You guys! It is almost grill season. Or maybe it already is where you are but even if it is still snowing like it is here in New Hampshire today, those sunny days and bbqs are coming. And when they do you will love, love having this easy and quick Rosemary Lemon Chicken Marinade on hand.
Quick backstory (by the way nothing makes me laugh harder than people making fun of food bloggers for really long backstories about food. But this one is really is quick): When we drive home from Boston, especially when we are tired after flying or going to a baseball game or a museum (pre-Covid of course), we always try to stop at this restaurant called Angela’s on Rte. 1 heading north. We love it because they have a coal fired stove, and they specialize in wings and pizza. Our favorite thing to order is their rosemary lemon wings, which come out super fast and piping hot because they marinade them and flash them over the coals right when you order.
I asked them how they made them and they said it was their grandmother’s super secret marinade recipe, but I went with what I could clearly taste: lemon, rosemary and garlic. I have been dreaming of duplicate them at home. And according to my husband, this tastes just like their wings. So maybe grandmother’s secret recipe is not so secret.
The best part? It is the easiest ratio ever.Just remember:
3 lemons, 3 Tablespoons of rosemary, and 3 garlic cloves
Chop the rosemary and garlic finely, and juice the lemons. Mix them together and then add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
Pour over chicken and marinade for at least a half hour, but no more than two hours. I marinaded it for two hours and the lemon was just starting to ‘cook’ the chicken a little, which can eventually make the chicken a little tough. Two hours was perfect because it was so so flavorful. But a half hour should still be enough time to let them soak in all those flavors.
I grilled them inside because of rain, and then made sure to leave them in a 450 degree oven for 10 min. so they were cooked through, but outside you will likely know how to make sure they are cooked through on the grill.
The thing is, you could marinade anything in this stuff and it would be delicious. Pork, chicken wings, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, onions, kebabs, fish, ANYTHING, and it have these simple clean flavors that sing together.
You could cube the meat and stir it into pasta, pizzas, soup, salads. You could even take this ratio – 1 lemon, 1 Tbsp. Rosemary, 1 minced garlic clove – and stir it into feta to make whipped feta, or humus, or sour cream to make a dip for chips. Or you can mix it with a little olive oil + Dijion mustard and have a wonderful salad dressing.
I feel ready to feed an army this summer – bring on the birthday parties and holidays – because I know this recipe will be simple, delicious and easy every time. Even my kids who don’t love chicken were like mom, this is delicious.
Which at the end of the day is the best critic there is.
I hope you get to cook outside with your people soon, and you try this! It is definitely one I feel like I have to share with the world so I’ll probably be talking about it a lot this summer.
Happy Eating! xoxo Katie
Rosemary Lemon Chicken Marinade
(This works for 2-3 lbs of chicken)
3 Tablespoons minced Rosemary
3 lemons, juiced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and pour over 2-3 pounds of chicken. Make sure they are evenly distributed and then put in fridge for 1/2-2 hours. Grill over medium high heat for 5-6 minutes per side.
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