Italian Dressing Chicken Marinade

This is a wonderful staple recipe for chicken, using homemade Italian dressing to marinate the chicken. You can use this recipe for endless varieties of chicken preparation - stovetop, roasting in the oven, grilling or cooking it in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Did you know that Italian dressing works really well as a marinade for chicken? It has everything you need to add so much flavor to the chicken - oil, acidity, fresh herbs, garlic and more. You can certainly use your favorite store bought dressing and it makes it so quick and easy. (It's a great shortcut to have in your cooking repertoire.)

Making a homemade Italian dressing is really easy too and really makes the flavors pop. It's so much fresher and is made with pantry staples, so you can whip it up anytime. Using fresh shallots, garlic and a combination of fresh and dry herbs will really elevate the flavors. Not only can you use this as a chicken marinade, you can use part of the dressing for your salad too.

This recipe is very versatile too. It works for just about any type of chicken you want to make - chicken thighs or chicken breast, chicken drumsticks or wings and even kabobs. You can also cook the chicken any way you want - on the stovetop, in the oven, put it on the grill and it even works for the slow cooker and Instant Pot. It's perfect for meal prep too. Make a big batch and freeze half of it for an easy meal later.

Ingredients:

The complete list of ingredients and their exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Homemade Italian Dressing:

• olive oil
  • The olive oil is the base of the dressing; the flavor is iconic for Italian dressing, but you can also use other vegetable oils too. Avocado oil is the one I use most often is not using olive oil.
• red wine vinegar or lemon juice
  • A salad dressing has to have an acidic element and red wine vinegar pairs really well with the olive oil. You can also use sherry vinegar, white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar or even balsamic vinegar.
  • Instead of vinegar, you can also use lemon or lime juice.
• salt, ground black pepper
• sugar
• shallots
  • Shallots are more mild than onions and are so good in dressings, but you can also use yellow or red onion instead.
• garlic
• fresh herbs: parsley, thyme, rosemary, green onions, etc.
• dry herbs - Italian seasoning
• Parmesan cheese
• optional - mayonnaise
  • Adding just a one or a few tablespoons of mayonnaise will make the dressing more creamy and help emulsify it. This is completely optional.

Chicken:

• chicken thighs
• chicken drumsticks
• kabobs
• chicken breast

Italian Dressing Chicken Video

How to make Italian Dressing Chicken

1. Prep the chicken.
   • Depending on what you are making, trim and clean the chicken, cut it into pieces, if needed.
2. Next, make the homemade dressing.
   • Combine all the ingredients for the Italian dressing together and whisk to combine.
   • If I am making the dressing to use in salads, I use half as much shallots. When using the dressing as a marinade, I like using twice as much shallots.
3. Pour the Italian dressing over the chicken. Mix to combine.
4. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes.
5. If you marinate the chicken longer than 30 minutes, refrigerate it. You can prep the chicken up to a few hours in advance and even overnight.

Cooking the Italian Chicken

This is one of the most versatile recipes for chicken. You can cook it so many different ways.

Stovetop

• Heat a skillet with oil until it is hot and shimmering. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown and crisp on both sides.
• For extra flavor, I use the same skillet, add a bit more oil or butter and saute a bit more shallots and garlic until tender. Cook until the shallots are tender and cooked through, on medium low heat. Add fresh herbs, then spoon over the chicken. You can also add some white wine or lemon juice to deglaze the pan and add more flavor.

Oven

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Roast the chicken until it reaches 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit in the center for chicken breast and 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit for chicken thighs. The time varies widely depending on the size and type of chicken you use.
• (When roasting chicken in the oven, I prefer using bone-in, skin on chicken breast/thighs. It turns out much juicier.)

Slow Cooker

• Add the chicken to the Slow Cooker. Chicken breast will cook much faster than chicken thighs and chicken breast.
• Chicken Breast: (I recommend cooking white meat on low, since cooking it on High heat is more likely to result in dry chicken) 2 - 4 hours on Low heat
• Chicken Thighs: 4 - 6 hours on Low heat, 2-4 hours on High heat

Grill

• Preheat the grill. (At least 15 minutes, medium-high heat)
• Grill the chicken until it reaches 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit in the center for chicken breast and 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit for chicken thighs.

Instant Pot

Be sure to add 1 cup of water or broth to the Instant Pot along with the chicken.

• chicken breast - 8-10 minutes, High Pressure. Rest for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure.
• chicken thighs - 10-12 minutes on High Pressure. Rest for 5 minutes, then manually release the pressure.

The Secret to the Juiciest Chicken

For any preparation method, timing is not very accurate and depends on so many things - the size of the chicken, bone in or boneless, how much is the total amount of chicken, etc. Using an instant read thermometer will be much more accurate and ensure that your chicken will be juicy, tender and delicious.

Chicken Breast - White meat overcooks much more easily. It should be 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit in the center.

Chicken thighs/drumsticks - Dark meat is much more forgiving, so even if you overcook it, you should still have much more delicious and tender meat. It needs to be 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit in the center.

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