Whole Chicken Marinade with Rosemary and Orange
The following marinade for whole chicken recipe can be used for a whole chicken or you can use it for a whole chicken cut into pieces. This is an infinitely tweak-able favorite from all my chicken marinade recipes and you can mix and match different ingredients.
If you are using it for chicken pieces you will need a 4 pounds (2 kilos) bag of them. The recipe calls for the chicken to be slow cooked but you can bake it if you prefer. If you are using chicken pieces you can grill them.
To do this, you will need to heat your grill to medium and oil the grate lightly. Grill the chicken pieces for about fifteen minutes per side or until the juices run clear. Put the rosemary sprigs on the coals sometimes to give the chicken a herby smoky flavor.
However you choose to cook the chicken you should discard the marinade. If you are slow cooking the chicken it will make its own juices anyway, plus you will still have some of the marinade for whole chicken stuck on the bird to give it extra flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Marinating: 12 hours
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 19 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) water
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/3 cup (80ml) rice wine
- 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
- 3/4 oz (20g) package dry Italian salad dressing mix
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons honey mustard
- 2 dashes liquid smoke flavoring
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 skinless chicken, weighing about 4 lbs (1.8kg)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) sesame oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
Instructions
- Combine the rice wine, water, sesame oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, liquid smoke and mustard.
- Stir in the ginger, Italian dressing mix, orange zest, herbs and paprika.
- Add the chicken to a large Ziploc bag and add the marinade.
- Squeeze out excess air and ensure the chicken is well coated.
- Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
- Cook the whole chicken in a crockpot on low for about 7 hours or until done.
Notes
- I tend to use smoked paprika in chicken marinade recipes as it offers more depth of flavor than regular paprika.