Grilling season is officially here. (And by “officially here” I mean that we successfully removed the baby robins from our BBQ and that their mom found them in their new location.)
A few years back, when the pantry was bare, I concocted a marinade that has become a favorite of friends and family. I don’t usually measure when I make it, but I promise you can’t screw it up.
Ingredients (with disclaimers)
pineapple juice (I used a 6oz can but have drained a can of pineapple slices in a moment of desperation in the past)
soy sauce (I don’t measure, but probably close to the same amount as the pineapple juice)
olive oil (I also don’t measure this…it’s more of a vessel to get the marinade where it needs to be. If I had to guess, I’d say 1/4 c)
brown sugar (about 1/2 c)
minced garlic (I’m lazy and buy the pre-minced stuff. I use about 1-2 cloves equivalent)
Dump ingredients in a big old Ziploc bag with chicken pieces and smoosh it all around. That’s right. I don’t even mix it ahead of time. I like to cut each boneless skinless chicken breast half into 3 smaller pieces for a couple of reasons. The first reason = they get more surface area soaked in the marinade. And the second reason = they’re easier to cook through without burning.
Seal the bag and stick in the refrigerator for several hours (like 4 or 5, if you’ve got that long). I like to put it in a dish in case there’s leakage.
Discard the excess marinade and happy grilling!
Woah! That is the hugest jar of garlic I have every seen!
Going to have to pin this marinade for use this summer! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
That sounds really similar to a steak marinade an old neighbor introduced me to–though we use orange juice and a dash of lemon juice instead of pineapple. I may try it with Pineapple next time!
(With pineapple, not Pineapple. That correction makes more sense if you know that Pineapple is the name of my cockatiel :-p)
Uhm, wow. I didn’t know soy sauce was sold by the gallon.
What else do y’all do with that much soy sauce? 
Regardless, this looks like a great marinade to try for the holiday weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds yummy and cracks me up seeing “Marinade” under “Crap I’ve Made”.
~Bliss~
I will have to try your version. I have a similar one 2 cup pineapple juice with 1 cup soy and 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic and a few shakes of cumin. It is the best on carne asada (aka thinly sliced cut of meet) for tacos. I need to go to the store this week and give it a whirl I haven’t made it this year yet.
I used this recipe but added some crushed red pepper flakes and a little allspice. It was DELICIOUS! Thanks for sharing.
I used this same recipe to marinate short ribs, only added sesame oil to the steak recipe and the chicken I added some ginger and cumin, I just made the marinade and put chicken in the fridge.