Real chicken is off the menu for us, the vegan way of life has seen to that, and not that we mind though. You can make the vegan version of a tender chicken breast just as delicious. Which is exactly what we are going to share with you in this post. We have created a satisfyingly smoky, subtly zesty, Mexican-style plant chicken marinade, as well as a great recipe for what we think is our favorite marinade of all: vegan buttermilk.
We recommend for both of our marinade recipes, that we are sharing in this post, a minimum marinating time of 20 minutes, but we found that about 2 hours gets the best results. The buttermilk after this time makes the perfect chicken for vegan fried chicken pieces, and the spices and zest of the Mexican-style marinade really soak in too.
If you are pushed for time and just doing a quick 20-30 minute marinate time then you can do this at room temperature. For longer marinating times, we recommend doing it in the fridge. Even though the health risks are far lower than if using real chicken, it’s still good practice.
We also say that for the best marinated chicken you should cover it. The whole idea of marinating is to add flavor and also moisture, sealing the chicken and marinade together in a bowl or other container helps to keep the moisture in.
Vegan Mexican-Style Chicken Marinade
This quick marinade is packed with flavorful ingredients like coriander and its perfect pairing of cumin, as well as aromatic garlic. We’ve also added a good helping of smoked paprika, it’s a Mexican classic and adds that smokey, peppery flavor that’s used with so many meat dishes.
This is an easy recipe and it can be used in plenty of vegan recipes. Our favorite way to use this marinade though is to flavor the filling for our plant-based arepas. It’s easily one of if not our best vegan chicken recipe. For that, we dice the chicken, marinate it, pan-fry it, and then shred it afterward.
Pan-fried and shredded plant chicken is far from the only cooking method you can use this marinade with though. You can keep the vegan breast pieces whole and cook them on the griddle for that classic grilled look. Or better still, if the sun is shining, why not cook them on the BBQ?
Vegan Mexican-Style Chicken Marinade Ingredients
For 360g Plant Chicken Breast
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
How to Make Vegan Mexican-Style Chicken Marinade
Measure out a half tablespoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of garlic powder, one teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of ground coriander, and the same of ground cumin, into a small mixing bowl.
Now add all of the wet ingredients (one tablespoon of canola oil and a tablespoon of lime juice) to the seasonings that you just measure out.
Using a whisk, mix all of your marinade ingredients in the mixing bowl.
In a shallow medium bowl or tray lay out your plant chicken breasts and then pour over the delicious marinade you just made, turning them over a couple of times so that they are evenly coated.
Next, you should cover your vegan chicken with cling film, shrink-wrap, or similar stretching it across the bowl or other container you’ve used.
Now for the best results leave your marinating chicken for 2 hours, at room temperature, to soak up all of those rich flavors. During this time you can turn the chicken once so that both sides can soak in the marinade.
Once 2 hours is up you can remove the marinated chicken from the bowl and cook them. If you’re going to fry the breasts whole then add a tablespoon of oil to a non-stick frying pan and cook them over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side (enough to not dry them out) until your tasty plant chicken breasts are golden brown and a just a little crisp.
Vegan Mexican-Style Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
For 360g Plant Chicken Breast
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Instructions
- Measure out a half tablespoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of garlic powder, one teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of ground coriander, and the same of ground cumin, into a small mixing bowl.
- Now add all of the wet ingredients (one tablespoon of canola oil and a tablespoon of lime juice) to the seasonings that you just measure out.
- Using a whisk, mix all of your marinade ingredients in the mixing bowl.
- In a shallow medium bowl or tray lay out your plant chicken breasts and then pour over the delicious marinade you just made, turning them over a couple of times so that they are evenly coated.
- Next, you should cover your vegan chicken with cling film, shrink-wrap, or similar stretching it across the bowl or other container you’ve used.
- Now for the best results leave your marinating chicken for 2 hours, at room temperature, to soak up all of those rich flavors. During this time you can turn the chicken once so that both sides can soak in the marinade.
