Healthy Marinade Recipes

October 01, 2011
Photo: John Autry
Forget the bottled stuff—you can make your own delicious (and more nutritious) homemade version that won't leave you crunched for time.
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Our Favorite Healthy Marinades

Photo: John Autry
View Recipe: Hawaiian Chicken

Marinades can be a powerful tool when it comes to creating flavorful seafood, meat, and chicken. Unfortunately, those convenient store-bought versions tend to bring along less than stellar nutrition facts. By making your own marinades, you can save sodium and other preservatives while ensuring a moist and delicious meal.

Our first marinade will have you taking a mental vacation to The Big Island as you enjoy this grilled chicken marinated in a mixture of pineapple juice, ketchup, soy sauce and ginger.

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Soy-Marinated Chicken Thighs

Photo: Randy Mayor
View Recipe: Soy-Marinated Chicken Thighs

Soy sauce is great in marinades for grilled meats, as it stands up to charred flavors. The simple solution would also be tasty with steaks, pork tenderloin, or pork chops.

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Alder-Planked Salmon in an Asian-Style Marinade

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
View Recipe: Alder-Planked Salmon in an Asian-Style Marinade

If you can get your hands on a filleted side of salmon, this is the recipe to choose. The salmon only needs 30 minutes in the soy marinade rounded out with honey, ginger, and lemon. Keeping the salmon on a plank is one way to ensure that this large cut of fish stays extra-moist.

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Teriyaki Pork and Pineapple

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
View Recipe: Teriyaki Pork and Pineapple

This sweet-salty marinade is excellent for almost any tender cut of meat that's cubed and skewered—chicken breasts or thighs, or beef tenderloin or sirloin. Reducing the marinade concentrates its flavor and helps it stick to the kebabs. Although we usually marinate in zip-top plastic bags, we recommend using a bowl for this recipe so it's easier to scoop out the pork and pineapple with a slotted spoon. Serve over white and wild rice pilaf.

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Chicken Skewers with Soy-Mirin Marinade

Photo: Randy Mayor
View Recipe: Chicken Skewers with Soy-Mirin Marinade

This marinade would also pair nicely with salmon. Red and green bell peppers taste delicious when laced onto skewers and grilled with the marinated chicken. To round out the meal, serve with sautéed snow peas.

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Maple Grilled Salmon

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
View Recipe: Maple Grilled Salmon

The sweet-sour marinade is cooked down to a syrupy glaze that's brushed on the fish as it cooks. The citrus and maple flavors would also be tasty with pork. Garnish fillets with orange slices, if desired.

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Grilled Chicken with Whiskey-Ginger Marinade

Photo: Randy Mayor
View Recipe: Grilled Chicken with Whiskey-Ginger Marinade

This Whiskey-Ginger Marinade packs a powerful punch of flavor. The chicken browns over the hottest part of the grill (direct heat), then moves to the cooler side (indirect heat) to finish. The result: tender chicken, perfectly cooked.

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Escabèche-Style Scallops

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
View Recipe: Escabèche-Style Scallops

Escabèche is a Spanish dish in which cooked seafood is marinated and served cold as an appetizer. Though it's traditionally made with sardines, escabèche is also good with other seafood, including scallops and shrimp. Marinate for only 30 minutes to ensure the scallops remain tender. Top with thyme sprigs.

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Argentinean Pork

Photo: Nina Choi
View Recipe: Argentinean Pork

Our Argentinean Pork is marinated in a olive oil herb mixture that gives the grilled meat a fantastic fresh flavor. The pork only needs to be marinated for an hour, just be sure to flip once during the process.

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Chicken Fajitas

Photo: John Autry
View Recipe: Chicken Fajitas

This marinade features a unique blend of ingredients that come together in a wonderful way. Serve with flour tortillas and your favorite garnishes like salsa, reduced-fat sour cream, and cilantro and you'll be ready for a fiesta.

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