These 8 freezer friendly chicken marinades translate into an hour of prep for 8 timesaving dinner chicken recipes for busy weeknights!
So many of you guys told me in this year’s survey that your New Year’s goal was to get better at meal prepping and meal planning. How’s that going for ya? Are you killing it? If you are, go on with your bad self! If you aren’t, don’t worry, meal prepping and meal planning is more of a habit that takes time to form than you think.
If you did it once, spent half your weekend doing it and was discouraged. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It takes practice and commitment!
Please hear me. You will get better AND faster with practice. It will eventually not feel like such a hassle. That is provided you utilize all the tools you have available!
Ever since I prepped over 20 freezer meals for my maternity leave (the 12 best I shared in this post), I’m hooked on using the freezer as a meal prep tool. HOOKED!
But that isn’t the only tool available to you!
If you still haven’t signed up for WTE Meal Plans! NOW IS THE TIME! This month is #mealprepmarch over at WTE? Meal Plans and I’m all about teaching you the skills to become a meal prep champ!
If you sign up before March 10th, you will get a set of glass meal prep dishes with airtight lids ($30 value) for FREE with your membership! AND you will be able to participate in the Meal Prep Challenge.
Here are the deets: WTE? Meal Plan Subscribers will be challenged to spend a couple of hours this weekend prepping these 8 marinades. For the following 8 weeks, every meal plan will feature one of these chicken recipes. That means WTE subscribes will start the week with one recipe ready every week for two months! Talk about starting ahead!
Remember what I said about meal planning and prep taking practice and commitment? Now is your chance! I want you to have all the tools you need to succeed!
Sign up for WTE? Meal Plan here and get your free meal prep containers now!
What You Need
- 16 Large Gallon Freezer Bags
- You need one for the recipe, then to avoid any potential mess I like to double bag my chicken. Once the first bag is closed fold it over on itself and place it inside a second bag.
- Thick Sharpie
- As you can see from some of the photos, I ran out of ink on my sharpie and had to use a pen. Not as easily visible when digging through the freezer.
- Ingredients for the marinade recipes.
- Get a BIG bottle of avocado oil – I get mine from Costco for 10 bucks. (I use Avocado oil because it stands up to high heat better than other oils, you can read about that here.)
- Chicken breast or thighs – must be FRESH – you never want to re-freeze raw meat. Once it’s been thawed once it is time to cook it. Unfortunately, that means some of my beloved places to order meat from are out because they come frozen. I opted to get chicken from Costco for this post. Once the meat is cooked, it can be frozen again as part of a cooked dish.
- Coconut aminos – can sub soy sauce if not paleo or gluten free.
- Minced garlic – I highly recommend mincing your own. The pre-minced stuff is never near as strong.
How to Cook The Chicken
Once the chicken is combined with the marinade and frozen, it can be cooked using many different methods. For each recipe, I’ll recommend my favorite way to cook the marinaded chicken BUT you can use any of the methods below for any of the recipes.
INSTANT POT: From frozen 12-15 mins on high, 10 mins natural release
SLOW COOKER: From thawed, 4 hours on high
GRILL: From thawed, until internal temperature reaches 165F
BAKE: From thawed, at 425F for 40-50 minutes until internal temperature reaches 165F
8 Freezer Friendly Chicken Marinades
Classic Chicken Marinade
FREEZE TOGETHER:
- ½ onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar or lemon juice
- ¼ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 pounds chicken breast or thighs
This all-purpose marinade is great for the IP, SC, grilling or baking!
Makes 8 servings: 250 Calories, 11g Fat, 4g Carbs, 35g Protein Per Serving*
Fajita/Taco Chicken Marinade
FREEZE TOGETHER:
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ white onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 2lbs chicken breasts or thighs
This is kind of all-purpose Mexican food marinade. The chicken here is on the spicier side but made in the IP or SC, it’s a great taco/enchilada/fajita filling!
Shawarma
FREEZE TOGETHER:
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tbsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp sumac
- 2 tsps sea salt
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- 2 tsps sugar
- 2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs
You’ve seen this recipe before in both my maternity leave freezer roundup and on top my Pita Jungle copycat salad recipe. What can I say? When something is good, it’s just that good, ya know? The ingredients are kind of strange 9corriander, cardamom, and sumac may be new to you) but I go through them quickly for how often I make this recipe! I promise they will not sit in your cabinet unused!
I love shawarma that’s been grilled, then I use it to top a Mediterranean inspired salad. Again, you can cook it anyway but my favorite is grilled!
THIS MARINADE HAS IT’S OWN PRINTABLE PAGE, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.
Honey Garlic
FREEZE TOGETHER:
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsps coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mustard (Dijon or grey poupon)
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
This marinade is from a recipe I posted last week, it’s for garlic LOVERS! If you aren’t a garlic lover, you can tone down the garlic as much as you need. We’ve tried it baked and in the Instant Pot, Mr. Hungry, the garlic lover, was obsessed with both!
THIS MARINADE HAS IT’S OWN PRINTABLE RECIPE, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.
Chipotle Chicken Marinade
FREEZE TOGETHER:
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp paprika
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp chipotle chile powder
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
This recipe comes from my paleo Instant Pot or slow cooker chipotle chicken taco recipe that is uber popular! It would be great in any Mexican dish that wouldn’t mind a little chipotle chile flair!
THIS MARINADE HAS IT’S OWN PRINTABLE RECIPE, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.
Sriracha Maple Chicken Marinade
- ¼ cup sriracha
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce
- ½ cup of coconut milk (full fat canned)
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
Serve this over thai noodles, rice, or spaghetti squash (for a low carb noodle dish). I like it best pressure or slow cooked!
Chimichurri
BLEND TOGETHER:
- 2 cups parsley
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 green onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
FREEZE WITH:
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
My favorite way to make this dish is baked in a cast iron skillet. It’s delicious that way! It’s such a flavorful chicken recipe, so you should plan for it to be the star of the show!
Per serving: Calories 310 Fat 18g Carbs 2g Protein 35g (Makes 8 servings)
Cilantro Lime
BLEND TOGETHER:
- ¼ cup lime JUICE
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 2 green onions
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
- 2tsp honey
FREEZE WITH:
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
NOTE: In the picture, I did not blend the sauce I just added it all to the bag. If you are grilling your meat, this is fine. However, if you want to use the marinade in the slow cooker or instant pot, it’s probably better (more tasty finished product) to blend it first.
Make sure you sign up now to get your free glass meal prep container set and join us for this meal prep challenge!
(*Remember the calories are estimates only, actual calories and fat will likely be lower because you won’t actually consume all the marinade.)
[…] WTE? Meal Plan Subscribers will be challenged to spend a couple of hours this weekend prepping these 8 marinades. For the following 8 weeks, every meal plan will feature one of these chicken recipes. That means […]