Out-of-this-world Grilled Miso Chicken is tender, juicy, and so easy to make. Just grill chicken breasts marinated in my homemade Ginger Miso Sauce recipe that‘s at once savory, salty, spicy, and sweet. It has the flavor pyramid covered!
A simple Japanese marinade with a punch of flavors, ginger miso marinade is perfect for the BBQ season. To make your summer meals even more special, I want to share this absolutely delicious Grilled Miso Chicken (鶏の味噌漬け焼き) recipe using the marinade. I use miso in so many of my Japanese recipes (miso is so versatile!), and today I used Hikari Miso‘s organic white miso to make this to-die-for ginger miso marinade.
What is White Miso?
Like the color suggests, white miso is a sweeter, milder miso paste. It’s made from fermented soybeans and rice, but not fermented for too long, so the flavor remains light and versatile. You will find me using white miso on many Japanese recipes on Just One Cookbook.
Hikari Miso products are available on Amazon. You can also buy Hikari Miso products in Japanese/Asian grocery stores as well as Asian grocery stores.
For grilled chicken recipes, I generally use chicken thighs because it is more flavorful and juicier than chicken breasts. However, today I made Grilled Miso Chicken using chicken breasts, which can be just as good if you put your mallet skills to work. The key is to pound the breast fillets well, so they cook fast and even. You want to prevent overcooking and drying out the meat. Also, if the chicken is not pounded down evenly, some parts may be undercooked while other parts are overcooked.
I’ve made this recipe a few times and every time I was surprised to see how juicy tender and flavorful it was! I served the chicken breast with Mango and Kale Salad.
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Grilled Miso Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used 2 fillets)
For the Ginger Miso Sauce
- 2 cloves garlic (minced or crushed)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice; from a 1-inch, 2.5-cm knob)
- 2 Tbsp miso (I used Hikari Miso Organic White Miso)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sambal Oelek Chili Paste (or more to your taste; optional)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for Ginger Miso Sauce: 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice), 2 Tbsp miso (white), 1 Tbsp neutral oil, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp Sambal Oelek Chili Paste (optional).
- Place 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast between 2 pieces of wax paper or parchment paper. Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken breasts to an even ½-inch (1.3-cm) thickness.
- Put the chicken breasts in a large resealable plastic bag and add the sauce. Rub the marinade into the meat until evenly coated. Seal the bag and marinate for at least 2–3 hours in the refrigerator.
To Cook
- Heat an outdoor grill on High. Spray the grates with cooking spray or soak a paper towel in olive oil and rub over the grates several times until coated.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and place them on the hot grate. Grill the breasts until cooked, about 4 minutes per side. To test for doneness, poke the breasts with your finger. They should feel firm to the touch.
To Serve
- Transfer the chicken to plates. I like to serve Grilled Miso Chicken with steamed rice and Mango Kale Salad.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for a month.
Have you tried this marinade on tofu?
Hi Clayton! Thank you so much for reading Nami’s post.
We haven’t tried it with tofu, but it should work.
Please keep us updated!
Hi Namiko! I have read in several recipes of yours that miso burns easily. So should I shake off the marinade before I put the chicken on the grill pan?
Hi Nikita! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
This miso sauce is more liquid form than the other recipe mentioning Miso burning, and you don’t need to worry about burning too much. Shaking off some sauce would be great, but you don’t need to scrape off to avoid the burns. 😉
We hope this helps!
This was fantastic. I served this over a salad with your the carrot ginger dressing. Easy to make since you need almost all of the same ingredients. Do you think this could be made with shrimp?
Hi Lisa, Thank you very much for trying many recipes and for your kind feedback!
Yes! Shrimp sounds delicious!!!😋
Thank you so much, Nami for this amazing warm feeling dish. I made me feel like I was around a fireplace on a cold winter night and it was snowing but I didn’t have to go outside and I was being warmed by the fire. I know that’s a lot to describe the flavor of this dish.
I baked this at 350 for 14 minutes and the chicken came out so tender and the Ginger Miso Sauce was so delicate, yet full flavored. I had it with some leftover fried rice and I thought the 2 tastes really complimented each other. I’m so happy I will be eating this all week. Oh, I also went out and replaced the Cold Mountain White Miso that I had, which seems to be the only Miso in most western grocery stores, with Hikari Organic White Miso that you recommended at my local Asian grocery store.
As always you dishes never fail to please the palate and the appetite.
Hi Kazy! How wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Reading your description made me wish that I was eating this with you! 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback, and I’m glad you got the miso from Hikari Miso! 🙂
Hi Nami
I will be making this, this week. Question. I don’t have a grill so I will be baking it instead. What should I do with the marinade that the chicken is soaking in? Can I pour it over the chicken while it bakes?
