This Soy Ginger Lemon Marinade is one of my go-to marinades! It's easy to make with pantry staples and great for pork, beef, chicken, lamb, or salmon! It's also oil-free so it's lighter and healthier than a typical soy ginger marinade.
I love easy recipes that are quick to throw together and so versatile. My maple lemon marinade is another easy meat marinade. You can use them any time of the year, but they are ideal for grilling. However, they can also be used in the air fryer or on the stovetop as well.
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🥘Ingredients
You only need 5 marinade ingredients for this oil-free soy ginger lemon marinade recipe and oil is not one of them!
- lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- soy sauce
- fresh ginger
- ketchup
- fresh garlic
*See recipe card for quantities.
🔪Instructions
Because there is no oil in this ginger soy marinade recipe (and oil helps the marinade absorb into the meat), it's important that you marinate the meat for at least 8 hours or overnight to get the maximum depth of flavor from this marinade recipe. If you marinate it for less time, you won't get as much flavor.
Combine all ingredients and whisk together (or shake together in tightly sealed jar or Tupperware shaker - see equipment).
When ready to use, place meat in a shallow dish or a resealable plastic bag. Pour about half the marinade over the meat. Turn to coat, pour the remainder (setting aside about ¼ cup if you want to baste the meat after it's cooked) and cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight, to get full flavor. Turn meat over at least once during the marinating process.
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Raw Meats - you can use chicken breast, pork chops, boneless pork, beef, lamb, tuna steaks or salmon
- Garlic - you can use minced garlic in a jar, if you don't have fresh
- Spicy - add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or ½ teaspoon sriracha sauce, to the marinade
- Lemon juice- if you don't have fresh lemon juice, use concentrated, but only use HALF the amount. If you don't have either, you can use another citrus juice, like fresh lime juice.
- Soy sauce - Light soy sauce is best for marinades. It has a thinner body and a golden brown color. Using natural fermentation methods, light soy sauce has a strong aromatic umami and savory flavor. Don't use dark soy sauce, as it's overpowering. You can use a multi-purpose soy sauce if you don't have light.
🥗 Side Dishes
No matter what type of meat you are marinating and grilling, these flavors pair perfectly with my Corn Stuffed Grilled Bell Peppers! (shown below). It also goes well with:
- Onion Baked Potatoes in Foil (3 Ingredients)
- Easy Bean Salad (Vegan and Gluten-free)
- Healthy Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
- Easy Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
- Healthy Potato Salad
- Healthy Artichoke and Red Pepper Coleslaw
- Slow Cooker New England Baked Beans
🍽Equipment
You'll need a whisk and a bowl or a salad dressing shaker , as well as a zester (affiliate links) to make this meat marinade.
🌡️Storage
Store this marinade in the fridge in a sealed jar or airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze in a Ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months.
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes enough marinade for 4 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. I multiplied the recipe by 1.5X for the 6 pieces of pork.
🔢WW Points
This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly @ 2 WW pts, but because not all of the marinade is absorbed, I only count it as 1 point. This soy ginger marinade has fewer points than similar sauces with oil. If you added olive oil to this marinade, it would be 6 WW points instead of 2.
💭Top tip
Store your fresh ginger in a ziplock freezer bag in the freezer! It lasts so much longer and then when you need it, you simply take it out, peel the rough part (only what you need) with a vegetable peeler, then use a zester to finely grate what you need for the recipe. Then you simply put the remainder back in the freezer, where it will last 3-6 months.
🦺Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
❔ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can marinate chicken in a soy marinade for up to 2 days.
Marinating in soy sauce adds flavor and tenderizes the meat.
You can marinate meat with oil if you use citrus juice (lemon, preferably) wine or vinegar. These ingredients help break it down and tenderize meats.
So, if you're looking for healthy recipes for marinade, you'll love this oil free version of soy ginger marinade!
📋 Soy Ginger and Lemon Marinade Recipe (oil free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon gingerroot grated
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 4 cloves of garlic
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and whisk together or shake together in tightly sealed jar.
- When ready to use, place meat in a shallow dish or plastic Ziplock bag. Pour about half marinade over meat. Turn to coat, and add remaining (but reserve about ¼ cup for basting on after cooking, if desired)
- Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight to get maximum flavor. Turn meat over at least once during process.
- Cook meat as per directions in your recipe (it will depend on type of meat you are making and cooking process you are using) and brush on a little marinade if desired (you can quickly warm it on the stovetop over medium-high heat or in the microwave).
Garnish
- Garnish with fresh chives, green onions or sesame seeds (optional)
Colleen
This is such a simple but flavorful marinade. The lemon is a perfect touch. And thanks for the great tip about freezing ginger!
Terri Gilson
Glad you enjoyed it, Colleen!
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady
This marinade is so simple, but it made out pork chops so tender and flavorful.
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Cindy! Yes, it does really tenderize the meat!
Shelby
Used this lemon marinade on kabobs the other night and it was amazing, so refreshing and light!
Terri Gilson
Great idea to use it on kabobs!
nancy
adding lemon totally brightens the whole marinade profile. i love it!
Terri Gilson
I agree, Nancy! 🙂
Vanessa
I love trying new marinades and this was fantastic. I used it to marinade pork tenderloin before grilling. Delicious!
Terri Gilson
Hi Vanessa,
So glad to hear you loved it!
Terri
Bernice
I love marinating with soy sauce. I usually just use one acid but the ketchup really added extra umami. Can confirm...great on pork!
Asha
I used this marinade on some salmon and it was simply delicious. Loved how easy it was to make as well since I already had all of the ingredients. Would make this again.