taking them out of the oven.

Resting the meat

You move the finished chicken to a clean plate and cover the meat loosely with aluminum foil. The meat needs to rest for 3 minutes before serving. You never slice the chicken immediately after cooking to prevent it from losing its juices. The resting process releases juices from the marinated chicken that act as a natural sauce.

Finishing Touches and side dishes

Just before sitting down to eat, scatter your Finishing Touches of chopped parsley and fresh lemon slices right over the meat. Slicing the warm chicken over a green salad, such as a mix of spinach and strawberries, makes a wonderful meal. It is also great to pair with chilled, make-ahead side dishes. Macaroni salad, fresh coleslaw, potato salad, and broccoli salad will all complement your dinner perfectly.