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It’s hard, if not implausible, if not impossible, to think of a side dish that doesn’t get along with grilled chicken. Whatever is in your pantry-slash-fridge works—potato salad, salad potatoes, the hodgepodge of cucumber and onion and celery in the crisper plus a plop of sour cream.
The only question is: Will you marinate the chicken? And admittedly, this is a trick question. Because the answer is actually another question: What cut of chicken are you using?
If it’s bone-in thighs, sure, salt them lavishly, then toss them to the flames. They are fatty and juicy and resilient enough to withstand the heat. But if boneless, skinless breasts are your pick—and they cook up so quickly, so evenly, so effortlessly, why wouldn’t they be?—there’s only one answer. Of course I’m marinating the chicken.
A marinade is to meat as an epsom salt bath is to me: a place to go after work, unwind wound-up muscles, drink a martini, eat potato chips, and read a magazine that I end up dropping in the tub when my cat leaps up and scares the living daylights out of me.
Maybe the metaphor doesn’t hold up. But you get the idea.
A marinade is the cooking equivalent of self-care, a step that’s unnecessary, but glorious. Especially with lean cuts that are lacking in personality and prone to drying out, a good marinade boosts flavor and tenderness to infinity and beyond.
Of course, a lot of ingredient lists can get you there. At the minimum, you’ll need salt for its savory superpowers, something something fatty (like oil) for coatability and richness, something acidic (like citrus juice) for tenderizing and zing, and something flavorful (like herbs) for, you know, flavor.
On our site alone, we have many marinades with many ingredients: This one with jalapeños, cilantro stems, garlic, olive oil, sugar, salt, and black pepper. This one with kombucha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. This one with silken tofu, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, rice vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
But for those days when you want to do less and get just as much, know that you can fall back on these two ingredients: mayonnaise and hot sauce.
As it does to sandwich bread, mayonnaise clings to chicken, expertly enriching it with oily, egg yolky goodness, and paving the path to better browning and charring (read: better flavor). Hot sauce takes care of everything else: the vinegary tang and chile drop kick, not to mention the salt and whatever flavors your chosen hot sauce features (I love the garlickiness of Cholula and the Buffalo wing-ness—a thing!—of Frank’s).
The result is a chicken breast that has the confidence of a chicken thigh.
And what’s more? These two ingredients aren’t only a marinade, they’re also a sauce. Just stir them together while the grilled chicken rests, tweaking the ratio to be as creamy or fiery as you like. Then serve it alongside for slathering and dunking, preferably outside, where you can still smell the smoke from the grill, and watch the sun slump in the sky.
| 2 or 3 | boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/4 pounds) |
| 1/2 | cup mayonnaise |
| 3 | tablespoons hot sauce (see Author Notes) |
| 1 | pinch kosher salt (optional) |
| 2 or 3 | boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/4 pounds) |
| 1/2 | cup mayonnaise |
| 3 | tablespoons hot sauce (see Author Notes) |
| 1 | pinch kosher salt (optional) |
| 1/4 | cup mayonnaise |
| 1 | tablespoon hot sauce, plus more to taste |
| 1/4 | cup mayonnaise |
| 1 | tablespoon hot sauce, plus more to taste |
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Written by: Emma Laperruque
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20 Comments
could I use that alone as a marinade? I think it's basically mayo with some teriyaki flavoring. Maybe add a little Worchestershire sauce, that would give a little zing without too much hotness. What do you think?
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