Chicken Marinades for the Freezer

It's no secret that I love Aldi.

But, how do I know that Aldi loves me back?

They have chicken breasts for $1.69, that's how!

Aldi has a weekly meat special, and every 6 weeks or so, they have chicken breasts.  

I stock up!

This time, though, instead of just preparing the chicken, I thought I would be smart and freeze the chicken in marinade.  That way I'm a step ahead when it comes to preparing that meal.

I didn't want to make any special shopping trips to get ingredients, so all of the marinades are made with ingredients I had on hand.

Behold, I bring to you...

Just so you know, I cut the random yucky-ness off of the chicken and then cut it into portion sizes or kabob chunks.  I pour the marinade ingredients into a freezer ziplock bag that I've placed in a mug.  It's good to label the bag before you put the ingredients in it.

I shake the bag a little to combine the ingredients before adding the chicken.  Squeeze out as much air as possible and zip her up.  Lay flat to freeze.

First up, we have Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs adapted from allrecipes.com.

1/4 cup canola oil, 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 2 cloves of garlic, minced

To prepare: pull the bag out of the freezer the night before you want to eat it and thaw in the fridge.  Put the chicken on a stick and grill over medium high until cooked through.  You could do this with chicken breast not kabobs, but I personally think food is exponentially more fun on a stick.

Next up:  Asian Honey Sesame Chicken adapted from momonamission.me.

1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon canola oil, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons honey, 1 garlic clove, minced, and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

To prepare: pull the bag out of the freezer the night before you want to eat it and thaw in the fridge.  Put the chicken on a stick and grill over medium high until cooked through.  You could do this with chicken breast not kabobs if you want to ignore the fact that food on a stick is AWESOME!

This is the only 1 of the 4 recipes that I haven't made yet, but the ingredients make sense and I think it looks great.

Announcing:  Mediterranean Chicken adapted from dinnertablemusings.blogspot.com.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper

To prepare: pull the bag out of the freezer the night before you want to eat it and thaw in the fridge.  Grill the chicken over medium until cooked through.  

Note:  this is just a portion of a really delicious recipe that can actually be made in an oven.  I really enjoy the flavor of the marinade and think the chicken is great grilled by itself.  But, it is certainly worth clicking on the link above which will take you to the whole recipe on my friend, Kelly's, blog.  She hasn't updated it in a long time, but peruse her recipes; she's a great cook!

And batting clean up:  Lemon Garlic Chicken Kabobs adapted from annies-eats.com.

3 tablespoons olive oil, zest of 1 lemon, 3 cloves of garlic, minced, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper

To prepare: pull the bag out of the freezer the night before you want to eat it and thaw in the fridge.  Put the chicken on a stick and grill over medium until cooked through.  You could do this with chicken breast not kabobs, but you know the old saying, "Food on a stick makes you smarter and cooler."  

Or something like that :)

You can bet that all of these recipes will be coming to a June menu near you!