Garlic-Herb Marinade for Chicken

This is a fantastic marinade for chicken. It's flexible, too - just change up the herbs. You can replace the basil with cilantro, dill, or rosemary, and it seems to be a totally different marinade. It is important to use fresh herbs in this marinade - it's just not as good with dried.

At Now We're Cooking, we marinated chicken kabobs in this for grilling, served atop rice pilaf. This was one of our most highly requested recipes.

Garlic-Herb Marinade for Chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (can swap with cilantro, dill, or 1/4 cup fresh rosemary)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 Tablespoons olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 12-36 hours. Turn occasionally if you think of it. (This is also great if you put it in a Ziploc bag with frozen chicken, then let the chicken defrost in the refrigerator in the marinade for 24-48 hours).
2. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook as desired. You can use the marinade to baste the chicken while it's cooking, but make sure it reaches 165 degrees before removing from heat. Discard any remaining marinade - it has raw chicken juice in it!
3. This makes enough marinade for 2-3 pounds of boneless chicken.