Thanks
Hi Kazy! I would baste the chicken a few times but be careful, it will get dry with baking. 🙂
I get the thinly sliced chicken breasts so I don’t have to pound the chicken with a mallet and I bake it at 350 for about 12-16 minutes depending on the thickness. Because I know how dry breasts are naturally, I make an effort to make sure not to overcook them. I’m pretty good at not drying them out. Interestingly, I have found grilling dries out chicken and fish. The only meat that I’ve had on a grill that works for me is a hamburger and a steak, where I can get it the way I like it: rare to medium rare. I’ll let you know how this comes out. Thanks.
Hi Kazy! Great!!!! You’re an expert! I hope you enjoy the recipe! Speaking of grilling, we smoke meats these days. Amazing. We are not using grilling much.
Thank you Nami for this delicious recipe–we loved it! And thank you @kazy for this advice–I bought thin-sliced breasts for the first time today and wasn’t sure how to prepare them. This turned out excellent and will go into my dinner rotation for sure!
I did this with chicken thighs, skin on, and it was delicious. Really wonderful and just as good left over. Thank You!!!
Hi Candace! Wonderful! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
My Japanese mom (from Tokyo)is 90 years old. We all live in upstate New York. I made this for my mom and dad. I just want to thank you so much, they loved it, especially my mom. I love to do for her, make her happy, since she always does for my father and her 5 children and our families. My sincerest graditude!!? Thank you, thank you, you have made me so happy with all your recipes!
Hi Barb! I’m so happy to hear your parents enjoyed this recipe, especially your mom. I feel flattered with your kind words. Thank you for taking your precious time to write kind feedback. xoxo
I made this last night… actually I was supposed to make it Monday night but I missed the “marinade for 2-3 hours”. This at was amazing! I’ll be looking on your website for more things to do with white miso. From what I understand, as long as I keep the miso in an airtight container, it will last a long time.
The mango-kale salad was interesting. I think I should have use something other than curly kale. I have tried to like curly kale to no avail. Tuscan kale may have been better. It ma have a better texture. I made my own blood orange olive oil for the dressing and that was delicious. We used a green mango too instead of the champagne one.
Hi Nick! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I made “2-3 hours” bold so others will not have the same mistake. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. 🙂 I’ve used curly kale for different types of “massaged kale” salad recipes and I like it while I use Tuscan kale for other recipes. 🙂 Ohhh your blood orange olive oil sounds REALLY delicious!
Hi Nami, thank you for all your lovely recipes. I followed this one to the dot, and found that the marinade is too salty. My husband, who normally prefers food to be more seasoned than not, also found this to be too salty and had to wash it down with lots of okra (tying in the whole Japanese theme apparently lol). Maybe next time I can add some mirin? Or maybe some maple syrup/sugar? what do you think? (I still have a whole box of miso that I want to use up.)
Hello Peggy! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sorry that this turned out to be too salty. Yes, you can add sugar, mirin, maple syrup (more mild), or honey (mild but can burn easily) in the sauce. Mirin might works best as it dilutes the sauce a bit with sake portion while it’s sweetening a bit. Again I am so sorry it didn’t work out for you. I have a lot of recipes on my site since this post, I hope you check it out!
I’ve made this a few times, pan grilling it instead of using outdoor grill because I don’t have one.
And since my country has this thing called extra hot chili sauce (looks like ketchup but made of chili instead of tomato), I use it instead of sambal oelek. It tasted very good ❤️
Hi Reen! Wonderful, I’m so happy to hear you it comes out well. Thank you for trying this recipe, Reen!
I made this for dinner last night and it turned out amazing! I had sticky rice and steamed broccoli with it and it was a wonderful meal! ^-^
Hi Samantha! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
We made this last night – on the grill in the garage since it’s February in Michigan! – and it was wonderful.
Hahaha! You still grill in the winter weather! That made me super happy. Thanks so much for trying this recipe, and I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you Dana! xo
I tried this recipe Monday night for dinner, and it came out fantastic! I actually can’t grill outside where I live, but I grilled the chicken on the Cuisinart Griddler that I won on this site a while ago. Perfect, juicy, delicious chicken. I will be making this recipe again very soon. My mother wants to try it next time she visits me. Thanks, Nami!
Yay! So happy to hear that you are using the griddler (I use it all the time to make paninis!) and tried this recipe! Thank you so much for your feedback!
Oh, this sounds so delicious! I’m so glad I bought some chicken breast yesterday. Will definitely be trying this sometime soon!
Thank you Donna! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 🙂