TENDER AND JUICY MAGIC MARINADE FOR CHICKEN

August 27, 2020

A few weeks ago, we barbecued chicken thighs that we marinated in mayonnaise. I’m not a big fan of mayonnaise, so to be honest, I thought it sounded awful. Yet when I thought about it, mayonnaise is just egg yolks, olive oil, and a little lemon juice. Nothing that wouldn’t taste good when grilled.

Our inspiration was a recipe posted on the New York Times cooking site. It called for adding lime and ginger to the mayonnaise. The mayonnaise created a crispy crust on the outside while leaving the meat moist and tender, but added no flavor at all to the chicken.

The second time we tried it, we replaced the lime and ginger with one tablespoon of powdered dry mustard. Same results—it added no flavor. Next time we’ll try adding two tablespoons of dry mustard and see if that adds a bit of zest. As it turns out, it is the mayonnaise that makes the chicken so good.

There is one detail that you have to keep in mind. The mayonnaise causes the coals in your grill to smoke a lot. So much so that our neighbor came over to make sure our house wasn’t on fire. I really appreciated his concern but when I explained that it was the mayonnaise on the chicken that was causing the smoke and suggested that he try the recipe because it was really good, I’m not certain that he really believed me.

I did a little research about the use of mayonnaise as a marinade. Everyone who wrote about it loved it. You can add it to any meat as a marinade for great results. It also works well to grill bread in a frying pan. Try it on the outside of your grilled cheese sandwich. I decided to try it on toast for my fried egg sandwich and it worked beautifully.

MAYONNAISE MARINATED CHICKEN THIGHS

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45
Marinade 30 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes   
 
Ingredients
8 small to medium chicken thighs (skin on and bone in)
½ cup of mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Optional: 2 tablespoons of dry mustard

 

Directions 

1. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
2. Coat the chicken with the mayonnaise and let it sit for 30 minutes before grilling.
3. Place the chicken skin side up on a hot grill and cook about 15 minutes.
4. Flip the chicken skin side down and grill for another 15 minutes.
5. The chicken will be done when the juices run clear.
6. If you are cooking on a gas grill, cover the chicken as it cooks. It will cook faster—about 10 minutes per side.

I hope you like it as much as we do.

Let me know. Leave a comment below.

 

 

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