The Best Mexican Chicken Marinade
This Mexican chicken marinade recipe adds beautiful flavor and color to your chicken breasts. It’s a citrusy asado-style recipe uses simple marinade ingredients! Use it for chicken fajitas, tacos or simple grilled chicken!
Boring chicken is not super welcome in my house! I can eat it, but my husband can’t stand poultry that isn’t well seasoned. So, If I’m planning to make chicken, I usually marinade it to infuse a ton of flavor. The citrus juice in this marinade recipe does a great job tenderizing the chicken!
This easy Mexican Chicken Marinade is perfect for pollo asado. I recommend grilling your chicken, because it adds extra flavor and nice grill marks! But, of course you can also bake, use your air fryer or sauté your marinated chicken. This makes a great chicken fajita marinade, too!
Love Mexican food? Me too! Check out these other Mexican recipes on Blackberry Babe: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce | Baked Baja Fish Tacos | 5 Ingredient White Queso Dip (Queso Blanco)
What cut of chicken should I use with this marinade?
With this Mexican marinade, use your favorite cuts of chicken. I like to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are wonderful as well. I’ve even used this marinade recipe for a whole chicken. Make a big batch and use it for meal prep!
Mexican Chicken Marinade Substitutions and Additions:
- Substate white vinegar or apple cider vinegar for the lime juice
- Substitute pineapple juice for the orange juice.
- Spicy: Add two teaspoons of the juice from canned chipotle pepper in adobo. Doing this adds extra spicy, bold flavors to your marinade.
Serving suggestions:
Use cooked, marinated chicken pieces on top of taco salad, burrito bowls, or chicken tacos. It’s great topped with pico de gallo!
For side dishes, consider this mexican rice, black beans or
Storing Leftovers:
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container.
Leftover chicken is wonderful used in enchiladas or on top of fresh salads. I think it tastes even better the next day!
You can also freeze the raw chicken in the marinade for up to 4 months for easy meal prep.
The Best Mexican Chicken Marinade
This citrusy asado-style recipe uses simple marinade ingredients! This marinade recipe adds beautiful flavor and color to your chicken breasts. Use it for chicken fajitas, tacos or simple grilled chicken!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ⅛ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- To a small bowl, add marinade ingredients and whisk vigorously to combine.
- To a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag, add up to two pounds of raw chicken, diced or whole pieces.
- Pour marinade into the bag. Carefully press out any air as you seal the bag.
- Marinade for a minimum of 4 hours, up to 24 hours.
- Remove chicken from marinade and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit using an instant read meat thermometer.
