If you’re anything like me, then chicken is on heavy rotation in your household and you’ve always got a bottle of Italian vinaigrette or tub of plain yogurt on hand to use as a marinade. No matter how you cook or serve your chicken, marinating it for at least 30 minutes goes a long way in the flavor department. Needless to say, I am always on the hunt for a chicken marinade recipe that adds some punch to a routine weeknight dinner.
Thanks to chefs and food enthusiasts on social media, I’ve just found my new favorite formula. Author Christopher Kimball—founder of 177 Milk Street magazine and cooking school (you may also know him as one of the founders of America’s Test Kitchen)—learned about this marinade in Osaka, which is known as the “kitchen of Japan.” This marinade recipe only requires three ingredients, and best of all, will caramelize right in the oven or on the grill.
How to Make 1-1-1 Chicken Marinade
You only need three ingredients for this easy marinade: soy sauce, sake, and mirin (a Japanese rice wine for cooking). All three ingredients can be found at grocery stores like Whole Foods or Publix, but you’ll encounter more variety and better prices at your local Asian market.
If you or someone in your family cannot eat soy sauce due to a soy or gluten allergy, you can try using a substitute such as tamari or liquid aminos. You can also make a soy sauce substitute out of water, beef bouillon, balsamic vinegar, molasses, ground ginger, white pepper, and garlic powder. And if you’re allergic to rice, you might want to go ahead and look up a different marinade recipe that doesn’t include more than one type of rice wine.
Using a 1-1-1 ratio, mix the three ingredients. That’s it!
How to Use 1-1-1 Chicken Marinade
Once you’ve made your marinade, divide it. Use half of the marinade to flavor your chicken (Kimball recommends using skin-on chicken thighs) for at least 30 minutes and save the rest to brush on right before you put your chicken in the oven or on the grill. When the marinade is exposed to high heat like from a broiler or grill, it caramelizes, making the skin crispy and the flavor a perfect balance of salty and sweet—a winner chicken dinner.