Easy Marinated Chicken Recipe with Soy Sauce and Red Wine
Published August 5, 2016. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
I know how it is so easy to get into a cooking rut and continue to keep making the same food week over week, which is why I whipped up this Marinated Chicken Recipe with Soy and Red Wine. It is so simple and literally consists of 9 total ingredients, which includes salt and pepper and a tasty sauce to finish off with. The marinade for this recipe was actually a simple sauce we used to make at one of the restaurants I chef’d at for a few years. The name of the sauce is beurre rougere pronounces bear-ro-jer and was a simple mixture of equal parts soy, red wine and red wine vinegar which was then heated with butter and green onions stirred in.
It was a fantastic quick sauce that was loaded with flavor and always worked well over fish or chicken. I thought it would be great to make it as a marinade, which Is why I did this Marinated Chicken Recipe with Soy and Red Wine. The first thing I did was spatchcocked the chicken, which is really a fancy term for cutting out the back bone of the chicken and laying it flat. You can do this with kitchen shears or a really sharp knife. Next, whisk together the soy, red wine, red wine vinegar, some diced shallots and garlic and submerge the flatted spatchcocked chicken into it and marinate it for 24 hours.
I have to admit, if you want really flavorful food from a marinade, it has to have chance to do just that so make sure you do it at least over night and for best results 24 hours. I can’t tell you how many times I marinate things for 2 to 4 hours and it’s just ok, but if I use that same marinade and do it for 24 hours, WHOA amazing!! Take the time, do it right and marinate for 24 hours, you won’t regret it. Once you’ve hit that 24 hour mark, remove the chicken from the liquid and season it on all sides with salt and pepper, discard the liquid.
Place the chicken skin side down on a medium-hot grill, 450°, and let it cook. While it’s on the grill you can now make that little sauce I told you about. Mix together 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 1/3 cup of red wine and 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar and heat it up over low heat in a sauce pan. Once it is warm, stir in 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of sliced green onions. Boom, done!
Once you flip the chicken over on the grill you’ll notice it has this beautiful burgundy brown caramelization on it that you see in pictures in magazines. It looks gorgeous! The whole chicken takes about 45 to 50 minutes to cook, just be sure that it is cooked through and clear juices are running out of it. The correct temperature should be 165°, but remember to account for carry over cooking because the chicken will shoot up a few degrees after you take it off, so feel free to remove it in between 161° and 163°. Let the chicken rest for a few before serving it.
Now that is one beautiful whole Marinated Chicken Recipe with Soy and Red Wine that your family will love!
I like to serve a little of the sauce over top and on the side in case people want more. My wife loved the sauce and couldn’t get enough of it!
one more picture just cuz :-). Enjoy!
Marinated Chicken Recipe with Soy and Red Wine

Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup of soy sauce
- 1 1/3 cup of red wine, merlot or cabernet sauvignon
- 1 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar
- 1 small diced shallot
- 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 1 spatchcocked chicken
- 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup of sliced green onions
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of red wine, 1 cup of red wine vinegar, diced shallots and minced garlic until combined.
- Next, lay the chicken flat in a 13x9 dish and pour the marinade all over it. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. After 12 hours flip the chicken over to make sure the marinade gets on all sides.
- Remove the chicken from liquid and season on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken on a medium-hot grill, 450°, for a total of 45 to 50 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through with an internal temperature of 165°. Rest the chicken on a cutting board before serving.
- Pour the remaining soy, red wine and red vinegar into a sauce pot and heat up over low heat until steam is lightly coming off of it. Stir in the butter and green onions and serve over top or on the side of the grilled chicken.
- Enjoy
Nutrition
Can i change the wine since i dont consume alcohol? Tks
depends on what you change the wine to?
Don’t have a grill, can this be cooked in the oven and taste good
Yes you can
Thank you, Chef! I will prepare this weekend!
Thank you chef Billy!
Could I use balsamic vinegar instead?
Unfortunately no it would be way to strong.
I tried this yesterday with a slight variation. when I tasted the marinade (before adding raw chicken, of course!), I felt it was a bit too sharply acidic, so I added a teaspoon of black treacle. The result was fantastic, and my wife loved it. Many thanks for the recipe; hope you don’t mind me messing about with it!
Glad you messed with it John and made it work for you!!
Has anyone tried this with chicken breasts only?
Andrea, it would honestly do the same. I would back off the marinating time to like 6 to 8 hours since there is less meat mass.
Which wine did you use? I want a purple-ish smoke ring on the chicken. Maybe a Shiraz or how about Manischewitz Blackberry wine? Trying to copycat a a tight lipped friends grilled drums and thighs
Could be any good red, shiraz, cab, merlot, blend.
Thank you for sharing this! Making it tonight as part of #MerlotMe month in October…
Marinating now…. cheers!
awesome! Hope you like it!
This looks awesome – the skin looks so gorgeous and delicious!
Thank you so much Ahu!
We are always (always!) looking for different ways to cook chicken. We always end up with fried chicken so I’m glad to find recipes like this. It looks so delicious! (And thanks for my word for the day: spatchcocked) 🙂
Awesome, hope it turns out well for you :-).
I think this may just be a chicken recipe my husband will actually like! I can’t wait to try this.
Hah, good luck!
Yummy! I finally learned how to spatchcock a chicken for one of my recipes! LOL It turned out great. I loved it. Now I feel comfortable trying it for more recipes. Your recipe looks delicious. I’ll save this recipe.
It can be intimidating but super easy once you know how to do it!
Got it plan ahead and marinate for 24 hours. Sounds like Sunday dinner planned out.
Yes ma’am!!
Another recipe that looks so damn good! Your pictures are amazing.
Aww thanks Teresa!!
Yum! Looks really great!
Thanks Christine!
We eat a lot of chicken at our house but were getting bored of the same recipes. Love this one and definitely will be trying it out – chicken is back!
Awesome!! It’s super tasty and really full flavored 🙂