The first chicken marinade I ever learned was to soak chicken pieces in a bottle of cheap Italian dressing. I picked that up from my buddy, Carson. We'd by whatever chicken pieces were on sale (usually leg quarter or legs), give it the ol' Wishbone marinade, and then grill it on a plain charcoal grill. After a long day of surfing, that made for some fantastic eating.
These days Carson and I have both moved on to kamado grills, like the Big Green Egg, and we've moved on to making our own marinades like this one. This has become one of our favorites and after making this batch, Trevor said he'd even like to vend them at a BBQ contest or festival. Smart kid, there's probably more money in that than competing anyway.
The combo of buttermilk and non-fat Greek yogurt create a powerful marinade base with a unique tang and the seasonings add a ton of flavor. You can add 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and the marinade stands on it's own with no additional seasonings other than the marinade. But I prefer to keep the salt out of the marinade and then give the chicken a good dusting of a basic BBQ rub before grilling.
NMT Grilled Chicken Marinade
makes: enough for 3-4 pounds of chicken pieces
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: none for the marinade
Ingredients
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dry minced garlic
Instructions
Mix ingredients together and pour over chicken pieces in a large zip top bag. Seal, refrigerate, and marinate 4-8 hours. Remove from marinade and drain off excess marinade before grilling. Omit salt from the marinade if using a BBQ rub in addition to the marinade. Tip for crispier chicken skin: Remove chicken from marinades and allow to air dry on a raised rack in the refrigerator for 1 hour prior to grilling.
I put this marinade to work this weekend and grilled some chicken legs on the Vision Grills kamado that I bought at Sams Club. I've been keeping it next door because my neighbor has been thoroughly testing it out (full review coming soon).
Funny story - John was out of town so I wanted to let him know I
would be using the grill so his wife wouldn't freak out if she heard
someone banging around on their basement patio. Plus, I often write
"chix" as shorthand for chicken. Dang auto-correct....
In my defense, child legs are the most tender, right? Okay, back to grilling...
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| Can you tell it's pollen season? Ah-freaking-choo. |
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| Taking a dip in the flavor bath. |
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| I grilled these at 350-375°F. More pollen too. |
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| Cooked them on the raised cooking grate for a "raised direct" set up. |
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| Fired up and going - the rub I used this time is Ted Reader's Bone Dust. |
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| Not ready yet. Checking using the Thermoworks ThermaPop. |
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| Cook time was about 35 minutes, turning every 5 or so minutes. |
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| That's more like it! |
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| Didn't do any sauce or glaze, just the marinade and rub was plenty of flavor. |
I served them with some Ranch dressing on the side for dipping but it went unused because the chicken legs tasted great on their own.
Do you have a favorite chicken marinade and if so, what is it?
Memphis In May Opportunity (only 22 days away as of posting!)
As of this week there were still a few Team Memberships open on Too Sauced To Pork, the team I cook on for Memphis In May. If you have ever wanted to see a BBQ spectacle like Memphis In May from an insider's perspective, this is the way to do it and you don't even have to cook if you don't want to. Your Team Membership fee covers park entrance wristbands, 2 meals a day, and much more. Shoot me an email if you're interested and I'll get one of the team founders in touch with you.
