Description
This Simple Lemon Herb Marinade is bright & zesty summertime perfection! A homemade marinade recipe made with less than 5 ingredients, includes lemon zest and juice, fresh herbs, garlic, and olive oil to create the biggest punch of lemony, garlicky flavor.
It’s seriously quick & simple but also incredibly flavor-filled & versatile – use it as a lemon chicken marinade, or on steak, pork, lamb, or your summer veggies of choice.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds meat or veggies of choice
- 2 large, juicy lemons, zested and juiced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup finely chopped hardy fresh herbs, such as oregano, rosemary or thyme
- kosher salt and ground black pepper or crushed red chili flakes, to season
Instructions
- Mix the lemon herb marinade: Add the lemon zest and juice, garlic, olive oil, and chopped fresh herbs to a bowl or jar. season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ground black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes as desired. Whisk or shake to combine.
- Marinate: Pour the marinade over your meat or veggies of choice. Marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Grill as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Suggested marinating times: Since this lemon garlic marinade is so acidic (it has a lot of lemon juice in it!), you don’t want to marinate too, too long. In most cases, the 20 minutes it takes to preheat the grill is plenty, though marinating times vary based on the type of protein you’re using. Having tested this simple lemon and herb grilling marinade on a variety of different proteins with a variety of different marinating times, here’s what I suggest:
- Seafood – At least 20 minutes and no more than 30 minutes.
- Chicken and Pork – At least 20 minutes and no more than 1 hour.
- Beef – at least 20 minutes and up to 12 hours.
- Veggies – at least 20 minutes and up to 12 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 in the refrigerator for up to 5 days – the flavors meld together even more as the marinade sits. When you’re ready to start marinating (refer to the suggested marinating times above), simply give it the marinade a shake and pour it over whatever meat or veggies you’re using it on – easy!