Sweet and spicy 3 ingredient marinade for any type of meat

The weather is great, the sun is shining, and barbecue season is upon us! We’ve already used our grill a couple of times and I love it. We have a gas grill, and it’s so easy to use, turn it on, grill, turn it off, done! No waiting for the coals to be ready, no smoke blowing in your face, and still, no missing out on the great “grilled” taste. We’ll definitely be using the grill a LOT this summer!

And what’s a barbecue without some nice, marinated meat? Sure, sausages are always a winner, and I also love to grill veggie sticks and mushrooms and… I digress. This super easy, super yummy marinade only needs 3 ingredients (if you don’t count salt and pepper), and it has a lovely balance between sweet, sour, spicy and fresh. I’ve used this on a pork tenderloin as well as some chicken cutlets, and both turned out great. I could also imagine this to be good with salmon, alongside some Asian-inspired salad or side. I’d suggest to make a lot of marinade, but that might be because I prefer to really soak the meat in it.

I’m using Sambal Oelek, which is an indonesian chili paste. You can buy it at most standard supermarkets if they have an “ethnic” food section, otherwise in an Asian food market. The nice thing about it is that it’s basically only chilis, with no other flavors added, which makes it perfect to give a chili heat to a dish. If you can’t get your hands on it, I’d probably use a chopped up red chili (remove the seeds if you don’t like it too spicy).

Here’s the basic recipe:

Easy sweet and spicy marinade

(coats about 300g chicken cutlets)

3 tbsp. honey

1 lime

2 tsp. sambal oelek

Add honey and sambal oelek into a bowl. Grate some of the lime zest, but be careful not to grate any of the white stuff underneath because that just tastes bitter. Squeeze out the lime juice, including some pulp if you like.

Mix it all together really well.

Season the chicken or whatever meat you’re using with salt and pepper (careful not to use too much of each, but you do need some). Add to the marinade and toss until well coated. Let the meat marinate for 2-3 hours in the fridge.