I’m obsessed with ranch seasoning mix. I love it in my Buffalo chicken, this ranch chicken pasta, and now that it’s grill season I decided to make a chicken marinade with it. Yup!
However instead of just sprinkling some seasoning over my chicken and grilling it up I decided to fancy it up a bit with some garlic and lemon. Oh mama! Ranch, garlic, and lemon?! Yes please!
This marinade is so easy and can be made ahead of time. All I did was take 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning mix (my favorite is Simply Organic) and mix it with 1/4 cup of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, lemon juice and zest, and a couple tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Before pouring the marinade on top of the chicken give it a taste for salt. Depending on the seasoning packet you may or may not need to add salt. If you do add about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt.
A quick note about the garlic. I highly recommend grating your garlic. This turns it into a paste and gives the marinade more of a garlic flavor. I use a zester to do this.
Then I put 4 chicken breasts (about 4-ounce each) in a gallon-size freezer bag and poured the marinade over the top. This marinade is thicker than a typical marinade so after you pour it over the chicken you’ll need to squish it around until it coats all the chicken. Then let it sit in the fridge for about 4 hours or overnight. I find the longer you can let meat marinate the better.
I actually prepared and froze this ahead of time. I took the chicken out the day before we were going to grill it and let it thaw in the refrigerator. Making ahead marinades is one of my favorite ways to stock my freezer. It’s super easy and you can have tons of healthy dinners ready for the freezer in minutes.
Then I grilled the chicken over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until it was fully cooked. If you don’t have a grill you can use a grill pan.
Serve with this delicious quinoa greek salad or this asian pasta salad. Yum!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning mix
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large cloves garlic grated
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan or romano cheese
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of salt optional
- 4 4 ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together the seasoning mix, olive oil, garlic, cheese, lemon juice, and lemon. Taste for salt and add if needed.
- Place chicken in a bag, or in a container, and pour the marinade over top. Move the chicken around until all the marinade is coating the chicken. Let sit for 4 hours or overnight.
- Grill over medium high heat for 5-6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Notes
The chicken can go into the marinade up to 2 -3 days ahead of time or frozen in the marinade up to 3 months ahead of time. Take out the day before and let the chicken thaw in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Laura says
This is the best chicken recipe!! Easy to make and everyone in the family loves it! I’ve never liked chicken but I LOVE this chicken!
Tammy Kresge says
Awesome! so glad you liked it!
Menna says
This is awesome… loved it
Tammy Kresge says
Great so glad you liked it!
Sheral St. John says
Tammy,
Thank you so much for some wonderful new marinades for grilling chicken! I have been wanting to try some recipes like this and I am including your two newest recipes in my weekly menu this week! They both sound delicious and I can’t wait to try them! Thank you for all you do to help us to get healthy!
Tammy Kresge says
Great! I have 3 more going up in the next couple weeks along with a turkey burger recipe. I’ve been all about my grill this summer.
Cristy says
To do the “make ahead,” do you freeze the chicken in the marinade or just freeze the marinade? I’m pretty sure it’s with the chicken, but I’m not a wiz in the kitchen 😬.
Tammy Kresge says
I freeze the chicken in the marinade.