What is the best salad dressing to use as a marinade?

Question

I'm new to cooking and I have used Italian dressing to marinade pork chops and chicken breasts. I'm wondering what other dressings I can use as a marinade. Also, what is the best marinade to use for beef?? Italian dressing doesn't seem right for steaks, but perhaps I'm wrong??? Making my own will not work unless it's really really simple. Thanks!

Answer 1

Ken's Italian.........Zeeeee Best! Especially overnight. For beef/chicken/pork. Belive me, try it.

Answer 2

Salad Dressing Marinade

Answer 3

Here's a super simple marinade for beef:

2 Tb basalmic vinegar
1 Tb good quality olive oil
1/4 ts fresh ground pepper
1-2 clove pressed garlic
small pinch cinnamon (yes, that's right, cinnamon)

I never measure this, I just eyeball it. Don't overdo the cinnamon, you just want a touch. The meat can marinade from anywhere like an hour to three days or so. If it's going to marinade for longer than a day, I go ahead and put a little salt or soy sauce in it. If it's going to be cooked sooner than a day, I salt it after cooking or it drys the meat.

I often buy steak at costco, divide it into ziplocks in 1 or 2 serving sizes, add marinade to the ziplocks then freeze the whole shebang. When I'm in the mood for steak, I just have to thaw it out.

Answer 4

A marinade uses enzymes to soften/par-cook the marinated food. You need a strong acidic element, which is why vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice or coconut 'milk' are used around the world.

Italian dressing, if strongly 'vinegary' is OK.

Oil helps bind the marinade to the meat.

1 part 'vinegary' liquid to 2 or 3 parts oil, with 'black'/Worcester sauce, chilli sauce, curry or mustard - whichever is to your taste - makes a good marinade for just about anything. Maybe "English Mustard" added to one for beef is an idea.

Garlic, salt, pepper, mint or any spices are all up to you.

One good thing for beef or fish is kiwifruit/'kiwi', from here in New Zealand. Pulp the fruit and cover the meat, leaving as long as possible. You can actually eat the meat without 'cooking', if left long enough - the enzymes do the same job as the heat.

Any marinaded dish should be covered or in a plastic bag, left as long as is reasonable and the meat/bag turned, to make sure the liquid gets all over/through the meat.

Answer 5

The first thing you are going to want to know is that marinades don't do much other than to add a little flavor to the meat you're cooking. Even acid based marinades, (like your oil and vinegar based Italian dressing), won't penetrate far enough into the surface of the meat to much good as a tenderizer or provide much in the way of flavor above and beyond the meat's top layer.

Second, you want to consider what cooking method you are going to use. If grilling or broiling, you will gind that almost anything is going to burn and stuff that is dairy or egg based, like many commercial dressings, will get nasty. Better to stick with an oil and vinegar, (or even lemon juice), and add some dried or fresh herbs that you like such as Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, etc. You may also want to experiment with fruit juices especially ones with some acid like orange, pineapple, or even tomato.

Last, consider beer, liquor or wine, don't use cheap because if you don't want to drink it, you won't want to eat it. Season it the same way you would a dressing.

Here's one for free:
½ C Tequila + ½ C Lime Juice + ½ C Orange Juice + 2 TBL salt + 1tsp black pepper + 3 or 4 crushed cloves garlic + 1 tsp red pepper flakes (or use a seeded chopped serrano chile)

throw the whole mess into a big 1 gallon zip lock bag with 6 chicken breasts, seal it up and marinate overnight

Best grilled but you can broil or even cook in a saute pan. I make a few bags of these at a time and throw them into the freezer, they defrost over night in the fridge or are great for campouts

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the best salad dressing to use as a marinade?
I'm new to cooking and I have used Italian dressing to marinade pork chops and chicken breasts. I'm wondering what other dressings I can use as a marinade. Also, what is the best marinade to use for beef?? Italian dressing doesn't seem right for steaks, but perhaps I'm wrong??? ...

Answer 7

Absolutely In fact I love Italian dressing as a marinade for steak before grilling. Most dressings have a vinegar base and emulsified or bound with oil, spices and herbs. Most marinades would be considered a vinegrate anyways. Try the Argentinian steak marinade Chimichurri one of my favorites red wine vinegar, olive oil, lots of fresh Parsley and Paprika. YUM ChefCBT

Answer 8

It may sound odd but Italian dressing is the BEST marinade on chicken and even steaks, like prime rib which is my favorite. It adds the right amount of tang and zip. You would be surprised. Italian dressing is really super. You wouldn't think so but it is.

Answer 9

Italian or Balsamic vinegar is usually a good bet for chicken and veggies.

Marinate some chicken breasts in Italian for at least an hour and then grill them while still basting them with it.
Balsamic vinegar, along with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a little pepper is great for asparagus.

For Beef, i would use a teriyaki marinade or A-1 cajun seasoning or steakhouse. It's pretty good..

Answer 10

I agree with putting Zesty Italian Dressing on chicken or beef. You can put the meat and dressing in a Ziploc bag and let it marinate overnight and the meat will be SOOO tender and good. Mmmmmmmmmmm I have some other recipes that are super easy and I think you would love to make. You can instant message me my_madygrace_2006 on yahoo.

Answer 11

I like to use Italian on Chicken. I've also bought the packet mix for ranch, italian and others and added them to new potatoes and meats as a rub. A little can go a long way though.