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.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Weekly Bulk Apple Cider Dijon Grilled Chicken
- Serves: 17
- Calories: 147 cal
- Protein: 33.8g
- Fat: 1.5g
- Carbs: 0g
- Why You'll Love It: Once a week I grill a ton and it goes in and on everything! A simple, basic, must.
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.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Tag @LillieEatsAndTells on Instagram with #LillieEatsandTells! We’d love to see your creations!
I made this marinade tonight and it was amazing. It made the chicken so moist and a light refreshing taste.
Hello! What is the serving size? I track macros and want to be as accurate as possible.
Thank you!
Hello, can you bake the chicken instead of grilling?
Thank you!
Seriously SO GOOD!!
Should we be mincing all the garlic cloves or put them in whole?
Minced! I love the frozen cubes so I can skip that part!🫣
Lillie, if I don’t have the frozen garlic cubes, what is the substitution using fresh garlic cloves or minced? Also, I have to air fry these as I don’t have a grill. Can’t wait to try!!!
A cube is equal to a Club!
Oops, a clove 😂
Only 1/3 cup of Apple cider vinegar for 6 lbs of chicken? How can that be enough marinade for that much chicken? Just making sure!
We make this all the time and it’s always so good!
So good! I make it weekly and never get tired of it!
Make this almost weekly now, it’s a staple!
Love all of your recipes! I started marinading some chicken on Sunday evening and forgot to cook yesterday – oops! Can I still bbq today? Wondering if you think it will be “off” because of the acids from the vinegar/citrus.
This is, perhaps, my favorite chicken marinade of all time! SO delicious and SO easy!
yay!
Love this recipe! Meal prep chicken never tasted So good! I make this for me, i make this for company, it never lets me down. So. Good.
36-48 cloves of garlic!?! Is this accurate 🤪
Looks like you accidentally hit 3x the recipe! No, it’s not that much haha.
Can you use Braggs apple cider vinegar or would that be gros? It’s the only kind I have in my pantry but I’ve never used it to cook or make dressings… thanks Lillie!
This is absolutely my favorite way to prep chicken in bulk! Our lives haven’t been the same since this recipe and all of the tips on how to reheat, ways to use through the week, etc… you can’t go wrong!
Perfect chicken marinade. We cook it on our Traeger on high. We make this weekly and eat it for dinner hot off the grill and eat it all week straight out of the fridge. Or we use it in salads, soups, quesadillas, whenever we want to add chicken. It adds so much flavor to the grilled chicken.
how long and what temp on traeger? We are getting a Traeger, and i am learning all about great recipes and tips!
Thank you!