Lemon Herb Barbeque Sauce for Chicken

A wonderful marinade. Really penetrates the meat with lemon flavor. I substituted Splenda for sugar & used garlic-olive-oil. Marinated a cut-up chicken for 3 hours or more (overnight even better) and baked it at 350 F on a rack pan in the oven -- 45 min for small pieces, 55 min for big pieces. Easy and fabulous.

This is an awesome recipe! I increased the flavor even more by adding the zest from the lemons I juiced and adding several more cloves of garlic. I marinaded it for about 2 hours. Wow! It was SO yummy and SO moist. I served it with rice pilaf and corn on the cob. What a fantastic barbeque!!!

AWESOME......I doubled this recipe for 4 lbs of chicken breasts. Oh, I also used olive oil, but that was the only change. Used half to marinate; the rest to baste while grilling. My husband doesn't care for lemon flavour, and he said "THIS IS THE BEST CHICKEN I'VE EVER HAD" My daughter, son-in-law, and 6 young grandchildren also loved it. Thanks for this great recipe. Will continue making this again and again.

Wow, this was good. I used olive oil and dried oregano instead of marjoram. We used this on a quartered chicken (bone in), and marinated it for about an hour before grilling (didn't bother with the foil). I simmered the marinade for a few minutes after removing the chicken and then used it as a basting sauce. The flavor was excellent. The only thing I might change next time is the amount of salt--I think I will use a bit less. Thanks for sharing this one!

This is now my favorite recipe on this site. I have made it several times and like to, as the submitter suggests, marinate the chicken before grilling for a few hours if time allows. But by all means, make it as written if time is short as it is still so good....simple yet flavorful, it would work well on just about any grilled meat. I have found so many times that it's the recipe with the fewest, most simple ingredients that turns out the best results. So true here.

my husband and I loved this. I marinated it overnight and it came out so juicy. I think maybe next time I'll try this recipe with salmon.

The sauce is great, although I did leave out the marjoram <purely a matter of preference> and added a couple slices of jalapeno. Since chicken breasts are too bland for me, I used it on thighs...advantage is you can cook it right on the grill, don't have to bother with aluminum foil

If I could give this 10 stars I would. The only change I made was to use fresh herbs from my garden. I reserved 1/2 the marinade and heated it gently then used it to season some rice which I served with it. The second time I made this I turned it into a stir fry. I cut chicken tenders into bite size pieces then marinaded them for 8 hours. Once again I used just a tiny bit of the marinade to season the rice. I stir fried the chicken along with some sugar peas and served it all with the seasoned rice. What a wonderful recipe!

Followed the recipe exactly and used it as a marinade for approx 1 1/2 hours then cooked on the grill. My granddaughter said it was the best chicken she had ever eaten! That's good enough for me! Will definitely make again!

This was outstanding! Very well balanced flavors. The chicken was moist and the flavor permeated well through the skinless, boneless breasts I used. I made a few substitutions, primarily because I didn't have all the ingredients on hand and some additions as well. First I substituted olive oil. I substituted for the marjoram with 1/2 as much dried oregano and also added a generous dash of ground cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of sage. I also used 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh brown onions in place of the dried minced onions and doubled the garlic. Finally, I added two teaspoons of finely chopped fresh basil. I liberally punctured the breasts and marinated them in a resealable bag in the fridge for about three hours (longer would have been even better, but there was no lack of flavor) and grilled them on the barbecue. Served with Savory Herb Rice II on this website and sugar snap peas. This meal was absolutely delicious. You must try it! Make extra for leftovers because you regret it if you don't.

such a great recipe! i marinated the chicken for about 3hrs prior to grilling. the flavor was light and tangy and the chicken was moist. kids loved it too so this will be a regular in our house.

I marinated overnight and the chicken was very moist after grilling. Great flavor and refreshing for a summer dish.

This is excellent. I have been using this recipe for years and you can't beat it. I use Olive Oil instead of vegetable oil, same great taste.

I don't have a working grill at the moment so I cooked this in my cast iron skillet and it worked wonderfully well. Very tasty! Kept hearing yum at the other side of the table, so it was definitely a success. I will be using this recipe again.

Very good. I marinated chicken for about 4 hours. It came out wonderful.

It was good, but not exceptional. I doubled the recipe, but didn't double the salt. I also used thighs. Next time I'll use all the lemon zest and double the salt. I also used fresh Thyme.

