Greek Lemon Marinade
Makes About 3/4 cup
A bright, fresh Mediterranean-style marinade made with lemon, olive oil, garlic, and herbs — perfect for chicken, shrimp, fish, vegetables, and quick weeknight grilling.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and optional red pepper flakes to a bowl or jar.
- Whisk vigorously or shake in a sealed jar until thoroughly combined.
- Add chicken, seafood, or vegetables and toss until evenly coated.
- Marinate chicken for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
- Marinate shrimp or fish for only 15 to 30 minutes to prevent the lemon juice from affecting the texture.
- Vegetables can be marinated for 15 to 30 minutes before grilling or roasting.
- Remove food from the marinade before cooking and discard any marinade that has been in contact with raw meat or seafood.
Notes & Tips
- This is a lighter and faster alternative to Greek Yogurt Marinade when you want bright Mediterranean flavor without a creamy marinade.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest provide much better flavor than bottled lemon juice for this marinade.
- Chicken can handle several hours in the marinade, but seafood should only be marinated briefly because the acid in the lemon juice can begin changing its texture.
- For shrimp, marinate for about 15 minutes, then cook quickly on a hot Blackstone, grill, or cast-iron skillet.
- For grouper, mahi-mahi, or other firm fish, 20 to 30 minutes is plenty of time to add flavor.
- For chicken kabobs, marinate the chicken for 1 to 2 hours and grill with peppers, onions, zucchini, or mushrooms.
- A little crumbled feta added after cooking works especially well with chicken and grilled vegetables.
- Reserve a small portion of clean marinade before adding raw meat and use it as a finishing drizzle after cooking, if desired.