Name: Best Spicy Chicken Marinade
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 kg chicken (any cut); 1 teaspoon salt; drizzle vegetable oil (approx 2 tablespoons); juice of half a lemon; ¼ teaspoon turmeric; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon oregano; ¼ teaspoon thyme; ¼ teaspoon onion powder; ¼ teaspoon garlic powder; ½ teaspoon red chilli powder; ½ teaspoon paprika; ½ teaspoon sumac; ½ teaspoon tandoori powder; 1 teaspoon shatta ((red chilli paste))

A really good spicy chicken marinade will give you more than just spice, it will give you earthy herby undertones with a kick at the back of your throat at the end.

Waves of flavour and spice and heat. That is what we are going for.

Our secret ingredient to getting it spicy is using shatta, which is basically a red chilli paste.

I was fortunate to get some from the village lady in Lebanon last summer and it's still good.

You might already be familiar with my simple Lebanese chicken marinade and I would also check out my garlic sauce which is just dreamy.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Variations
Top tip
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Pairing

Ingredients

I will say this again and again without getting tired. Make sure you source fresh chicken from a good butcher.

You know if a butcher is good if it is busy with a high turnaround of produce.

Also that it's super clean and the butcher has some knife skills so they won't get annoyed if you ask them to prepare stuff.

I've made this recipe using a kilogram of chicken wings and chicken breast chopped into cubes an inch wide.

Instructions

Get all the spices ready and then just add them to the marinade bowl.

I don't know why some people get scared when they see a long list of spices, they somehow transalte that to more effort in their head.

When really if spices are the main ingredient, it's just a case of opening your spice cabinet and taking out some spices in measured amounts.

...¼ teaspoon for the strong ones (turmeric, chilli, black pepper), ½ teaspoon for the mild ones (paprika, sumac, coriander)....

Then think about the overall flavour you want, that one dominant tone and add a teaspoon of that so in this case it's shatta (chilli paste).

And bring it all together with salt, little drizzle of oil, lemon juice and you are done.

Prepare the marinade in a bowl by mixing all the ingredients

Chop up the chicken breast or prepare the wings

Marinade for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight

Grill, roast, pan fry or griddle

Variations

I could literally make ten versions of this by changing up the base or the dominant spice:

Yoghurt - make it creamy with 2 tablespoons of yoghurt
Soy sauce - add a tablespoon to get more umami
Ketchup - add a good squeeze to give it some tomato tang
Red pepper paste - add a tablespoon of this if you love the flavour of peppers
Harissa - add a teaspoon for some extra spice and heat

Other spices you can add are ¼ teaspoon of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika or cinnamon.

Top tip

I've used garlic powder as this makes it best for BBQs ensuring the garlic doesn't burn but you could also add a clove of minced garlic if you are pan frying or roasting in the oven.

This exact recipe works out for meat too although I would personally not add garlic powder for meat.

If you are grilling on the BBQ baste some extra juices a few times on the chicken to give more intense flavour.

If you are pan frying add a shallow layer of vegetable oil.

Sometimes I skewer some chicken pieces and then flame grill them on the big hob which is always delicious.

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

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5 from 1 vote