My favorite Marinades

1. Cuban Mojo

This is a powerful, highly flexible marinade. It pairs well with beef, pork, chicken, and fish, but the high acidity makes it easy to over-marinate. Don’t go over an hour with this one.

 

Ingredients:

Bulb (yes, bulb) of garlic, minced 

2 tsp salt 

1 tsp ground black pepper 

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup lemon juice

Zest from the citrus 

2 tsp cumin

Method:

Mix it all up and cover your meat completely. Remember, don’t marinate for longer than an hour.

2. Skirt Steak Marinade

This recipe is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe. We love his scientific approach to cooking, but his ingredients sometimes need a Primal adjustment. This is one of those times. Oh, and any thin cut of steak will do: skirt, flap, Milanese, etc.

Ingredients:  
1/2 cup olive oil  
2 tbsp salt, dissolved in two ounces water  
4 scallions, cut in half  
2 big cloves of garlic  
1/4 cup lime juice  
1 tsp red chile pepper flakes/powder  
1 tsp cumin  
2 tsp honey

Method:

Mix it all up and cover your meat completely. Marinate in the fridge for an hour.

3. Balsamic Marinade

This works equally well for steak, pork, and chicken. Balsamic is one of the weaker vinegars, so you don’t have to fret too much over over-marinating, but given enough time it will break down and eventually toughen the meat.

Ingredients: 
A few splashes of balsamic vinegar 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
Sea salt and black pepper to cover all sides 
Thyme (fresh or otherwise)

Method:

Rub the meat with all the ingredients. This is more of a wet rub, but it will impart a lot of flavor. Leave the meat in the fridge for half an hour before cooking. If you want to reach more meat faster, go ahead and add some olive oil to the mix (along with more of everything else), which will allow for a more traditional, liquid marinade.

4. Tandoori Chicken

If you allow yogurt, this is a great marinade for chicken. Just give yourself plenty of time to let the flavors set.

Ingredients: 
Tub of Greek yogurt (FAGE is a good option) 
4 large cloves garlic, crushed and chopped 
1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated 
2 spicy peppers, minced 
Juice from one lemon 
1 tbsp turmeric 
1 tbsp cumin 
1 tbsp coriander 
1 tsp cinnamon 
2 tsp paprika 
Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

Mix the ingredients together, leaving the salt and pepper aside. Salt and pepper the chicken, then coat liberally with the yogurt mixture. Marinade for at least half a day, or overnight.

5. Leg of Lamb Yogurt Marinade

You can certainly marinate an entire lamb roast, but you’ll want to at least butterfly the leg to get more surface area for the marinade to reach.

Ingredients:  
Tub(s) of Greek yogurt (FAGE is great, make sure you have enough to entirely coat the meat)  
1 tbsp coriander  
1 tbsp cumin  
1 tbsp black pepper (ground or cracked)  
1 medium-sized hot chile, minced and seeded (could be a Serrano, could be a habanero, could even be dried powder – your choice)  
Juice from 1 lemon  
6 cloves of garlic, minced  
1 inch of ginger, minced  
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro  
1/2 cup freshly chopped mint

Method:

Mix everything together in a pan. Coat the lamb on all sides with the mixture, then place into the fridge to marinate overnight. Let it go for at least twelve hours, after which you can just pop the pan into the oven to cook. When it’s done, reduce the drippings/marinade over low heat until it’s a thick, creamy sauce.

6. The Lazy Grok’s Chipotle Marinade

This one’s really, really easy. It goes best with chicken or pork, but any meat should work well.

Ingredients:

One can chipotle peppers (with adobo sauce)

Method:

Skim the sauce from the can and cover your meat of choice. Marinate for two hours. Include the peppers if you’re brave.

7. Greek Style Lamb Marinade

This will go well with any lamb cut, especially the cheaper ones like shoulder (which, as a bonus, also happens to be extra fatty).

Ingredients:  
3 cloves of garlic, minced  
4-5 tbsp fresh oregano (or 2 tbsp dried), minced  
2 tbsp parsley, minced  
Grated zest from 1/2 a lemon, along with the juice  
Extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the lamb)

Method:

Mix the ingredients together. Salt and pepper the lamb, then slather the mixture all over it. Place in a bag or in plastic wrap inside the fridge for at least two hours.

8. Simple Steak Marinade

This one’s pretty similar to the earlier example, but with some added flavors. Goes well with lamb, too.

Ingredients:  
1 cup extra virgin olive oil  
6 large garlic cloves, minced  
1/2 cup fresh thyme, minced  
1/2 cup fresh rosemary, minced

9. Grilled Chicken Marinade

Although summer’s over, this marinade is a great excuse to get out and grill. Just bring an umbrella.

Ingredients:  
1 tbsp Dijon mustard  
1/2 cup olive oil  
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar works, too)  
1 tsp hot chile powder  
Grated zest from an orange  
Juice from the orange  
Sea salt and pepper

Method:

Salt and pepper your chicken and fire up the grill. Mix all other ingredients together and coat the bird. Let it marinate for forty five minutes while the coals heat up, then slap it on the grill.

10. Thai Pork Chop Marinade

We say pork chop because it’s ideal, but any pork cut will do: loin, butt, belly.

Ingredients:  
1/2 cup dry white wine  
1/4 cup lime juice  
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger  
1 tbsp garlic, minced  
1 hot chile, minced and seeded (Thai, if you can get it)  
1 tbsp honey  
1 tbsp salt dissolved in a bit of water (instead of soy sauce)

Method:

Mix everything together and coat your pig in the stuff. This is a pretty potent marinade, so you only need to marinate for about half an hour. You can go up to an hour at a time, if you like.