How To Marinate Frozen Chicken Easily (4 Steps)

Marinating chicken is a widespread technique to simply take its taste to the next level. Earlier I had faced a challenge to marinate my chicken when I forgot to thaw it.

But, now I have overcome this challenge. How?

Doing many studies and taking some guidelines from one of my chef friends, I have learned the best way to marinate frozen chicken to tackle the emergency and offer some tasty food to the hungry stomach.

Do you also face frozen chicken marinating challenges? Then let me discuss what I have learned from my studies in this article. 

Let’s roll the ball.

Can You Marinate Frozen Chicken?

Yes, if you don’t have enough time to thaw your chicken before marinating fully, you can marinate frozen chicken. 

But, thawing chicken is the best to marinate and give you a high level of flavor. Still, when there is a time limitation, then frozen chicken marination is the last way. 

How To Marinate Frozen Chicken – A Step By Step Guideline

Now, it’s high time to reveal every step of the frozen chicken marination process. Chicken marination is not a long process; hopefully, you can complete your task within 5 minutes. 

Things You’ll Need

• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
• Brown sugar – 2 teaspoon
• Frozen chicken – 2 pounds
• Ginger paste – 2 tablespoon
• Salt – ¾ teaspoon or as per your taste
• A mixture blender – to blend all the spices
• Red chili – ¼ teaspoon or as per your taste
• A soup bowl – for use while marinating the chicken

Let’s Get Started – 

Step – 1: First, take out the chicken from the fridge and then remove the wrapper. Now separate the frozen chicken to get it ready for the next steps. 

After that, keep it in the soup bowl for some time, and in the meantime, you will perform your other preparation work. 

Step – 2: Take all the marinating ingredients except salt, olive oil, and red chili. Pour them one after another into the blender. 

Then run the blender until the ingredients mix firmly with each other. When the mixture is ready, then turn off the blender. 

Step – 3: Now, take the soup bowl where you have kept the chicken. Within this time, the chicken releases some water from the ice. 

Drain the water, and then pour the spices paste on the chicken. Then rub it with your hand or teaspoon to mix the spices to the entire chicken. 

Then sprinkle the red chili and salt on the chicken and rub again. Lastly, pour the olive oil. 

Step – 4: Flip the chicken pieces and reverse your activities according to step 3. Then let the chicken rest for 30 minutes at room temperature to marinate. 

After completing this course of time, your chicken is ready to go on the pan to offer you a delicious chicken recipe.

Chicken marination is not a complicated task, but it causes any injury to yourself if you are not alert. 

So here are some warnings that you should keep in mind while marinating chicken.

• Don’t touch chili without wearing kitchen hand gloves. If anyhow touch, then quickly wash your hand with soap.
• Take all kinds of marinating spices as per the proportion of chicken. Too much or too low spices will not give you accurate marination. 
• Don’t keep the chicken for marination too much longer; it will make your chicken too soft. 

Related: How To Brine Chicken Wings For Smoking & Grilling

What Can I Use If I Don’t Have Time To Marinate

As I frequently cook different types of chicken recipes, I like to marinate the chicken to taste better. 

But, when I am in a hurry for any scheduled work or busy with my daily other activities, then it’s tough to marinate the chicken by taking too much time. 

In that case, quick marinating tips help me not to sacrifice the mouthwatering taste of my chicken. Here is the process that I did for faster chicken marination. 

• First, take the chicken pieces and keep them in a soup bowl. 
• Now, pour one teaspoon or, as per my taste, and olive oil on the chicken. 
• Then sprinkle all my favorite spices over the chicken pieces. 
• After that, flip the chicken pieces and do the same thing to the chicken pieces’ opposite side. 
• Then keep them aside for 5-15 minutes to get a mixture of the oil, spices, and chicken. 

Now, you are ready to go to the primary cooking process.

Also Read: 8 Best Ranch Dressing For Chicken Wings

What If You Marinate Frozen Chicken Too Long

You love to marinate chicken to get the tasty and juicy flavor from your chicken recipes. It’s alright. But the question is, what if you marinate for a long time? 

Let’s know if it is ok or if there are any problems. 

