Did you know there’s a perfect formula for making a simple marinade that works with everything? It may sound too good to be true, but as Jeff Mauro explains, it’s as easy as combining some classic pantry and fridge ingredients! This basic recipe is “very simple, very effective and very delicious,” says Jeff, and it can be used on poultry, pork, seafood or even as a vinaigrette over salads or roasted vegetables.
Related: Jeff Mauro’s Mother’s Chicken Tortellini Soup
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How to make an all-purpose marinade
Start with an acid as your base. Jeff uses fresh lemon juice, but advises that any vinegar such as red wine, champagne, or good old white vinegar will work. When using a fresh lemon, Jeff also likes to use the zest to add a touch of floral freshness and make the most of the citrus.
Related: A Definitive Guide to Vinegar
Next, zest one or two cloves of garlic directly into the lemon juice. Jeff explains that this helps tone down the acidity of the lemon juice.
Finely chop half a shallot, as small as possible, and combine it with the lemon juice mixture. Watch above to get Jeff’s best tips for chopping a shallot.
Season the marinade with salt and pepper. The salt will help extract the flavours of the marinade, and the pepper will add a nice kick.
Next, add a dollop of your favourite Dijon mustard to help emulsify the oil that you’ll be adding in shortly.
Fresh herbs lend great flavour to a marinade. Jeff recommends using fresh thyme, as “thyme goes with so many things for an all purpose marinade”.
Related: This is How Michael Symon Keeps Herbs Super Fresh
Meat, especially poultry and pork, benefit from being marinaded in sugar, so Jeff adds in a generous squeeze of honey here, but you could also substitute whatever sugar you have on hand, such as maple syrup or classic granulated sugar.
To finish, slowly stream in olive oil while whisking the marinade together. Jeff advises that you only need a little bit here to work its marinade magic: the fat helps the marinade penetrate the fat fibres of the protein, resulting in a seriously tasty finished product.
It’s that simple! Whether you’re planning on using it on chicken breast, pork tenderloin or even bitter greens, you can’t go wrong with this straightforward marinade.
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