I hesitated sharing this because it’s so simple and has always been an eyeballing, throw-it-in-a-bag kind of thing. But it’s also one of the foods we eat the MOST of and I’m not that tempted to switch up the marinade so we must love it.
And that means I must share it.
Because if you’re in this macro-game… or even just trying to eat healthier, one thing you can ALWAYS use is more lean protein hanging around.
I know people can get so sick of chicken but honestly, I never do. I find it to be so versatile and easy to make yummy when done right. You’ll never see me eating a plate lunch with a plain steamed chicken breast. I’d rather starve. And it still kills me when I see people cook their chicken with a lid on or stir it a bunch so it stays totally white.
But grilled with some good color, plenty of salt and garlic and some tangy grainy good dijon and vinegar? Now it’s the perfect addition to everything and anything… like this yummy panini, salads like my favorite thai, watermelon, waldorf, BLT salad flatbreads, pizzas, crunch wraps, . … And it’s essentially JUST protein. Which might be why I’ve never struggled to hit mine. If I prelog my day, I could ALWAYS add more chicken to my salad or sandwich and the protein in grilled chicken adds up so fast!
Too fast… I usually have to limit myself to like two tenderloins … and when it’s fresh off the grill, that’s torture. Makes me feel like such a meathead, how much chicken I could eat if I let myself. Like Chad from the Bachelor. OH MY GOSH I hope someone remembers him with his fist full of cold cuts at all times.
See how easy it would be to grab those crispy bits while you chop? I’m always stuck estimating how much I accidentally ate off the cutting board and hope I still get to put some in my salad. There’s about 30 grams of protein just TWO tenderloins. Good and bad I know.
Obviously you can half the recipe, or do two different marinades for options throughout your week. And if you don’t see your family going through it all, feel free to freeze some for later! Once it’s thawed, it’s still great for tucking into a million meals. Keep it cold for salads or tuck it in sandwiches, burritos, quesadillas … where it just gets the residual heat…. Just promise me you won’t stick it in the microwave for like a minute till it’s rubbery and smells like reheated poultry.
(In desperate need of the barf faced emoji right now. Which makes me feel like such a millennial.)
Weekly Bulk Apple Cider Dijon Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole bag of Costco frozen chicken tenderloins 6 lb – I just really prefer tenderloins to breasts. They cook up so fast and so much more tender for me.. never weird and tough like breasts sometimes do.
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar If I’m out I’ll use white balsamic
- 3-4 tbs I use 4 grainy dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey 7 g
- 12-16 cloves garlic I use frozen dorot cubes– SO MUCH easier and no flavor loss in my opinion
- 1.5-2 tbs KOSHER salt I do 2 but always get nervous that I like more salt than most
- 1/2 tbs pepper
- *Sometimes I like to add some herbs I have on hand or extra honey or fresh citrus. But this is our basic weekly go-in-anything chicken.
Instructions
- Thaw tenderloins and trim fat and weird strings and tendony stuff- ew. Pat dry and place in large ziplock.
- Whisk all marinade ingredients together and pour over chicken. Close bag and work the marinade so it spreads around. Let marinate anywhere from an hour to overnight. Longer marinade = more flavor of course!
- Preheat grill to medium high (I usually err on the hotter side)
- Spray grill with cooking spray (carefully since it will make the flame go wild for a second)
- Sprinkle a little more kosher salt over chicken and grill for just 2-3 minutes per side. I make sure and get nice dark marks on the first side and can always pull off early on the flip side if needed. At least that way you know you’ll guarantee some nice color.
Notes
- Scan the barcode from the bag of chicken for your diary, but log 1.47 TIMES what you actually take. This will account for the shrinkage that happens while grilling. So if you put 120 grams of grilled chicken in your salad, but you’re logging the raw chicken you scanned in, log 1.47 TIMES that amount, or 120×1.47 which is 176 grams. If you had weighed your chicken raw and then grilled it, this is the portion you would have started with to end up with 120 grams grilled. Since I skipped the oil, I don’t bother logging any of the marinade ingredients. They’re so negligible spread amongst that much chicken.
