It’s hard to imagine a summer without outdoor grill parties where you bask in the summer sun with family and friends. And what better way to prep for the grill than to make a fantastic marinade with olive oil? While there’s an array of ways to add flavor to your meat or vegetables, we like to follow a certain marinade formula that is sure to make your grilled food more flavorful and tender.

As you may have guessed, our marinades always include Primo Oils extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. You can easily change the flavors to suit your taste, but overall, here are the essential elements of a good marinade:

The 5 Basic Ingredients for a Marinade

1. Oil (extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, peanut oil, canola oil, etc) The amount of oil is preferably three times the amount of the acid you’re using for the marinade. Whichever Primo olive oil you choose will be the base flavor of your marinade. For a better-tasting marinade, pair the olive oil with an acid that complements the oil’s flavor
2. Balsamic Vinegar  As mentioned above, the amount of acid should be a third of the oil. The vinegar will help tenderize the meat, but make sure you don’t put so much that it ends up overpowering your oil’s flavor. Keep your proportions in mind. 
3. Sweetener You can use honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, or your preferred sweetener. The recommended sweetener for every 8 tbsp of oil is 2 to 3 tbsp of your chosen sweetener.
4. Soy sauce, salt, or sea salt After the acid and sweetener, of course we need something salty for our marinade. Opt for something finer (thus, soy sauce) so it can better infuse the meat or vegetables with flavor. If you use something coarse, it’s more difficult for the flavor to mix with the rest of the marinade. Other sodium-based alternatives are Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, or other forms of fine salt.
5. Spices and/or herbs Your choice of herbs and spices for the marinade will depend on the flavor you want to achieve. Typically, we use black pepper, crushed pepper for a little spice. Other options can be cilantro, ginger, garlic, or onion. It really is up to you, but it’s recommended that they are either finely chopped or grated.

Do Oil-Based Marinades Work?

The short answer is, Yes! Traditionally, people prepare meat in a marinade to help soften and flavor it for the grill. A good marinade includes both an acid and a fat. The acid helps tenderize the meat while the fat helps the meat retain its moisture. 

We choose to use olive oil in our marinades because it makes a terrific fat ingredient and is easy to use. Not to mention the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil that you get to take advantage of when using olive oil in your marinade. 

Why put olive oil in a marinade?

When you choose olive oil for your marinade, you are solving for the fat component that all good marinades require. Olive oil will help your marinade retain moisture for what you are cooking and especially if you are grilling. 

What does soaking meat in olive oil do?

This is where the science of cooking comes in. Olive oil is a fat which, when combined with an acid like balsamic vinegar, will help your meat or veggies retain its moisture while you cook it. Olive oil also has the added benefit of providing an emulsifier to prevent your meat from sticking to the pan or grill once you’re ready to cook. 

How much olive oil to marinate?

To determine how much olive oil to use in a marinade, a good rule of thumb is to use three times the amount of olive oil to the acid component of your marinade. For example, if you are using ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar you would use ¾ cup of olive oil. 

What is the best oil for marinade?

We love using extra virgin olive oil in our marinades. Extra virgin olive oil has tremendous health benefits for your heart, weight loss goals and even lowers inflammation! Those same healthy fats allow your marinade to help your meat retain its moisture when cooking. 

Selecting a Primo olive oil as the foundation will significantly influence the overall flavor profile of your marinade. To ensure a harmonious and delicious marinade, it’s crucial to choose an acid that pairs well with the selected olive oil’s distinctive taste.

How to Make a Good Marinade

To craft a good marinade, the key ingredients you’ll need are salt, acid, oil, and a touch of sugar. 

Salt is crucial as it helps to tenderize the meat or vegetables by breaking down their fibers, allowing them to absorb the marinade’s flavors more deeply. For the acid component, consider using balsamic vinegar or fruit juice, which further aids in tenderizing the meat. Our collection of Balsamic Vinegars, especially sweeter options like Fig Balsamic or Aged Dark Chocolate Balsamic, can introduce both acidity and sweetness to your marinade, enhancing its flavor profile.

The olive oil serves as the binder of your marinade, merging all the flavors together while adding its own character to the mix. Opt for one of our gourmet flavored olive oils to infuse your marinade with distinctive tastes. Infusing select ingredients, these oils elevate the overall taste of your marinade.

For more detailed insights into creating the perfect marinade, explore this blog from the grill masters at Otto Wilde

What is the perfect marinade ratio?

You’re looking to create a marinade with three parts fat to one part acid. When using olive oil and balsamic vinegar this 3 to 1 ratio is key. 

Olive Oil Chicken Marinade

Chicken is a great weeknight marinade to do because chicken can benefit from a marinade in as little as 15 minutes. Here’s a few of our favorite chicken marinade recipes to try…

• Balsamic Glazed Chicken Thighs
• Blackberry-Ginger Balsamic Glazed Wings
• Cilantro Lime Roasted Chicken (for summer switch to the grill!)
• Harissa Chicken

Olive Oil Steak Marinade

The height of summer BBQ delight is a great marinated steak. We love our Grilled Balsamic Steak recipe because the balsamic vinegar and olive oil pairings to choose from are endless!

Take a look at our BBQ Marinade pairing ideas to see what flavor profiles you would like to try. 

Olive Oil Salmon Marinade

You may not traditionally think of marinating your salmon, but it can really up the flavor profile of this popular dish. Note that when you use a marinade on fish you want to keep an eye on the time. Marinade for 30 minutes at room temperature or up to an hour in the refrigerator but no longer. Salmon that sits in marinade for too long will start to break down and get mushy when you cook it. Try our Air-Fryer Gingered Honey Salmon with Blood Orange Olive Oil for a flavor explosion. 

Olive Oil Marinade Inspiration: Primo Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegar Pairings

Leave the guesswork out of what balsamic vinegars work best with our popular olive oils. These pairings complement each other and help achieve a more flavorful marinade. 

• Pineapple Balsamic Vinegar: Garlic Olive Oil or Toasted Sesame Oil
  • Good with shrimp, scallops, chicken, pork, or even a vegetable kabob
• Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Olive Oil
  • Good for pork and for dressings on spinach or Caprese salads
• Harissa Olive Oil:  Sicilian Lemon, Peach, or Raspberry Balsamic
• Persian Lime Olive Oil:  Jalapeno, Peach, Mango, Cherry or Pineapple Balsamic
• Garlic Olive Oil: Jalapeno, Key Lime, Sicilian Lemon, or Serrano Honey Balsamic
• Chipotle Olive Oil: White Peach, Key Lime, or Mango, Balsamic

Make sure to check out our pantry items as well and you may find something to add to your party shopping list. Enjoy grilling and don’t forget to share your pictures with the Primo Oils community on Facebook!

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