Tenderize, flavor and make the most of any meat

Marinades are probably the most important ingredient to any cookout. A good marinade not only keeps your grilling moist and flavorful, but they make it healthier. These ten marinade recipes are the most popular on my site. They represent the kinds of marinades you should be trying. Try them out and then start experimenting yourself to make the...

Virtually any cut of beef will benefit from a good marinade. Beef marinades should have some strength (Acid) to them to be effective against the density of this meat. Remember, when marinating beef, the time you marinade and the strength of the marinades needed depends on the toughness and the thickness of the cut.

Have a problem with chicken drying out on the grill? Try a good poultry marinade to not only help prevent meats from drying out, but to also protect the more delicate chicken while also adding flavor. When marinating poultry makes sure to separate pieces to allow the marinade to reach as much of the meat as possible.

Pork is a meat that can always benefit from a good marinade. I generally recommend reducing the salt content of marinades used with pork to prevent a curing effect that can leave some cuts with a ham like texture. When marinating pork, remember that the thickness of the meat (not the bone) determines how long to marinate.

This marinade works really well on pork or chicken.

This lemon-wine marinade works really well on fish or chicken.

This is a flavorful marinade which can be used on chicken, pork, and beef. Remember to let the marinade cool considerably before using it on raw meat.

This is a flavorful herbed marinade for fish. Enjoy with your favorite vegetable side dish.

This is a flavorful marinade which can be used on chicken, pork, and beef. Remember to let the marinade cool considerably before using it on raw meat.

A great Caribbean-style steak marinade using pineapple juice, rum, and ginger.

This red wine marinade is good on anything from chicken breast to chicken thighs. You can also use it as a basting sauce for rotisserie chicken or on grilled turkey breast.

This is a perfect marinade for practically any meat and any Mexican dish. You get that great lime and cilantro flavor without overpowering the flavor of the meat.

By roasting the garlic before you make this marinade to give it a great smoky flavor at the same time you make the garlic sweet.

How about a nice cup of coffee on your meat. This marinade adds flavor and tenderizes. Don't worry, though you won't get more than a little of the coffee flavor. Great on all meats.

This marinade adds smoky flavor to whatever you choose to use it on. The addition of the spices make it perfect for beef.

This is a great marinade with real Asian flavors. Use it on anything. Tom suggests using it on steaks and pineapple.

This is a great marinade for any kind of meat that you want add a great Chinese flavor to.

You should be able to find achiote paste most anywhere. If you have trouble ask. This marinade works great on all cuts of beef and is a great marinade for making fajitas, tacos or any other Mexican dish.

This marinade is similar to an Asian Satay dipping sauce. You get a load of flavors the works great an anything, especially pork chops.

The great thing about using yogurt in your marinade is that its thickness holds seasonings to the meat so you can keep the marinade on even when it hits the grill. This is a great marinade for shish kebabs.

This marinade combines a lot of great flavors. Use this marinade on beef.

This simple marinade is perfect for adding an Asian style flavor to any meat, poultry or fish.

Papaya has one of natures strongest tenderizers. Use Papaya on tough pieces of meat to get great results.

Using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil is a great way to start a marinade. The oil has already taken on the tomato flavor and is ready to pass it on to whatever you choose to marinate.

Add Moroccan flavor to anything you grill with this great, but simple marinade. Allow meat to marinate for about 6 hours, poultry and fish for about 2 hours.

This marinade is perfect for fish. The low acid level won't cook the fish before it hits the grill and the combination of soy sauce and brown sugar gives it an almost Teriyaki flavoring.

Big Daddy posted this recipe for a rich and great Teriyaki sauce. Use it as a marinade, dipping sauce or brush it on meats right before you take them off the grill.

This marinade combines a sweet apricot flavor with onions and yogurt to make it the perfect marinade for lamb, pork and poultry.

This is a really great, classic marinade, full of flavor and really good beer. You don't have to use Guinness if you don't want to, but you want a really rich dark beer and Guinnes Brand Stout is the perfect beer to provide flavor to this marinade.

This is more than just a marinade. It has all the makings of a great gravy. This is why it give beef that fantastic pot roast kind of flavor. The combination of the vegetables for flavor and the vinegar for power make this recipe work.

This marinade combines great jalapeno flavor with garlic to spice up anything you soak in it. Don't worry about it being too hot, jalapenos are not that hot and this marinade only give meat a little heat.