AWESOME! Hubby & I really enjoyed this! Smelled wonderful while it was grilling! The chicken was moist and extremely delicious.

Really popular with my entire family. Leftovers were wonderful cold in salad and pita sandwiches.

Wow. Like most people, I had to tweak a bit. Oregano instead of marjoram, for one. Freshly squeezed lemon juice, ane more lemon than olive oil. No time to marinate, so I poked the chicken with a fork, placed it in a freezer bag with the marinade, and rubbed it in for 30 min. Straight on the grill, no foil. Brushed and turned often. I thought it might come out a little bland. But my wife and I agree it's one of the best things I've made. Oh - setting aside a shot glass of marinade for the rice is a great idea. Thanks for the recipe! It's now a staple.

Fantastic chicken recipe.

We had 10 adults and all their children over last night for dinner, and I wanted to do something different with the chicken on the grill. I found this recipe and with so many great reviews I figured I wouldn't be dissapointed. I wasn't!!! This is truly amazing! Everyone was raving about how good the chicken was! I followed the ingredients exactly, and I marinated it for about 3 hours. I even used foil on the grill, but I don't think I will next time. It seemed to slow the cooking time way down compared to how long it usually takes on my grill. Thanks for a wonderful recipe! We had potato salad, baked beans, fresh veggies and pasta salad with it, and it went great with everything.

This is wonderful! It's a very different flavor for barbequed chicken. I have shared this with friends and co-workers and it's a hit! I marinated the chicken overnight to let the flavors blend. Thanks!

Tried it, liked it. Was a mite bland, but I was pretty conservative in trying this the first time. Next time, I shall throw more spices and such in there. We really liked it baked. Very tender and juicy. Marinade this for at least a few hours and poke holes in the chicken with a fork to let the juices seep in.

I agree with those who marinated this...the longer the better. Great recipe. Forget the aluminum foil. If your grilling it and it doesn't come out with grill marks...why bother?

Wow was I surprised at how great this chicken was! When I combined the ingredients, it didn't really seem like much of a sauce, but it turned out sooo good. I marinated for only 1hr before. Definitely on my favs list! Thank you for posting!

We LOVE this recipe just as it is written!

Mine just tasted like lemon juice.

If you taste test this by dipping your finger in, you might not be so impressed. I didn't have time to marinate, but it didn't matter. Once the chicken is cooked, however, the flavor is outstanding. In fact, we had leftover chicken, and it tasted even more delicious the next day on broiled sandwiches. I highly recommend this recipe and I'm about to use it again for tonight's meal.

Delicious recipe. It is similar to one our friends used to make - but it was "secret". A nice change from a tomato based BBQ chicken.

I tryied this yesterday on some wings and thought it was great. I usually make my own bbq sauce and wanted to try something different. I thought it came out tender and just right not to lemony or salty. I also used a rub I make on the chicken before grilling then brushed the chicken with the sauce. I smoked the chicken instead of sitting it over a open flame and it was great. I plan to make it for a cookout I'm attending tomorrow and ket them be the judge lol. Hopefully it goes well but I recommend you put rub on the chicken and smoke it then brush it at the end with the sauce.

We liked it! It had a delicate flavor, neither too lemony nor too oniony. I estimated the ingredients. Only changes I made were: I used onion powder, and went light on it, and added cracked black pepper. We'll definitely make it again. It would be fabulous in chicken salad.

We use this on jumbo shrimp and cook on the gas grill but we don't marinate it very long as the lemon juice will "cook" the shrimp.

I was a bit disappointed. The chicken was good. The skin turned out very nicely, but there was little lemon flavour.

I really liked this. My husband thought it was good, but was not as impressed as he thought he would be.

I made this for dinner last night for my DH and I..I did not marinate the chicken and I used skinless, bone-in chicken breasts. I cut the sauce in half for 2 breasts and increased the garlic by 1 clove and the onion to about 3 Tbsp. Whizzed it up in my mini-food processor very quickly, so from that end, it's a great dish as it's very quick to throw together. In the end however, the chicken didn't impart a lot of flavour except for the surface area that got brushed with the sauce. So in this case, I think the chicken must be marinated to be flavourful throughout.

This was awesome. I added some italian seasoning also (about 1/2 tsp). Will use again for sure.

