Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal!

Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal!

We love chicken in our house so I am all about sharing easy chicken recipes!  This maple balsamic herb chicken is juicy, incredibly flavorful and makes the perfect healthy weeknight meal!  This chicken is also great for meal prep and I love using the leftovers to throw on a salad or over brown rice for simple lunches.  This marinade is absolutely delicious made with a mixture of rich balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil, maple syrup for some sweetness, garlic and Dijon mustard for a punch of flavor, along with fresh herbs!  It also makes a great salad dressing as well!

Why You’ll Love this Chicken

  • Super flavorful, versatile and easy to throw together.
  • You probably already have all the ingredients sitting in your pantry!
  • This marinade also tastes great on steak, fish or shrimp and works as a salad dressing.
  • Great for weekly meal prep served over rice, with roasted veggies or on a salad.
Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal! 

Ingredients You’ll Need

This easy maple balsamic marinade requires just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have at home in your pantry or fridge!  Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Chicken – this recipe is for 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you could use chicken thighs or even chicken wings as well
  • Balsamic vinegar – this is the star of this dressing and adds such a rich, tangy flavor!  Make sure to use a quality balsamic vinegar to get the most flavor
  • Olive oil – this helps infuse the flavors into the chicken and prevents it from sticking to the grill.  I like to use a good olive oil that doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavor (in my opinion)
  • Maple syrup – lightly sweetens this dressing without using any refined sugar, but you could also use honey or other natural sweetener
  • Dijon mustard – this adds a little zip and helps to emulsify the dressing
  • Garlic – you can use fresh chopped garlic or minced garlic from the jar
  • Fresh thyme – fresh thyme (or fresh rosemary) really adds such a fresh taste to this dressing, but you could use dried thyme or dried rosemary as well
  • Salt + pepper

How Long Should You Let the Chicken Marinate?

To really infuse all this delicious flavor into the chicken, I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.  Just remember, the longer it marinates, the more flavorful the chicken will be!  You just want to make sure you don’t marinate the chicken too long because then the chicken’s exterior texture may start to breakdown resulting in mushy, tough chicken.

Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal!

How to Make Maple Balsamic Chicken

  1. Make the marinade.  In a small bowl or jar, whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, pinch of cayenne pepper, fresh thyme, salt and pepper until all combined.
  2. Prepare chicken.  Place chicken in a shallow dish or a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and add most of the marinade (I always suggest reserving a little bit of the marinade to brush on the chicken later while grilling!)
  3. Marinate!  Place chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.  When ready to grill, remove chicken from the dish or bag, shake off any excess and discard leftover marinade.
  4. Grill and serve.  Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat and brush grill with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.  Grill the chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through and no longer pink (chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees). Remove chicken from grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Helpful Tips and Tricks

  • Marinate the chicken for up to 12 hours for the most robust flavor!
  • Marinating the chicken too long can cause the chicken’s texture to break down resulting in mushy, tough chicken so make sure you don’t exceed 12 hours.
  • Make sure to add a little oil to the grill or grill pan so that the chicken doesn’t stick.
  • If you don’t want to grill the chicken, you can bake it in the oven at 400 degrees F for 22 to 28 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through.
  • Chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees to ensure that it’s cooked through, but not dry.
  • Reserve a little bit of marinade (before it touches the chicken) to brush on it while the chicken is grilling.
  • This maple balsamic marinade would taste amazing on chicken wings as well!
Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal!

Prepping and Storage

Leftovers can be stored in a sealed, airtight container for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.  I love adding this leftover chicken to my salads for easy lunches!  You can also freeze these chicken breasts for up to 4 months in the freezer and defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.  If you are already using chicken that has been previously frozen and thawed out, I do not recommend freezing again.

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What to Serve with Maple Balsamic Chicken

Here are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with this delicious chicken!  You could also simply serve this over brown rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice for a simple dinner.

More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love

Hope you all enjoy this Maple Balsamic Herb Chicken and if you love this recipe as much as we do, please leave me a five-star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

5 from 4 votes

Maple Balsamic Herb Chicken

Moist and juicy chicken breasts marinated in a rich maple balsamic herb glaze, seasoned with fresh herbs, and grilled to perfection for a healthy weeknight meal!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper, or more if you like heat!
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Instructions 

  • To make the marinade, in a small bowl or jar, whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, fresh thyme, salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne pepper until all combined.
  • Place the chicken breasts in a shallow dish or a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and add most of the marinade (I recommend reserving a little bit of the marinade to brush on the chicken later while grilling)
  • Place the chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.  When ready to grill, remove the chicken from the dish or bag, shake off any excess and discard the leftover marinade.
  • Heat a grill or grill pan on medium heat and brush the grill with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.  Grill the chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and no longer pink (chicken should have an internal temp of 165 degrees).
  • Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1chicken breast | Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 9.8g | Protein: 35.3g | Fat: 11.1g | Saturated Fat: 2.1g | Sodium: 318mg | Sugar: 9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

As a self-proclaimed foodie and fitness enthusiast, I have a passion for cooking and a huge desire to show that living a healthy lifestyle can actually be easy and fun!  Feel free to use the meal guide above to find your new favorite meal ideas or the dietary guides to the right to narrow things down even more!

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57 Comments

  1. Carissa says:

    5 stars
    made this tonight, but I baked it.

    added half the sauce while it was cooking and put the other half in a pan and heated it. added a 1:1 cornstarch/water slurry to thicken it and then topped the finished chicken with a glaze. it was delicious and will definitely be making it again.

  2. Janice Jordan says:

    5 stars
    Followed recipe and directions without subs or additional ingredients. Only thing I did was left to marinate for 2 days. My husband who is grilling challenged was so proud b/c chicken came out moist. Very good recipe!

    1. Kelly says:

      I’m so glad you both loved this! 🙂