All Purpose Marinade
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This all-purpose marinade recipe is so easy to make using just 5 ingredients and is ready in under 5 minutes. It tastes absolutely scrumptious on basically everything, from grilled chicken to burgers to veggies.
With summer here, many of us are marinating meat and grilling out on a regular basis. Burgers, chicken, chops, steaks, fish, veggies, you name it, a good marinade can make the meal. There are two marinades often used in my neck of the woods that aren’t readily available everywhere else. These are Dale’s Sauce and Moore’s Marinade, which are both made in Alabama. They are the key ingredient in many of the meats I cook as well as my steak sandwiches.
Here is my homemade all-purpose marinade recipe that can be whipped up in the time it takes for you to gather the ingredients from your pantry. It isn’t spot on the same as what you get in the store, but you’ll find it similar enough and equally delicious on EVERYTHING.
A general marinade is generally good on all things. This can also be made right when you need it or ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. I sure do hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Recipe Ingredients
- Apple cider vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Liquid smoke
- Ground ginger
- Garlic powder
How to Make All Purpose Marinade
Place your soy sauce in a bowl or large jar.
I like to use this jar because it has measurements on the side and you can just put the lid on and shake it away when you get all of your ingredients in. You can also easily store it in the fridge in this.
Add your water…
Then the garlic powder…
Ground ginger…
And apple cider vinegar.
If you have it, add a wee bit of liquid smoke too.
There ya go! Now put your lid on…
And give it a good shake.
Wasn’t this easy?
Cooking with All Purpose Marinade
Now put some type of meat in a baking dish. Today I’m going to use skinless boneless chicken breast.
Pour the marinade all over the chicken. Let the chicken breasts marinate for at least 30 minutes.
After your meat is done marinating, cook or grill it however you normally would.
In this instance, I covered my baking dish in foil and baked it at 350 for 30 minutes (or until the chicken was done in the center).
Today I’m serving my marinated chicken with mashed potato, fresh green beans, and homemade biscuits.
Storage
Store the all purpose marinade in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- If you can’t find liquid smoke, feel free to leave that out. I don’t want you to go fretting all over because it will be just fine without it. Liquid smoke is an all-natural way to give your meat a wee bit of smoky grilled flavor.
- You can totally substitute the garlic powder for 1 minced garlic clove if you like.
- For , add 1/4 of cayenne pepper.
- Here are some suggested marinating times:
- Most meat (chicken, beef, lamb, and pork) can marinate from 30 minutes up to 2 days.
- Vegetables can marinate from 30 minutes up to 5 days.
- Seafood should marinate for no longer than an hour.
Recipe FAQs
Can I marinate frozen chicken?
Yes you can. Either marinate the chicken as it thaws in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, place the fresh chicken in a freezer bag with the marinade and place it in the freezer. Then the marinade will do its thing while the meat is defrosting in the fridge.
What do I marinate in all purpose marinade?
You can marinate basically any meat or vegetable in this all purpose marinade recipe. Here are some suggestions to start:
- Steak kabobs or chicken kabobs, both baked in the oven.
- Steak or steak sandwiches.
- Grilled like salmon.
- Grilled chicken tenders (no grill needed). Basically, any type of poultry will work, like chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, and chicken thighs.
- Your favorite veggies, like potato, cauliflower, onion, and sweet potato.
- Grilled pork chops or pork tenderloin.
Ingredients
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp liquid smoke, optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake to mix well.½ tsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp ground ginger, 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup water, ½ tsp liquid smoke, optional
- Marinate beef in the mixture for 30 minutes or more. After marinating, discard the used marinade. Store unused marinade in the refrigerator.
- For beef kabobs, after threading the marinated steak onto wooden skewers alongside the vegetables, I place them on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn them every 10 minutes until vegetables are lightly brown around the edges.
Nutrition
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining,
the breeze is blowing,
the birds are singing,
and the lawn mower is broken.
