Grilling Chicken? The Only 3 Ingredients You Need For A Flavorful Marinade You'll Use On Repeat

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Thinking of grilling chicken this week but not sure what marinade to use? Let me convince you to use my tried-and-true three-ingredient marinade, made with pantry staples. And if you're wondering why you should trust me, well, I'm a three-time cookbook author with marinade recipes in my second cookbook, "Modern Asian Kitchen."

Whenever I'm making a quick marinade for my chicken and meats, I reach for sweet soy sauce, my bottle of MSG (or monosodium glutamate), and some minced garlic. In a pinch, I substitute the minced garlic with garlic powder. These three ingredients work beautifully together. You get subtle sweetness when you use a sweet soy sauce, like Indonesia's kecap manis, which helps balance and round out all the savoriness. When your soy sauce is already sweet, it removes the need to add sugar, maple syrup, or honey to the marinade. If you're looking for a sweet soy sauce to add to your pantry, brands like Heydoh and Kikkoman offer sweet soy sauces. 

In place of salt, which only has one note — saltiness — I add in sprinkles of MSG to the marinade to amplify the umami notes. For home cooks, enhancing marinades is one of the best ways to use MSG. You can find bottles of Ac'cent, which is pure MSG, in your local supermarket or online through sites like Amazon. I, however, am partial to using Ajinomoto's MSG, since MSG is a Japanese invention. Minced garlic, incorporated in the marinade, adds aromatic depth and savoriness, tying everything together. There are also enzymes in garlic, and they may help tenderize meat, such as pork and chicken, as it marinates.

For the absolute best marinated chicken, you want to keep it quick and simple. My three-ingredient marinade comes together easily, with all the ingredients simply just mixed together. Say you're using a ⅓ cup of sweet soy sauce. To that, add a ¼ teaspoon of MSG and a tablespoon of minced garlic. If you're using garlic powder instead, add ½ teaspoon of garlic powder to start. Give the ingredients a good mix before marinating the chicken. You can also add a teaspoon of cornstarch. This helps the marinade cling onto the chicken better. 

I like to marinate my chicken for at least 30 minutes. You can also marinate it ahead of time, leaving it in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. Then, when you're ready to cook the meat, be sure to follow this expert grilling tip for perfectly charred chicken that doesn't burn (it involves using two different temperature zones).