When we started to take our health seriously a few years ago, one of the first things we did was throw out all of the pre-packaged marinades in our pantry. We quickly discovered that making our own homemade marinades for steak, chicken, seafood and pork isn’t difficult.

Since then, we’ve tested and perfected 5 versatile marinades. Use these healthy homemade marinades to give flavor to all kids of different types and cuts of meat.

Why make your own homemade marinades?

Making your own marinades at home is one of the easiest ways to add unique flavor to your cooking. But why should you DIY instead of buying the pre-packaged bottles and mixes?

1. It only takes a few minutes to whip up a marinade with fresh ingredients.
2. You know it’s fresh – it hasn’t been sitting on a shelf somewhere for months.
3. It allows you to experiment more and adjust ingredients to suit your taste.
4. It tastes better!

Also, you can avoid some of these common, highly processed ingredients and additives found in pre-packaged marinades.

• Corn syrup
• Added sugars – Cane, corn maltodextrin, dextrose, etc.
• “Natural” flavors
• Soy
• Guar gum
• Xanthan gum

When you make it at home, you know it’s free of ingredients you don’t want.

Want more flavoring ideas for any kind of meat? Check out our 10 Easy Homemade Spice Blends!

Classic Marinade 

The classic marinade is made up of a simple spice blend that packs a ton of flavor. The perfect blend of seasonings, vinegar, oil and coconut aminos make it a great alternative to soy sauce.

Use this marinade for a tougher cut of steak like a flank, flatiron or skirt steak. It is also very versatile and blends well with any white meat (chicken, pork) as well as seafood (shrimp, white fish).

We even used this as a sauce for these crispy vegetable noodles and pork.

Fresh Herb Marinade

With so many fresh herbs in this one, you’re bound to fall in love with the garlicky, herby flavor it imparts on any meat.

Use it as a marinade for any type of meat. It’s especially great with any kind of white meat like chicken, shrimp, white fish or pork.

Or, skip the marinating step all together and just use it as a chimichurri type sauce to drizzle all over some cooked meat. Check out this recipe for fresh chimichurri sauce for flank or skirt steak as an example.

Teriyaki Marinade

With only 5 ingredients this marinade will give you a classic teriyaki flavor with minimal effort. It pairs perfectly with chicken and can also be used as a sauce for a stir-fry.

We love teriyaki, so a version of this homemade marinade is featured in several other recipes:

• Healthy Teriyaki Chicken Bowl
• Grilled Teriyaki Salmon Bowls
• Teriyaki Beef Recipe
• Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Cilantro Lime Marinade

Tangy and fresh, this cilantro lime marinade will give you a mexican style flavor with only a few ingredients. Try it as a quick marinade for chicken or shrimp.

This one does double duty too, it can be used as a salad dressing.

If you love the flavor of this marinade, be sure to check out this cilantro lime chicken bowl and these cilantro lime shrimp bowls.

BBQ Marinade

This is a classic thick and slightly sweet BBQ marinade. It is perfect for chicken, beef and pork. If you don’t have time for marinating, this one can be used as a normal BBQ sauce to spread on meat during and after cooking.

If you need some BBQ recipe ideas to go with this sauce, check out all of our healthy grilling recipes.

Specifically, you can use it for:

• Instant Pot BBQ Beef Brisket
• BBQ Pulled Chicken
• Slow Cooker BBQ Beef

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5 Easy & Healthy Homemade Marinades

5 from 2 votes

Justin Winn

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Course: Main Course, Marinade

Toss all pre-packaged marinades and sauces! Making your own healthy and homemade marinades for steak, chicken, seafood and pork is easy. Try these 5 recipes!

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Equipment

• Food Processor

Ingredients

Classic Marinade:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt

Fresh Herb Marinade:

• 1/2 cup parsley packed
• 1/4 cup cilantro packed
• 1 tbsp chives
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Teriyaki Marinade:

• 1/2 cup coconut aminos
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger grated on a microplane

Cilantro Lime Marinade:

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely diced
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• 2 limes juice of
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

BBQ Marinade:

• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper

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Instructions 

For the fresh herb marinade:

• Place all of the ingredients in the processor and pulse to a semi-smooth consistency. Alternatively, ff you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the parsley, cilantro, chives, shallot and garlic and mix with the remaining ingredients. Use as a marinade for about 1 pound of meat.

For all other marinades:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl or shallow dish and mix well. Use as a marinade for about 1 pound of meat.

Notes

• As an alternative to coconut aminos, you can make your own using our DIY coconut aminos substitute recipe. 

Tried this recipe?Take a picture and tag @realsimplegood so we can see it!