– James Dent
Dale’s sauce is so yummy … but not many of my local grocery stores carry it. Thanks for sharing an alternate AND cheaper version. I almost always have these ingredients on hand.
sounds great! The only part that concerns me is at the end of the post when you ask who is gonna cook you a steak…as you grin & grab the bottle of ketchup…
Ketchup on steak??!! for real?!! Believe me I eat ketchup on a bunch of stuff….except steak! lol!!
yeah, I’m all sophisticated like that ~winks and grins~
hehehee
But if you cook me a steak and rather I not put ketchup on it, I’ll be glad to abide by your wishes, I never look a gift steak in the mouth ! 🙂
I’m right there with ya about ketchup on steak, Christy! I’ve tried to enjoy steak sauce a couple of time…ALWAYS head right back to good ol’ ketchup!! LOL
Steak isn’t steak without ketchup.
When we lived in GA/FL/SC I used Moore’s ALL the time! I love making my own spice mixes and marinades so thank you for this one!! I’ll be giving it a go with some chicken or pork chops this weekend on the grill. You rock, Christy!!
I just discovered Moore’s marinade. I bought it to make your steak sandwiches (Which Hubby(G) enjoyed thoroughly, even though he isn’t a big fan of philly cheese steak sandwiches) After making them, I let the marinade sit in the fridge and “age” a few weeks.
Then I wanted burgers one night and not G’s “throw-every-spice-in-the-cabinet-inside-Worcestershire-sauce-and-an-egg-together-mix-with-meat-and-call-it-a-burger” burger. I am not joking about the spices, a short list of what he puts in them includes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, roast rub, Italian seasoning, chili powder…. Pretty much everything except cinnamon. Anyways where was I?
Oh yea, I wanted a real burger, one that was not “overwhelming” (to put it nicely) to my taste buds. So I quickly and quietly slipped into the kitchen under to false pretense of washing dishes and started to make what I now call Simple burgers. I realized I was out of Worcestershire sauce and saw the Moore’s marinade.
I tried it and now I am hooked. Even G had to admit it was a good burger (despite the fact he tried to sneak in and season it up, but I got them on the foreman just in time to save them)
Anyways, will have to try this because I can see how this might be cheaper in the long run and because my Wal-Mart likes to quit carrying products that I like and are worth buying and are selling well, without the decency to warn me in advance
Oooh that looks yummy! I love marinades and grilling 🙂 Think I’ll have to make that next time we grill! I have the worst luck with grilling chicken breasts (usually the outside is blackened so the marinade I used doesn’t matter anyway), but maybe I’ll have better luck this time.
Also, I think I’m guilty of complaining about how raw meat looks (namely the ground beef in the “gush it up and boil it” tutorial, which I followed anyway because it’s such a great idea and loved the results). I hadn’t really thought of it as complaining before, but I’ll be sure to keep my yap shut. Though this time when I saw the picture of the raw chicken, what went through my head was “Oooh it makes lots of marinade, yum! And look, she’s using a Gooseberry dish! Cute!” 😀
Oh no honey, you weren’t complaining and if you stop talking I’m gonna hunt you down!! I so enjoy your comments!
Did you see the heart in the chicken dish ?
Christy, I love your blog too much to stop writing comments, I just meant I’ll refrain from mentioning how meat looks 😀 I did notice the heart in the dish, cute!
Christy,
This looks so delicious. And I can’t wait till I can buy some fresh corn and make me a mess of that fried corn of your’s. Yum Yum!
It’s been so hot today, to tell the truth all I’ve wanted was a tall glass of sweet tea. But seeing that plate of chicken, corn, and the biscuit really makes me hungry. : )
Blessings from Hotlanta,
Sheila
Is there a substitute for the Garlic Powder? It seems like that its so little it wouldn’t matter. My mom can’t eat garlic. 🙁 It makes for sad cooking!lol
I’d just put a little onion powder in there if it were me. Same kinda flavor and happy mother!
thank you!!