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes!!! My family loved it too! I've already made it three times this week!!! If you do make it i would marinate it for two days before grilling though it brings out the flavors! :) i would definitely make this again.

What a great recipe. I had a meeting after dinner, so didn't have a lot of time to get food ready. I made up the mixture - the only modification was that I used 1 chopped green onion instead of the minced onion. I didn't have time to marinade the chicken, so used it as a basting sauce on whole cut up chicken pieces that we barbequed. The flavour was awesome - and possibly that was because the bone-in chicken took longer to cook, so more sauce was basted on. It is a keeper recipe - and I will try it with deboned chicken and marinade the breasts for awhile, but we thought the mixture was great as a basting sauce for bone-in chicken.

My boyfriend exclaimed "This is the best chicken you've ever made! Soooooo goood!" Very very moist, delicious! Thanks for a great recipe! :-)

This is fabulous! My husband actually requests chicken now! I marinated the chickenwith some of the sauce for about 3 hours prior to grilling then brushed with the remaining sauce. So moist and tender with an excellent blend of flavors!

I was abit worried in the beginning cause the sauce doesnt smell all too good but it was so yum. I'm a shocking cook but this was easy and turned out great.

I thought this was awful, but I don't really like onion and that flavor seemed to overpower all the other flavors. Just not my thing, but if you really like onions this recipe is for you.

This was yummy on fish prepared indoors. Beware, if you are using it to baste on a charcoal grill outside, don't skip the foil step. I handed this off to my husband to use on the chicken, and he quickly set our entire dinner on fire!

This is a great marinade! The only change I made was to use olive oil instead of vegetable. I doulbled the recipe and used half to marinate the chicken in overnight, and the other half to brush the chicken with while grilling. The meat was very tender and had great flavor.

OMG!!!!! This was spectacular!! I only used 4 chicken breasts, marinaded overnight. Cooked on an indoor skillet and basted with the remaining sauce as it cooked in a small pot on the stove. Absolutely amazing! Served this with the Orzo with Parmesan and Basil from this site and there were no leftovers!!!

I too made a few small changes out of necessity. I also used olive oil in place of the veg oil. Instead of minced onion, I used minced shallot. I was a little short on lemon juice (I juice my own) so I hard to add a tad of water to make up 1/4 cup. 1/2 the salt and I ran 2 large garlic cloves thru a press. Also used a wisk to blend. Here's the important part; my son who hates just about anything, loved it.

I have to say this was a little bland. I will try it again, but this time I will marinate the chicken at least a day before grilling.

This was wonderful!!!!! My son even liked it, and he's quite picky. I didn't have any minced onion, so I used onion powder. That was the only change I made, and loved it. I managed to marinade it for about 1/2 hour as I was time restricted. I would love to marinade it longer and see how much better it is.

I marinated the chicken for about 10 hours instead of basting while it cooked, mainly because I have the tendency to catch whatever I'm grilling on fire, and I thought basting was pushing my luck LOL. I also used a grill pan which worked very well. This made very delicious chicken. Very flavorful. I think this would even be good in chicken tacos. Mmmmmmmm!! I think this is my new favorite marinade.

Surprisingly good, and better yet, easy! I didn't have enough time to use the sauce as a marinade as other reviewers have, but I did baste my three skinless chicken breasts (I halved the recipe) like crazy, and they came out wonderfully moist, juicy, and delicious. I didn't have a problem with them being dried out, probably because I cooked them *just* long enough on the grill with the foil, just as suggested. I served them with roasted potatoes and creamed peas. Yum! Next time I'll make the sauce the night before and marinade, as suggested.

All I can say is WOW ! Even my 11 yr old picky eater loved this. It's such a refreshing change from the usual barbecue sauce.

I used EVOO instead of vegie oil, and just tossed the chicken in the mix just prior to grilling. Not too "lemony". It had a awesome "Greek-like" flavor. Every piece was eaten, so the family obviously liked it!

Didn't care for this recipe, it was missing something. Possibly because I couldn't grill it and has to saute the chicken.

Loved it. Used as an overnight marinade with chicken leg quarters & then grilled over an indirect charcoal fire with pecan wood.. delicious!

My family LOVED this flavorful chicken!

really juicy but the flavor doesn’t explode in your mouth

A very simple sauce to make with items you have in your kitchen. A good break for the normal red BBQ sauce and much less fattening.

