Description
Celebrate all the classic flavors of your favorite Vietnamese dishes with a Vietnamese-Style Lemongrass Marinade. Boasting bright and citrusy notes, bold aromatics, salty sweetness and zippy lime juice, this marinade tastes like sunshine!
Use it to bring bright and well-balanced flavor to your favorite meats and veggies like chicken, steak, pork, and more. Made with just 8 ingredients in 10 minutes or less!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds meat or veggies of choice
- 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, bruised and roughly chopped
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large, juicy lime, juiced
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
- Mix the Vietnamese lemongrass marinade: Add the lemongrass, shallot, garlic, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice, and kosher salt and ground black pepper to a medium bowl or jar. Whisk or shake to combine. Set aside, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Marinate: Pour the Vietnamese marinade over your meat or veggies of choice. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for the recommended marinating time (see Recipe Notes, below).
- Grill as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Suggested marinade time: Marinating time will vary based on the type of protein you’d like to use. Because of the amount of fresh citrus juice used in the marinade, it’s important not to marinate for too long, as it will really negatively affect the texture of meat. Having tested this mojo garlic marinade on a variety of different proteins with a variety of different marinating times, here’s what we suggest:
- Seafood – at least 20 minutes and no more than 45 minutes.
- Chicken and pork – at least 4 hours and up to 6 hours for maximum flavor.
- Beef and lamb – at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours for maximum flavor.
- Veggies – at least 20 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- 10-Minute Meal Prep: If you’d like to marinate something later in the week, I suggest making the marinade in advance, whenever you’re meal prepping for the week. Store it in a jar or an airtight container for up to 5 days—the flavors meld together even more as the marinade sits. At least 4 hours before you’re ready to hit the grill, simply pour the marinade over whatever meat or veggies you’re using it on—easy peasy!