Whether you’re feeding a family of four or just yourself, putting together tasty weeknight dinners can be tough. Ideally, these meals require just a few ingredients, come together quickly, and are exciting enough that you’ll actually enjoy them once everything is ready and on the table. The easiest way to do this is to choose foods that are chock-full of flavor even before you cook them, such as pre-seasoned potatoes and marinated chicken.
Though many grocery store brands sell chicken already packaged with a marinade, these kits can be expensive and may contain ingredients you’d rather avoid. Fortunately, there’s a fast and easy way to replicate these convenience foods at home — all you have to do is freeze your chicken in the marinade. As both the marinade and the chicken freeze, there’s no risk of bacterial growth or mushy chicken due to over-marination. Instead, the marinade only begins to penetrate the chicken as they thaw together in your refrigerator.
Putting together one of these freezer marinade packs is super simple. Just throw together your favorite, zesty two-ingredient chicken marinade and pour it into a freezer-safe container with the amount of raw chicken you’ll need for one meal. If you usually cook for one, smaller bags with single chicken breasts might be best, whereas someone meal-prepping for a bigger family may need a gallon bag full of thighs. Seal the container tightly (you don’t want freezer burn) and put the bag in your freezer to stay fresh until you’re ready to use it.
Safety precautions + side suggestions
As with any food you freeze yourself, there are a handful of important safety precautions to note when storing, thawing, and cooking these homemade kits. The first thing to keep in mind is longevity. Marinated chicken will stay fresh for about two months in the freezer. After that, you run the risk of freezer burn no matter how tightly sealed your food is. While freezer burn doesn’t make your food unsafe to eat, it does ruin your chicken’s texture and flavor, which makes it hard to enjoy your meal.
Something else to keep in mind is proper thawing procedure. Thawing your chicken on the counter can cause spoilage, so it’s best to let your frozen honey soy marinated chicken thighs thaw in the fridge about 24 hours prior to cooking them. After they’re completely thawed, they’ll stay fresh for about 48 hours as long as they stay in the fridge. If you need to refreeze them for any reason, the safest thing to do is cook them first as refreezing raw, thawed proteins is a risky business.
This simple marinated chicken may be the star of your meal, but that doesn’t mean the sides have to be an afterthought. Steamed veggies in garlic butter would be a nice accompaniment, or you could use your air fryer to make easy and delicious baked potatoes. Either way, you’ll have a fast and fabulous meal perfect for any weeknight dinner.