REALLY good! My whole family raved about the awesome flavor of this chicken. I served it with wild rice and steamed broccoli (TIP - reserve some of the marinade and drizzle it over the broccoli - yummy!).

We enjoyed this very much, it was easy to prepare and very lemony. I used olive oil and bottled lemon juice and added some oregano because I didn't have thyme or marjoram. I didn't have chicken breast so used boneless thighs and they were SO good I will be serving this often. Thanks for a great recipe!

I rated this 4 stars, because I figure I MUST have done something wrong, since everybody else loved it so much. It's good, but not as flavorful, or as lemony as I would have liked. I followed the recipe exactly, except I used onion powder instead of minced onion, and used a little more lemon. I marinated it in the sauce for a couple of hours. Somebody tell me what I did wrong?? The chicken is very tender, but I think that's due to my diligence on the grill, rather that my husband's "crock-pot" approach to grilling (put it on there and forget about it!)

This was a great recipe! I make grilled chicken alot and I get bored with some of the traditional marinades that I tend to use. When I read the recipe, it seemed like simple ingredients that I frequently use. However, to my surpise the chicken was very flavorful and moist. I substituted the vegetable oil for olive oil and the dried thyme for fresh thyme, and I marinaded it for about an hour and it was really delic. Thank you!

didnt have breasts at hand so i tried it with a whole chicken, marinaded the chicken for a whole day with the sauce, even spooned the marinade under the skin andin the cavity. Cooked it the next day over veg that i put in the baking tray with the chicken. wasnt impressed with the effect on the chicken...no flavour. Tried serving it with a dip with potato wedges for friends, they loved it...but i didnt tell them how much it consisted of oil :D next time ill try it with breasts

Really enjoyed this one. Great mixture of spices and lemon flavor. Very delicious. wouldn't change a thing.

Made this on Sunday for lunch after marinating for 24 hours in the fridge. Pretty good and really moist.

We LOVED this! My new favorite marinade for chicken. Very bright, fresh flavors.

We enjoyed this last night for dinner. It was very good and flavorful. Next time i will soak it overnight, and add the lemon zest. There was one piece of chicken left & my hubby claimed it for his lunch today. I think if you try it you will like it.

Good, but not as much lemon flavor as I expected. Will try with olive oil next and see if better.

I had tons of of good chicken

We didn't think this was anything special -- not *bad* by any means, just sort of blah. Followed the recipe to the letter, marinated for a good while longer than I usually allow (all day long!), but did not get any good flavors in the finished product. Bummer.

Used as a marinade for about 2 hours. Had a nice light flavor next time will try letting it marinate overnight.

Very good marinade. Chicken was moist and had a great flavor. Lemon not overpowering. Leftovers are great on salad or pasta.

YUM! Made as directed, except for marinated the chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Will definitely make this again.

This was spot on for grilling chicken without any sweet, thick sauces but still have lots of flavor. I used 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, always a challenge to keep moist on the grill. I used olive oil but whatever oil you use, be sure to drizzle it in last so the mixture emulsifies and adheres to the chicken (be sure the meat is dried off, too). I used Italian Blend herbs in lieu of the 2 mentioned and added Lemon Pepper instead of salt. I poked the breasts with a fork, added everything to a gallon ziplock, messaged for a minute and left in the fridge for 3 hours. Pulled them out 30 minutes before grilling and messaged once more. Boiled the liquid left in the bag to baste. I did add a bit of marinade to my rice as some suggested and Hubs offered up a compliment as he finished dinner! Next time, I would make a more marinade as I like to baste often. Great, healthy recipe! Thanks!

Oh my, this was an amazing marinade/sauce made just as written. I flattened and tenderized the chicken breasts to even the cooking time which also left nice pockets for the marinade to soak in. I only had 1 hour to marinate and it was delicious. I boiled the left over marinade while it grilled to spoon over the chicken. My daughter actually snapped her head at me when she took one bite!

This is so good and easy! I've made it several times already this summer and you can't go wrong with it. So quick and simple. I use it as a quick marinade. I let the chicken sit in it for about half an hour or so and it turns out perfectly. Once I let it sit for around 5 hours and thought the lemon flavour got too strong.The only ingredients I change are to use rosemary instead of marjoram because that's all I had.