Marinating chicken makes for an easy and flavorful dinner. If you’re not marinating your chicken before you’re cooking it, you’re definitely missing out on some serious flavor. This steak marinated grilled chicken is probably the best chicken I’ve ever had. Get your grills fired up because you’re going to have to double this steak marinated grilled chicken recipe. It’s a hit with everyone that’s tried it and I’m convinced you’re going to love it too.
So what exactly is this steak marinated grilled chicken?
Growing up, we ate a variety of steak. When money was tight we would eat cheaper cuts of steak that were marinated or meant to be dipped in steak sauce because you would never do such a thing to a nice cut of meat. At least that’s how I was raised.
So when you think of some of the sauces that compliment a steak very well, what do you think of? For me it’s Worcestershire, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar. Combining the three of these creates probably my favorite flavors that make probably one of my favorite marinades.
But we’re not talking about steak here, this is a chicken recipe. Besides the three main components to this marinade, I’ve also added dijon mustard which pairs extremely well with this along with garlic and onion powder. The final ingredient is the brown sugar. Are you drooling yet?
If you’re kind of confused about how this all works together, don’t be. Trust me on this, it’s delicious.
Tips for marinating the steak marinated grilled chicken
In our household, we typically eat more poultry than we do red meat. It’s a common favorite and its said to be a bit healthier than steak. If you’re doing the same thing in your home, you’ll find that this recipe completely makes up for it.
As you may have noticed, this marinade contains a lot of vinegar. When you’re marinading chicken in vinegar for any length of time you can expect for the vinegar’s acidic nature to start break down the tough fibers in the meat, and also cause the proteins to change shape.
This recipe is for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. However, we all know that those come in many shapes and sizes such as thick cut, sliced, and tenderloins. If you make this recipe with a thinly sliced chicken breast you don’t want to marinate for very long. In the picture, I used sliced breasts which aren’t quite as thick. I marinated these for around 4-6 hours and they turned out perfectly. On the other hand, when I buy thick chicken breasts, I like to marinate them overnight.
Keep in mind, marinating this chicken over 24 hours will make your meat turn out very chewy and tough. Marinating your chicken between 4-8 hours or overnight is ideal because the vinegar will create a very delicious and juicy cut of meat.
Tips for grilling the steak marinated grilled chicken
- Grease the grill grates after pre-heating
This is probably one of the most important steps to grilling chicken. If you don’t own a can of spray oil, you should definitely have some in your pantry at all times. I can think of all the times I would place chicken on the grill before greasing the grates when I first started cooking and it’s a mistake with big repercussions.
One of the great parts about grilling chicken are those grill marks. They make a chicken look and taste extremely delicious. But what’s not delicious is when your chicken sticks to the grate when you go to flip it and you no longer have grill marks.
2. Cook on a medium heat
One of my favorite things about this marinade has to be the brown sugar. When this is grilled, you’ll notice the chicken getting caramelized and browner quicker. This is because of the sugar. If you’re cooking with thick/medium thick chicken breasts, I highly recommend using a medium heat. Sugar burns very easily, cooking at a lower heat will help. However, if you’re grilling thin chicken breasts feel free to cook with a medium high heat to achieve those grill marks but you’ll need to remember to flip these quickly to avoid overcooking your chicken.
3. Try to only flip once
When I grill, I like to flip just once. I start by evaluating the chicken pieces I have. If they’re thicker, I typically put my heat on medium so I don’t look the outside faster than the inside. When I put the chicken on the grate, I typically let it sit there for a while until I see the bottom begin to caramelize, get grill marks, and the outside edges start to cook. This is my signal to flip it. I then let this cook so the other side can begin to caramelize but remember, this side won’t take nearly as long. Then it’s perfect. It’s always important to cut into your thickest piece to make sure the juice runs clear and there’s no more pink.
Grilling this steak marinated chicken is one of my favorite things to do. It’s a no mess, dish free meal that everyone will love. If you’re serving this to a crowd, make sure you have the recipe written down because everyone is going to want to make this. Now let’s get on to the recipe.
Steak Marinated Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 3 Tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- In a bag or Tupperware, combine all of the ingredients making sure all seasonings coat the chicken and are well combined
- Refrigerate and let marinade for 4-8 hours
- Preheat your grill on medium heat, spray with oil, place chicken on the rack to cook for around 5 minutes then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes until the chicken is nice and caramelized. Cook time may vary depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
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