Most people said that nothing excessive is good. It’s not wrong in this case of chicken marination. 

Depending on the chicken size, chicken pieces thickness, types of marination, you should marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to 24 hours. 

You should not exist in the time frame. If you marinate the chicken more than this time frame, it will become much softer and mushy. 

Even the flavor will not penetrate inside the meat.

How Can You Tell If Marinated Chicken Is Bad

Sometimes I marinate chicken and then keep it in the refrigerator so that when I need it, I can keep it out and start cooking. 

I hope you also do it. But if I have kept this marinating in the refrigerator for many days, then there is a chance to ruin it. 

Here is a list of symptoms so you can understand that your marinated chicken is going bad. 

• You find a yellow and gray spot on the chicken.
• You will get a funky smell, off, and foul odors from the chicken.
• You will feel the meat go slimy.
• The chicken will stick to the freezing box.

So when you buy any frozen chicken or store them in your refrigerator, always keep in mind all those symptoms to avoid cooking ruined chicken.

How long can you marinate defrosted chicken?

You can marinate defrosted chicken for 48 hours. This time doesn’t include the thawing time. It is only marinating time. 

Can you marinate and thaw at the same time?

Yes, you can marinate and thaw at the same time but should not practice doing it. 

When you do the same thing, thawing or marinating won’t happen as per your expectations because thawing releases water, and marinating ingredients will drain out with the water. As a result, two tasks will happen slightly, not ideally.

Can I defrost chicken in a marinade?

Yes, you can marinate partially or half defrosted chicken, but it is not a good practice to get your desired flavor to your food. 

So you have to give the chicken enough time to fully thaw to get the highest flavor depending on the recipe and marinade types.  

Can you marinate chicken too long?

No, you should not marinate chicken for too much longer; if you keep the chicken marinating for too long, then the chicken loses taste for why you marinate it. 

You should marinate chicken as per the recipe requirement time, not too long or not too short a time.  

How long can you marinate chicken in yogurt?

Yogurt is a common ingredient to marinate chicken to cook a tender, juicy and zesty chicken recipe. 

But don’t you think that the longer you marinate your chicken, the better it tastes. You should marinate chicken with yogurt for 2-8 hours, depending on your chicken piece’s thickness.  

Do you marinate chicken in the fridge?

Absolutely yes. You should always marinate your chicken in the refrigerator instead of room temperature. 

If you marinate BBQ chicken at room temperature, there is a high tendency to attack bacteria. If your recipe requires room temperature marinade, then follow it; otherwise, not. 

Can you marinate chicken then freeze it?

Marinating chicken and then freezing it isn’t such a simple and easy task. First, you have to mix the marinating ingredients into a freezer box with a zip-top and then put the raw chicken.

After that, seal and toss the breezing box in the refrigerator. If you can complete this job properly, you can get approximately nine-month fresh chicken without facing any tension.

How long does frozen chicken take to thaw?

You know there are different ways to thaw frozen chicken, so depending on your following ways, the thaw time will change. 

Roughly it takes two days to 30 minutes to thaw frozen chicken. 

If you follow the refrigerator thawing process, it takes two days; if you follow the hot water thawing process, it takes 30 minutes, and the cold water thawing process takes 1 hour for 1 pound chicken.

Does freezing stop marinade?

The one-word answer is yes. When the chicken is in the mood of freezing, the meat marinating process is automatically stopped.

If it is essential, you should thaw the chicken for a longer time to get a supreme marinade. 

Conclusion 

In this article, you have got all the ins and outs information to make your life hassle-free; do not think of thawing frozen chicken before cooking any delicious chicken recipe. 

Remember you should follow all those tips and tricks if you don’t have enough time to thaw frozen chicken or are in a hurry. 

If you have adequate time, then don’t follow the above-discussed steps; instead, give the chicken to thaw and then start to marinate or cook. 

This helps you to taste a mouthwatering chicken recipe with a full pleasant flavor.

Till the above discussion, if you have any inquiries about grilling, barbequing, roasting, shaking, then let me know in the comment section. 

I will be happy if I can help you to meet your inquiries.