- Once 2 hours is up you can remove the marinated chicken from the bowl and cook them. If you’re going to fry the breasts whole then add a tablespoon of oil to a non-stick frying pan and cook them over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side (enough to not dry them out) until your tasty plant chicken breasts are golden brown and a just a little crisp.
Vegan Buttermilk Chicken Marinade
Vegan buttermilk marinade is perfect for making juicy plant chicken, great for smothering in a seasoned flour coating and frying into delicious crispy pieces. Our dairy-free buttermilk coating is a simple marinade that’s quick to make and only requires a couple of ingredients: soy milk and lemon juice.
Real buttermilk has a natural acidity to it, and so does our dairy-free plant-based marinade. The citrusy tang in this recipe though is of course coming from freshly squeezed lemons.
Replacing the dairy, through trial and error, we found the best milk alternative to make buttermilk from is soy milk. Soy milk curdles better than anything else we tried. Buttermilk should be creamy in texture, and the soy milk reacts brilliantly to the lemon juice.
Vegan Buttermilk Chicken Marinade Ingredients
For 180 g plant-based chicken breast (two breasts halved)
1 cup soy milk (you will use a little less than this)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
How to Make Vegan Buttermilk Chicken Marinade
To start with, using a sharp knife, hold your hand on the top of each plant-based chicken breast and cut as if you were going to butterfly the breast, but cut all the way through. You’ll end up with 4 thinner vegan chicken breast pieces instead of two. You can skip this step and fry one whole beast portion if you want a juicier chicken piece and less crispy coating.
Now it’s time to make your vegan buttermilk marinade. Cut a whole lemon in half, and then squeeze out 1 whole tablespoon of fresh zesty lemon juice. Pour this into a measuring jug that shows cups on its scale.
Add enough soy milk to the lemon juice so that you have 1 cup of the lemon milk mix in total and give it a quick stir.
Leave your vegan butter chicken marinade to rest on the side for 1 minute so that it curdles slightly.
In a shallow bowl or other suitable container, pour in the buttermilk marinade and then lay in your plant chicken pieces. Turn them over a couple of times and then for the best results cover the bowl or other container with cling film (or shrink wrap) and leave them for a couple of hours to marinate, turning once halfway through.
As soon as the 2 hours have passed you can remove your buttermilk-soaked tender chicken pieces from the marinade. If you are going to follow our vegan fried chicken recipe then you can transfer them straight into your bowl of seasoned flour coating before frying them into delicious golden brown crispy pieces.
There will be plenty of excess liquid marinade left that wasn’t soaked up by the uncooked plant chicken. This will keep for up to 7 days if you transfer it to a jug and keep it in the fridge, just stir it once more before use and you can use it again.
VEGAN BUTTERMILK CHICKEN MARINADE
Ingredients
For 180 g plant-based chicken breast (two breasts halved)
- 1 cup soy milk you will use a little less than this
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- To start with, using a sharp knife, hold your hand on the top of each plant-based chicken breast and cut as if you were going to butterfly the breast, but cut all the way through. You’ll end up with 4 thinner vegan chicken breast pieces instead of two. You can skip this step and fry one whole beast portion if you want a juicier chicken piece and less crispy coating.
- Now it’s time to make your vegan buttermilk marinade. Cut a whole lemon in half, and then squeeze out 1 whole tablespoon of fresh zesty lemon juice. Pour this into a measuring jug that shows cups on its scale.
- Add enough soy milk to the lemon juice so that you have 1 cup of the lemon milk mix in total and give it a quick stir.
- Leave your vegan butter chicken marinade to rest on the side for 1 minute so that it curdles slightly.
- In a shallow bowl or other suitable container, pour in the buttermilk marinade and then lay in your plant chicken pieces. Turn them over a couple of times and then for the best results cover the bowl or other container with cling film (or shrink wrap) and leave them for a couple of hours to marinate, turning once halfway through.
- As soon as the 2 hours have passed you can remove your buttermilk-soaked tender chicken pieces from the marinade. If you are going to follow our vegan fried chicken recipe then you can transfer them straight into your bowl of seasoned flour coating before frying them into delicious golden brown crispy pieces.
