10 Whole30 Chicken Marinade Recipes - The Whole30® Program (2024)

Let’s talk about taking your chicken dinner game from “meh” to “OMG, yum!” with our roundup of 10 Whole30 Chicken Marinade recipes. Whether you have boneless chicken breasts or juicy bone-in thighs on hand, we’re here to prove that chicken doesn’t have to be boring!

What’s the secret? Marinades! They’re like flavor superheroes for chicken, swooping in to save the day (and dinner!). With a batch of marinated chicken in your fridge (or freezer), you’ve got a ticket to Fast Meal City, population: you.

Whole30 compatible marinades mean no sugar, dairy, alcohol, or nasty additives in sight. These recipes are your trusty sidekicks for taking the stress out of Whole30 meal prep. We’re talking easy, tasty, AND entirely Whole30-friendly. What’s not to love?

And the best part? Each marinade recipe is incredibly easy to whip up in five minutes or less—no cooking required! Stir up the ingredients, drop in your chicken, and let it soak up all that phenomenal flavor for 30 minutes to 24 hours. Next, bake, air fry, or grill your way to flavor town! Each recipe can accommodate 1 to 1.5 pounds of chicken but can be halved or multiplied to suit your needs.

Plus, these Whole30 chicken marinade recipes are all freezer-friendly. Pop them into reusable zip-top bags (we love Stasher Bags!), air-tight containers, or ziplock bags.

Cooking Instructions

1. WHISK together all the ingredients except the chicken in a medium bowl.
2. ADD chicken and combined marinade into a zip-top reusable bag or glass container. Seal or cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
3. NOTE – Chicken should not be left to marinate for over 24 hours, as raw chicken will begin to break down and become mushy.

GRILL

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Brush the grill with oil so the chicken won’t stick. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side until chicken has sear marks and is cooked through, with an internal temperature of 165 °F. Remove from the grill and cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes to let juices redistribute before cutting.

OVEN BAKE

Preheat your oven to 425 °F. Pour the marinade and chicken into a 9×9 pan. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Cook until lightly browned and is no longer pink inside or has reached an internal temperature of 165 °F. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

AIR FRY

Add the chicken to your air fryer basket and air fry at 400 °F for 9-10 minutes, flipping halfway if the chicken is overlapping at all. Cook until lightly browned and is no longer pink inside or has reached an internal temperature of 165 °F. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

FREEZE

Marinated chicken can go straight into the freezer after combining the chicken with the marinade in either a sealed reusable zip-top bag or a glass container with a lid. No need to marinate it before freezing, as it will marinate in the freezer.

• Lay each bag flat in the freezer to save space and for quicker defrosting, but feel free to shuffle around once frozen solid.)

• Label with a sharpie (for disposable bags) or dry-erase markers, water-based paint pens, or dry-erase crayons (for reusable bags or containers).

The frozen chicken in the marinade does need to be thawed fully before cooking, so be sure to pull it out the night before you want to cook.

Whole30 Jerk Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 3stalks green onion
• 1/3cupolive or avocado oil
• 1/4cupcoconut aminos
• 1tbspall-purpose seasoning
• 1tbspjerk seasoning
• 2tspgarlic powder
• 2tspground ginger
• 2tspdried thyme
• 1tspsalt
• 1tsponion powder
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/2cupolive or avocado oil
• 1cuploosely packed cilantro
• 4cloves garlic (about 2 tsp minced)
• 1tspsalt
• 1tspcumin
• 1/2tsppepper
• 2limes, juice and zest
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Tandoori Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/2cupcompatible dairy-free yogurt
• 3tbspolive or avocado oil
• 1tbspfreshly grated ginger
• 4cloves garlicminced (about 2 tsp)
• 2tspgaram masala
• 1tbspfresh lemon juice
• 1tspground coriander
• 1tspchili powder
• 1tspground cumin
• 1tspsalt
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Southwest Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 2tbsptaco seasoning
• 1/4cuplime juice (about two small limes)
• 1/3cupavocado or olive oil
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Orange Five-Spice Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/2cuporange juice
• 1large orange, zest of
• 1/4cupcoconut aminos
• 1/4cupavocado or olive oil
• 1tspChinese 5-spice
• 1tspsalt
• 1/2tspgarlic powder
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Pineapple BBQ Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/2cupbbq sauce
• 1/3cup100% pineapple juice
• 1/4cupolive or avocado oil
• 1tspgarlic salt
• 1tspliquid smokeoptional
• 1-1.5lbschicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Lemon Pepper Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 3tbsplemon pepper seasoning
• 1/3cupfresh lemon juice
• 1/3cupolive or avocado oil
• 1-1.5lbspounds chicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Citrus Ginger Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/3cupsesame oil
• 1/3cupolive oil
• 1/4cuprice vinegar
• 1/4cuporange juice
• 1tspfish sauce
• 1tbspfresh ginger, grated
• 1garlic clove, minced
• 1/2tspsea salt
• 1tbspsesame seeds
• 1-1.5lbspounds chicken thighs or breasts

Pesto Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1cuplightly packed fresh basil leaves
• ¼cuproasted almonds
• 1tbspnutritional yeast
• ¼tspsalt
• ¼tspblack pepper
• 1clove garlic
• ⅓cupolive oil
• 1-1.5lbspounds chicken thighs or breasts

Whole30 Italian Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

• 1cupextra virgin olive oil
• 1/2cupwhite wine vinegar
• 1garlic clove, minced
• 2teaspoonsdried basil
• 1teaspoondried oregano
• 1/4teaspoonred pepper flakes
• 1teaspoonsea salt
• 1/2teaspoonblack pepper
• 1-1.5lbspounds chicken thighs or breasts

Want even more amazing Whole30 Chicken Marinade recipes? Check out this roundup by Laura Miner of Cook at Home Kitchen!

Published by Liz Parrent

Liz Parrent is Whole30's Senior Content Marketing Manager. She comes to Whole30 with over a decade of CPG and content marketing experience in the health and wellness space. Having been a part of Primal Kitchen's founding and pre-acquisition team, Liz holds a deep passion for the Whole30 community and the transformative power of a whole foods-focused lifestyle. View more posts