Making Some Marinades

The purpose of What’s For Dinner? is to provide you a recipe with items on sale this week, with no more than 10 ingredients (not including pantry items), and coming in at under $10 per meal.

There are several good deals on meat right now – Round Steak at Price Chopper, Pork Fillets at Hy-Vee, and Chicken at Hen House.

Unfortunately, all of these cuts of meat are not what anyone would say are “excellent”. They are everyday, budget-conscious, cuts-of-meat.

However, with a little help, these cuts of meat can go from ordinary to extraordinary. The helper…a rockin’ marinade.

I talked about the power of marinades before, but I thought this week I would share with you some of my favorite homemade marinade recipes for steak, pork or chicken.

Tips for Marinades:

1. Use fresh, quality ingredients when possible. Fresh lemon or lime juice and herbs make a BIG difference in the taste of your marinade.
2. Make sure to mix you marinade well. I usually make mine in a separate bowl and mix with a wisp.
3. Use a ziploc bag. Put your meat in a ziploc bag and then pour in the marinade. Seal and give a little shake. Using a ziploc allows more coverage on the meat.
4. Marinade at least 12 hours (sometimes up to 36 hours). Longer is better in my opinion. Make marinades in the evening and put in the fridge overnight .

Red Wine Steak Marinade

1 cup of red wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt – like Lawry’s
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 clove of garlic – chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Marinade will cover 2 lbs. of steak.

Ginger Pork Marinade

1.5 teaspoons of fresh ginger
1’/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 jalapeno pepper – seeded and chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Marinade will cover 4-5 pork chops.

John Stamos Greek Chicken Marinade

1 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 cloves of garlic – chopped
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Marinade will cover 3 lbs. of chicken.

PS: Just realized that two out of three marinade include wine…maybe that is why they are so good. 🙂

What about you? What is your favorite marinade? Share it with us via the comments or on the Kansas City Mamas Facebook Page.