I love meal prepping. Even just feeding two people, it’s so nice when I don’t have to make decisions about lunch or worry about if we’ve run out of bread or leftovers. So when we discovered this chicken marinade for weekly lunches, it was a game changer. So tasty! So easy! So many options for how to serve it! This is hands down, the best marinated chicken I’ve ever had.

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This recipe has a little of everything in it – soy sauce to mustard to rosemary. The ingredient list is surprising, but everything works together for truly crave-able chicken that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner alongside some roasted veggies, or a grain bowl lunch. You can double the marinade to make a great dressing for salads – just set aside half the marinade before pouring anything over the chicken.

This is a popular meal prep choice for us – I marinate it Friday, we grill (or bake, if we’re lazy) on Sunday, and we’ve got a week of protein just like that! Plus it’s tasty enough that we never get tired of it.  It’s based on this one, but I’ve tweaked the flavors to fit our tastes. This is seriously the best marinated chicken I’ve ever had!

Marinate for at least four hours, but I like it best when it’s marinated for a day or two!

For cooking the chicken, you’ve got two options: grilling or baking. Grilling makes it taste WAY better, so my vote is always for that. But if you don’t have time to grill or you just need to set and forget it, baking works well too. I’ve given instructions for cooking both ways below.

My Favorite Marinated Chicken

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 soy sauce
• 1/4 Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 6 large chicken breasts

Steps:

1. Combine everything except chicken. You can put it in a large mason jar, screw the top on, then shake to combine, or do it in a large bowl and whisk thoroughly. Either way, make sure the brown sugar isn’t clumpy.
2. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the mixture (or half the mixture if you double it for salad dressing later), then pour over chicken in a ziplock bag. I like to slice the chicken in half to make thinner cutlets – it cooks faster and marinates a little better.
3. Refrigerate mixture and let it marinate for at least 4 hours. It’s even better after 24 hours, and we sometimes let it go 48 – that’s less about flavor and more about timing to grill it.
4. To grill: grilling will be different depending on if you have a gas or charcoal grill. We use charcoal, and once the coals are hot it cooks for only a few minutes on each side.
5. To bake: preheat the oven to 450°F and bake on a greased sheet for  15-20 minutes. Chicken in done when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

This recipe has taken over as our favorite way to meal prep lately! It’s also great for hosting a crowd: even the pickiest eaters will love this.

We eat it over salads, with rice and vegetables, or even on a sandwich! The possibilities are endless.

Do you meal prep? What’s your favorite things to prepare for the week? Let me know in the comments!

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