There is nothing that makes meat delicious like a good marinade. Dry, bland meat is not usually too appetizing, but a meat that has been marinated in a tasty Mexican marinade is a different story. Marinades are a brilliant way to season food as they are require little preparation—just stir the ingredients and soak the meat.
Delicious Mexican Marinade Recipe
While this is a simple fajita Mexican style marinade, use this with your favorite fajita staples and you will love the addition. This marinade that has no salt so it is good for people avoiding sodium for health reasons. Because this Mexican marinade is simple, it’s also easy to put a twist in it to fine-tune your preferred taste. It’s also great because it can be prepared in less than 15 minutes.
The original recipe is from allrecipes.com.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
Directions
- Whisk vegetable oil, chili powder, lime juice, honey, garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper in a bowl to make a marinade. Place chicken strips into a large resealable plastic bag; pour marinade over chicken. Knead bag to coat chicken with marinade. Squeeze out air, seal bag, and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.
- Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Remove chicken strips from marinade; discard used marinade.
- Grill chicken on preheated grill until browned, the juices run clear, and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest piece reads at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 10 minutes per side.
The entire process should take about 4 and a half hours. Fortunately, the labor intensive preparation is only about 15 minutes.
Notes From the Chef
Here are some tips from the chef if you want to customize the recipe:
Notes: Feel free to experiment with other spices, the amount of lime juice and honey, and the type of garlic. Minced garlic can be used instead of garlic powder, and tossing in 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper can put an extra kick in the flavor.
Try using sautéed green bell pepper with white or yellow onions, jalapeno slaw, homemade salsa (tomato or mango), etc.”
Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.
Marinade Notes
Remember, when marinating always use a nonreactive container. A heavy duty plastic bag or a steel bowl works really well. If you use an aluminum bowl the aluminum will give off an undesirable metallic taste.
This marinade will be the perfect flavoring for your next grilled chicken dinner. At the Mexicali Fresh Mex Grill we know about authentic Mexican food and how to flavor it. For more mouthwatering Mexican creations, check out our menu and visit any of our locations.