This marinade adds a great fruity flavor to pork without being too sweet.

This is a simple, yet great marinade. The flavor of sesame works perfectly with any kind of meat. This marinade gives a great Asian flavor.

This great marinade adds so much flavor to practically anything. You will want to make this marinade in advance so it has time for the flavors to blend.

If you want to add some great Chinese flavors to anything you grill, this is a great marinade. Perfect on beef or poultry. Make this marinade a day in advance to get the most out of the flavors.

You might not think about marinating in sour cream, but the slight acidic nature of sour cream helps to tenderize meat while the thickness holds seasonings in place. This marinade gets extra power from wine vinegar and is perfect for chicken.

What to get that great Teriyaki flavor into most anything? Try this marinade to add flavor to your grilling.

What to get that great Teriyaki flavor into most anything? Try this marinade to add flavor to your grilling.

This marinade is similar to an Indian style tandoori sauce. The combination of flavors is great on any kind of fish, but particularly good on swordfish.

This chicken marinade puts together citrus flavors with ancho chile and garlic to give your poultry a great flavor. The olive oil and vinegar tenderizes and adds moisture to the chicken.

This injection solution has a good dose of cayenne to put some heat under the skin of your next bird. Make sure you spread it out throughout the meat so you don't get pockets of cayenne.

This is a great, sweet bourbon marinade that works perfectly on any foods. It is a mild marinade so you probably want to get several hours marinating time with it before you grill.

This is a simple mustard marinade that tenderizes and adds flavor. It is particularly good on pork and poultry.

This is a great marinade for beef, though it works well with everything else. It adds a great southwestern flavor to anything and is a good marinade if you are making something like fajitas.

This southwestern marinade combines tequila with lime and cilantro to give it a great, authentic flavor. This marinade works on practically everything.

This injection marinade puts some real heat under the skin of any poultry. If you want a little fire in your bird this is a great sauce to use. Make sure you only put small amounts in each place or you'll get pockets of hot sauce.

This is a 24 hour marinade, guaranteed to please every time. The chicken or turkey is always moist and tender. Use 1/2 recipe for chicken or a full recipe for a turkey of any size. Everyone will clamor for this turkey marinade recipe.

You can adjust the garlic content of this marinade how you like it. This marinade works great on all kinds of meat and poultry but particularly good with beef.

When selecting a beer for a marinade or sauce go with a good, flavorful beer that you are familiar with. This recipe would work great with a rich, dark stout. It is also best if you let the beer go flat before you add it to the other ingredients.

This marinade is loaded with flavors perfect for making fajitas. You can use any meat you want. Marinate beef the longest, poultry less and fish for only about 30 minutes. You can use foods prepared with this marinade in any dish you want to add a fajita flavor too.

You've heard of Jerk seasonings and Jerk rubs, well this is a jerk marinade that can get that great flavor deep into the meat. Use this marinade on all kinds of meat and poultry.

This marinade uses the power of balsamic vinegar to tenderize and flavor meats. This marinade works great on all kinds of poultry.

This light and easy marinade uses the power of lemon juice to tenderize and flavor meats. This marinade is particularly good on any kind of poultry.

Satay is one of the most popular ways to grill meats. These kebabs are made with thin strips of meat. This marinade adds an authentic Asian flavor to any meat you choose to use.

This marinade is sweet and works great on any kind of meat, particularly pork.

The BBQ Guru posted this recipe for a great injection solution for pork. The secret here is to add your pork rub to the mixture to get the flavor inside and out.

Roger Bell sent me this marinade recipe that uses the power of bourbon to tenderize meat and add flavor. Careful when this hits the grill, it might flare-up for a few seconds.

I like to make up lots of this marinade because it also makes a great dipping sauce for all kinds of Asian dishes.

This is the traditional recipe for Japanese Teriyaki sauce. You should be able to find most of the ingredients at your local grocery store.

This is a great injection marinade for turkey that is loaded with flavor. Remember to get it spread out evenly so you don't end up with pockets of the solution in the meat.

While this marinade works well for all kinds of beef the high salt contenct makes it the perfect marinade for homemade beef jerky.

The BBQ Guru posted this recipe. The secret here is to use the barbecue sauce you will be serving with the ribs as the base for this marinade. This keeps the flavors the same.

This is a great marinade for any southwestern or Mexican dish. The combination of the dark beer and the lime juice not only adds great flavor but has a lot of tenderizing power.