We have a small household so don’t meal prep 4 pounds of protein at once, so I tried to scale this for fewer servings. “This doesn’t look right, it smells too strong of apple cider vinegar, maybe I used too much vinegar …. But let’s try it anyway” was what I said in my mind. In all honesty, I had the same reaction to the balsamic vinegar herb marinated chicken, too. HOLY MOLEY THIS WAS GOOD! So tender, flavorful, and juicy. Used 2 small packs of tendies. I thought the chicken was lost for good because the marinade smelled so strongly of the vinegar because of poor measurements and scaling the recipe, but the result was outstanding! It wasn’t too vinegary at all, and all the ingredients in the marinate came together so beautifully. Served in lillie’s salad that contains peaches and used the Baker and Olive brand peach white balsamic that she featured on her IG page. Super tasty! By mid week there were fights breaking out over the leftovers. PS- the balsamic Dijon and herb marinated chicken is just as tasty. Thanks Lillie!
Ever used agave nectar instead of honey? Just happens to be what I have in the pantry, wondering if it will work the same?
Hi so just to understand, do I weigh the chicken cooked for accurate macro count.? Cause that’s how I was told to do with all other protein. Thank you
I’m wondering if I could use this marinade as a salad dressing? If so, how long do you think it would keep in the fridge?
Have you ever tried making these in an air fryer?
Oh, man this was so good! I was worried the flavors might be too sharp for my kids, but vinegar, dijon, and garlic are among my favorite ingredients so I went for it. Glad I did! It’s not sharp at all and my boys DEVOURED it! I used garlic powder instead of fresh and it worked great if anyone needs an easy substitute. Thanks Lillie!
Will it work with regular mustard instead of Dijon?
Have you ever baked these?
No but readers have! A whole different think of course with no direct heat, but still good I’m sure! Cooking on a hot pan would be super similar to the grill as well. Just a few minutes each side with direct heat is my fave.
Do the macros you provided change if I baked the chicken as opposed to grilled the chicken?”
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Hey have you looked at what the page looks like when it you go to print it? It’s like 50% ads hahah I understand you gotta make money but could you possibly see if you could remove them just on the print-friendly page? Love your recipes!! <3
oh my gosh how annoying. SO SORRY. Yup just means I have to remember where to go figure that out. Haha. Thank you for the feedback!
I’m not sure I’m a chicken tenderloin fan. I bought them once and I was bothered by the grisly tendon that runs down through the middle! Did you notice this and if so do you have a preferred cooking method to minimize this?
Hi! Ok I totally get it… and some people find this too tedious.. but it’s just totally worth the trimming for me. It’s annoying, but takes me like ten minutes to do the whole giant Costco bag, I thaw them and then clean them each with sharp knife, cutting off that weird layer of skin or whatever is on some of them… (almost invisible) and cutting out a little triangle on the ones with a more substantial tendon. I just like the texture so much better when they’re grilled than breasts!
This is the best chicken marinade I have ever tried. Made this for my non-macro counting family and they said it was good that I made a chicken recipe that didn’t taste “healthy”! You totally rocked this one! I will used this over and over!
I’m so glad Teresa! Thanks for the review! xo
I grilled a portion of this recipe up for my husband and I and we are it over rice with some grilled veggies. It was delicious and I’m wishing I would have made more to last through the week. My lucky husband gets the leftovers for work tomorrow. Dang it! Loved the flavor and will definitely be making this again and again!
So glad it was a hit! And thank you so much for letting me know!
Can I cook this on a stove? What would be your reccomendations for heating instructions? Thanks! Love everything here!
Yes! I forget that some people don’t live in the desert and grill year round! When I don’t feel like strapping on my head lamp and walking outside, I’ll use a grill pan on the stove. That way you still get the grill marks which I prefer. But just in a hot heavy bottom skillet works too. I just spray with cooking spray and cook 2-3 minutes per side at medium high. And I err a little high on heat. The tenderloins are so small, I find they can handle it and then you can get some really good color. Just put them in the hot pan and let them go for a couple of minutes before you flip. Try not to move and stir. Hope that helps!
I want to make this but not the whole bag at once. Can I use the nutrition label for 4 oz of frozen chicken or thawed chicken? I ask because the front of the bag specifies they are frozen in 8% water and salt.
Thanks!
So yeah if you bought frozen chicken, to be totally accurate, weigh it out frozen too. That should be consistent with the label!
I just made these. Sous vide instead of grilled so I could go straight from the marinade to the pot of water. Finished off with pan searing both sides. So delish! My calculated macros come out pretty close to yours. Thanks for sharing 😊
I am ALL about the crispy grill marks too!😍