Maple Balsamic and Herb Chicken

Moist and juicy hen breasts marinated in a wealthy maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with contemporary herbs, and grilled to perfection for a wholesome weeknight meal!

We love hen in our home so I’m all about sharing simple hen recipes!  This maple balsamic herb hen is juicy, extremely flavorful and makes the right wholesome weeknight meal!  This hen can be nice for meal prep and I really like utilizing the leftovers to throw on a salad or over brown rice for easy lunches.  This marinade is totally scrumptious made with a combination of wealthy balsamic vinegar, slightly olive oil, maple syrup for some sweetness, garlic and Dijon mustard for a punch of taste, together with contemporary herbs!  It additionally makes an awesome salad dressing as effectively!

Why You’ll Love this Hen

• Tremendous flavorful, versatile and straightforward to throw collectively.
• You in all probability have already got all of the components sitting in your pantry!
• This marinade additionally tastes nice on steak, fish or shrimp and works as a salad dressing.
• Nice for weekly meal prep served over rice, with roasted veggies or on a salad.

Substances You’ll Want

This simple maple balsamic marinade requires only a few easy components that you simply in all probability have already got at house in your pantry or fridge!  Right here’s what you’ll want:

• Hen – this recipe is for 4 boneless, skinless hen breasts, however you can use hen thighs and even hen wings as effectively
• Balsamic vinegar – that is the star of this dressing and provides such a wealthy, tangy taste!  Be certain to make use of a high quality balsamic vinegar to get essentially the most taste
• Olive oil – this helps infuse the flavors into the hen and prevents it from sticking to the grill.  I like to make use of a very good olive oil that doesn’t must be costly, simply be certain it’s cold-pressed and natural for essentially the most taste (for my part)
• Maple syrup – evenly sweetens this dressing with out utilizing any refined sugar, however you can additionally use honey or different pure sweetener
• Dijon mustard – this provides slightly zip and helps to emulsify the dressing
• Garlic – you should utilize contemporary chopped garlic or minced garlic from the jar
• Contemporary thyme – contemporary thyme (or contemporary rosemary) actually provides such a contemporary style to this dressing, however you can use dried thyme or dried rosemary as effectively
• Salt + pepper

How Lengthy Ought to You Let the Hen Marinate?

To actually infuse all this scrumptious taste into the hen, I like to recommend marinating the hen for no less than 1 hour or as much as 12 hours.  Simply keep in mind, the longer it marinates, the extra flavorful the hen can be!  You simply wish to be sure to don’t marinate the hen too lengthy as a result of then the hen’s exterior texture might begin to breakdown leading to mushy, powerful hen.

Find out how to Make Maple Balsamic Hen

1. Make the marinade.  In a small bowl or jar, whisk collectively balsamic vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, pinch of cayenne pepper, contemporary thyme, salt and pepper till all mixed.
2. Put together hen.  Place hen in a shallow dish or a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and add a lot of the marinade (I at all times counsel reserving slightly little bit of the marinade to brush on the hen later whereas grilling!)
3. Marinate!  Place hen within the fridge and let it marinate for no less than 1 hour or as much as 12 hours.  When able to grill, take away hen from the dish or bag, shake off any extra and discard leftover marinade.
4. Grill and serve.  Warmth a grill or grill pan on medium warmth and brush grill with oil to forestall the hen from sticking.  Grill the hen 5 to six minutes on both sides or till cooked by way of and now not pink (hen ought to have an inside temp of 165 levels). Take away hen from grill and let it relaxation for five minutes earlier than serving.  Get pleasure from!

Useful Ideas and Tips

• Marinate the hen for as much as 12 hours for essentially the most sturdy taste!
• Marinating the hen too lengthy could cause the hen’s texture to interrupt down leading to mushy, powerful hen so be sure to don’t exceed 12 hours.
• Be certain so as to add slightly oil to the grill or grill pan in order that the hen doesn’t stick.
• If you happen to don’t wish to grill the hen, you’ll be able to bake it within the oven at 400 levels F for 22 to twenty-eight minutes or till hen is totally cooked by way of.
• Hen ought to have an inside temp of 165 levels to make sure that it’s cooked by way of, however not dry.
• Reserve slightly little bit of marinade (earlier than it touches the hen) to brush on it whereas the hen is grilling.
• This maple balsamic marinade would style superb on hen wings as effectively!

Prepping and Storage

Leftovers may be saved in a sealed, hermetic container for 3 to 4 days within the fridge.  I really like including this leftover hen to my salads for simple lunches!  It’s also possible to freeze these hen breasts for as much as 4 months within the freezer and defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than reheating.  In case you are already utilizing hen that has been beforehand frozen and thawed out, I don’t advocate freezing once more.

What to Serve with Maple Balsamic Hen

Listed here are a few of my favourite aspect dishes to serve with this scrumptious hen!  You might additionally merely serve this over brown rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice for a easy dinner.

Extra Hen Recipes You’ll Love

Hope you all take pleasure in this Maple Balsamic Herb Hen and in case you love this recipe as a lot as we do, please go away me a five-star ranking under and don’t overlook to tag me on Instagram utilizing the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I really like seeing all of your scrumptious recreations!