Remember that an injection sauce is a mariande, so you need to inject it into the meat several hours before you cook so it has a chance to spread out and flavor the meat.

This recipe is for those of you who don't have the kind of smoker that will allow you to cook a Brisket for 12 hours. Use this recipe to help tenderize the meat and add a smoky flavor to it.

This is the classic solution injected into the meat of turkeys that are fried Cajun style. By getting the flavors inside the meat you don't have to worry about the hot oil washing them off. Make sure you distribute the injection evenly so you don't get pockets of the mixture.

This marinade adds great greek flavors to any meat, but is particularly good with lamb. Let the meat sit in the marinade for a while to make sure it have soaked up a lot of the flavor.

This is great for injecting pork roasts that you are going to smoke for Pulled Pork barbecue. Make sure you grind everyting up well so it won't clog the needle.

This is a quick and easy marinade that is great for brisket. It has great flavor and the wine will tenderize the meat and carry the flavors deep inside.

This injection solution super-hydrates your turkey so it stays nice and moist while it cooks. The cayenne and hot sauce give it a cajun flavor that makes this recipe perfect for fried turkey.

Korean style beef ribs are cooked hot and fast so they use a powerful marinade to keep it tender. This marinade creates a flavorful glaze over the ribs.

This is one of the best marinades. It adds great flavor and has plenty of tenderizing power. This is one marinade you can use on most anything.

While Carne Asade usually means beef, this marinade works just as well on chicken or pork. If you want to put together a good Mexican dish this is a great marinade to start with.

Use this marinade to reach deep into the meat of poultry, expecially turkey to deliver loads of flavor before you cook. Make sure the mixture is warm to keep the butter liquid.

The BBQ Guru gives us this marinade recipe is loaded with flavor and a lot of tenderizing power.

Korean style ribs are a great meal. This marinade is part of the secret of the flavor and the tenderness.

Whether you are making Carne Asada or not this is a great marinade for any meat, especially beef. The strong acid from the citrus juices will make the toughest cuts tender and the tequila will give it a very unique flavor.

BBQ Guru posted this marinade recipe to the forum. It uses a pork rub for the seasoning. Use the same rub you will be applying to the meat before it hits the smoker.

This is the traditional recipe for Korean Bulgogi, a marinated steak cut into strips and served up on Moo Shu pancakes or rice. This is also a great marinade for almost any kind of beef.

Marinating a brisket is really a great way to make sure your smoked brisket remains tender and juicy. This marinade will start the tenderization process and work a lot of flavor into the mixture. The best method here is to get a resealable bag large enough to hold the brisket and to make sure you get all the air out of the bag before you seal it.

This is a great Asian style marinade that is great on all kinds of pork, particularly pork chops. You get a rich, sweet flavor from this recipe.

Whether you are smoking or grilling your brisket this marinade will make the meat tender and add a lot of flavor.

This marinade adds a lot of flavor to your beef ribs and the acid from the lemon juice and vinegar will help make them more tender once they are smoked.

This is a great marinade for chicken. It gives you that lemon-herb flavor that you find on so many store made chickens, but this is better.

Doug Freeman sent me this marinade for all kinds of grilled pork. You can omit the liquid smoke if you don't want a smoky flavor.

TomKattt calls this his "unsophisticated" marinade, because it's so basic. What you'll end up with is a good salt flavor combined with oil to seal in the juices of whatever you use it on.

The problem with grilling skinless, boneless chicken breasts is that they tend to dry out quickly. This chicken marinade is low in vinegar and...

Chicken needs a good marinade to protect it from the heat, prevent it from drying out. and to give it some extra flavor. This chicken marinade is...

A great steak doesn't need any help. A not so great steak does. If you are grilling a steak that isn't the most tender then this classic steak marinade is perfect.

This basic marinade is perfect for turkey because it doesn't overpower the flavor of the bird, but adds flavor and a protective layer for the grill.

With a deep fried turkey you want to get flavor into the meat before it hits the oil. This Cajun inspired marinade will not only do that but help tenderize the turkey too.

This is a perfect marinade for chicken, pork or even fish. This is a mild marinade that is quick and easy to make, loaded with fresh flavors that compliments but doesn't overpower.

The smoke flavor of the chipotle chile peppers in this marinade gives everything you marinate in this marinade a great, smokey flavor. The tomatoes bring an acid that tenderizes and blend the flavors kind of like a good marinara the next day.