The Sweet Summertime Drink That Does Double Duty For Unusually Amazing Meat Marinades

Marinating your meat or seafood before you cook it is an easy way to add flavor and tenderize it. There are tons of ingredients you can add to your steak (or really any) marinade to give it a flavor boost, and one of the most unexpected is none other than lemonade. 

That summer specialty that you buy from the store or make yourself is the key to a zesty, bright marinade for chicken and seafood, specifically. It offers acidity and sweetness — two of the ingredients that are critical in any marinade — and it can elevate the flavor of your protein with very little work required on your part. This would be an excellent use for frozen lemonade concentrate, which has even more sweetness and acidity. Depending on the amount of meat you're marinating, you can use a full or partial can and add in supplemental seasonings like brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic to make it more savory-leaning. If you're making chicken, we recommend pairing the acidic lemon with herbs like rosemary, oregano, and thyme. The amount of time you need to marinate your meat depends on the type you're using; the longer the meat sits in the marinade, the more tender it will become.  

The nice thing about this lemonade hack is that you don't have to only use it for proteins that you often associate with lemons — like salmon, shrimp, and chicken — but you will get the most complementary flavors from it. Some folks have tried marinating cuts like London broil in lemonade. One Redditor who tried it called the result "edible," which leads us to believe lemonade would be better suited for uses where you can actually taste the tartness and complexities of the citrus. 

An important consideration is also which lemonade you'll select. When our taster ranked several store-bought lemonades, they ranked Newman's Own as one of the best, followed by another favorite: Simply. The key here, especially if you're not using a lemonade from concentrate, is to pick one that is full-bodied and expressive. A watered-down juice won't do your sweet and spicy shrimp any good.