How do I marinate meat properly?
What a marinade actually does, how long each type of meat needs, and why more time is not better.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 15 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Marinades flavour the surface rather than penetrating deeply, so 30 minutes to a few hours is usually enough. Acidic marinades left too long turn the outer layer of meat mushy — that is a real failure mode, not a myth.
Marinades do three things: add surface flavour, help browning through sugars, and in the case of salt, help the meat retain moisture. They do not tenderise deeply and they do not penetrate more than a few millimetres.
What you'll need
- Oil
- Acid or salt
- Aromatics
- Sealed bag or bowl (optional)
Step by step
- Build a marinade from oil, acid or salt, and aromatics.Oil carries fat-soluble flavour, acid or salt does the work on the surface, and aromatics provide the character.
- Keep marinating times short for acidic mixtures.Thirty minutes to two hours for citrus or vinegar-based marinades. Longer and the surface goes pale, soft and mealy.
- Use salt or a brine for longer marinating.Salt-based marinades can go overnight and genuinely help the meat hold moisture, unlike acid.
- Match the time to the meat.Fish 15-30 minutes, chicken pieces 2-4 hours, tougher red meat up to overnight in a salt-based mixture.
- Marinate in the fridge, in a sealed bag or covered bowl.Never at room temperature. A bag lets you use less marinade and coats everything evenly.
- Pat the meat dry before cooking.Wet marinade steams instead of browning. Dry the surface and you get colour as well as flavour.
- Do not reuse marinade that touched raw meat.Unless you boil it hard for several minutes first, in which case it becomes a sauce.
Tips
- Sugar and honey in a marinade burn quickly. Add them near the end of cooking, or cook over lower heat.
- Yoghurt-based marinades are gentler than acidic ones and can be left much longer — this is why they are traditional for tandoori dishes.
- A dry rub often works better than a wet marinade for anything you want a crust on, since there is no moisture to drive off.
Common mistakes
- Marinating in an acidic mixture overnight — The acid denatures the surface proteins and the outer layer becomes soft and mealy rather than tender.
- Cooking straight from a wet marinade — The moisture steams the surface and prevents browning, so you lose the crust and much of the flavour.
- Reusing marinade as a sauce without boiling it — It has been in contact with raw meat. Boil it hard for several minutes or discard it.
Questions people ask
How long should I marinate chicken?
Two to four hours for pieces in an acidic marinade, or overnight in a salt or yoghurt-based one. Acidic marinades left too long make the surface soft and unpleasant.
Does marinating actually tenderise meat?
Only at the surface, and only a few millimetres deep. Salt helps meat retain moisture, which reads as tenderness, but marinades do not transform a tough cut.