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A simple and easy recipe for Asian grilled chicken! It’s a quick chicken marinade with soy sauce, minced garlic, rice vinegar, ground ginger, and one secret ingredient that makes the chicken SUPER tender!
Friends we’ve got summer food on the menu today.
This is the easiest and best way to make chicken ever…
Like hands down, period. I’m not even joking around with this one. We’ve got great grill marks on the outside and tender, not dry chicken on the inside. And it’s all thanks to a secret little ingredient (thanks mom!) that mom uses when she’s making her famous Persian grilled chicken.
And though this grilled Asian chicken can be marinated for a quick 30 minutes and on the grill and ready to eat in no time, I like to marinate it overnight or for around 6-10 hours if/when possible.
If you can toss a bunch of ingredients in a zip top bag and give it a good shake before you head out for work in the morning, you will seriously have the most tender and perfectly cooked grilled chicken of your life with less than 15 minutes of hands on time for dinner.
Summer recipes call for fresh salads, roasted vegetables, and grilled chicken and fish to keep us energized and feeling light. And friends, these grilled chicken breasts have a whopping 33 grams of protein and come in at just over 200 calories! Talk about filling but still light.
Ingredients for simple asian grilled chicken:
- Chicken: feel free to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. I prefer breasts so that’s what you see in the pictures.
- Mayonnaise: THIS is the secret ingredient that will make your chicken tender and juicy on the inside and sticky, golden brown, saucy, and delicious on the outside.
- Honey: Adds a level or sweetness to the dish. I like to use honey, but if you have brown sugar on hand,t hat would make a decent substitute.
- Sriracha: Adds a kick to the Asian glaze. Feel free to use Samabl Oelek or another kind of hot sauce if you don’t have sriracha on hand.
- Soy Sauce: adds saltiness to the marinade. Feel free to use gluten free tamari if you have that on hand. I typically prefer low-sodium soy sauce and then a dash of salt to help control the sodium in recipes.
- Rice Vinegar: Adds acid to the recipe and balances out the flavor of the marinade.
- Minced Garlic: you’ll need a few cloves garlic. I usually just press them in a garlic press but you can also mince them by hand.
- Ground Ginger: you can easily find this ingredient in the spice aisle of the grocery store. If you happen to have fresh ginger on hand, you can substitute it here for the dry.
Coming in at just 8 simple ingredients that you’ve got right at home!
How to make Asian Grilled Chicken
- Make the marinade. In a bowl, whisk the garlic, sriracha, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and ground ginger until smooth. You can also justadd the ingredients to a blend and blend until smooth.
- Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken pieces to a zip top bag and then drizzle the marinade over the chicken. Zip the bag and shake or squish until all the chicken is evenly coated in the marinade.Now let the chicken rest! You want to do a minimum of 30 minutes and ideally, up to10 hours in the refrigerator.
- Fire up the grill! Okay, so you can make this indoors on a grill pan or outdoors, totally your call. I suually heat up a grill pan over medum-hig heat and spray with some cooking spray. Once the grates are warm (or the pan)place the chicken pieaces on the pan and cook them through. Flip them around the halfway mark and make sureotcheck with a meat thermometer to see if you’ve reached 160ºF. I like to remove the chicken at that point and carry over cooking will help it get to 165ºF. But feel free to take it to165ºF if you don’t mess with chicken!
Tips for success!
You could even try adding a little lime juice to the marinade if you want it to have a more pronounced acidic flavor. A splash of toasted sesame oil right when the chicken comes off the grill also gives this a yummy, toasty flavor. Feel free to garnish with a little chopped cilantro, green onions, or even sesame seeds.
I’m calling is Asian grilled chicken because really, it has tons of asian ingredients but doesn’t necessarily tip heavily towards any specific cuisine like, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, or Thai.
FAQs about this recipe
Garlic Sauteed Broccolini, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Cilantro Lime Rice, Thai Cucumber Salad, Green thai Mango Salad, and my Corn and Zucchini Saute are just a few ideas!
Yes! Immediately freeze the chicken once you combine it with the marinade. Then allow the chicken to defrost in the refrigerator overnight. And you shoul be ready to grill by the next day!
If you like this recipe, try these too:
- Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Grilled Zucchini Salad with Corn and Sweet Peppers
- Easiest Greek Grilled Chicken
- Spatchcock Peri Peri Chicken
- Easy Persian Chicken Kebabs (Joojeh Chicken)
Simple Asian Grilled Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 tablespoons sriracha or sambal oelek or gochujang
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the minced garlic, sriracha, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and ground ginger until smooth. You can also just add the ingredients into a blender or food processor and just give it a few quick pulses.
- Place the chicken breasts in a large zip top bag. Pour the prepared marinade on top, zip the bag and give it a good shake until the chicken is evenly coated. Allow the chicken to marinate for 30 minutes – 10 hours. Keep in mind that the longer you let the chicken sit in the mayonnaise mixture the more tender and flavorful your chicken will be!
- Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium high heat. Spray the grates with nonstick cooking spray if desired. Place the chicken breasts on the grill, discard any leftover marinade. Cook the chicken breasts for 5-6 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
- Serve immediately, garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.
Notes
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs can also be used in place of chicken breasts if desired. I have not tested this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs/breasts so please use your best judgement!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Absolutely delicious with your charred scallion soy noodles! Marinade comes together in a snap – I used gochujang, and it was the perfect amount of spice. Grilled up beautifully after 3 hours of marinating.
Really nice recipe. I made it to go along with a veggie and egg fried rice. Delicious. Thank you!