This Secret Ingredient Makes Chicken and Shrimp Tender and Yummy Every Time
No one likes dry chicken! But it can be difficult to cook to tender perfection every time. Just as well, the ideal shrimp dish is juicy and loaded with flavor, but if you cook them even just a little too long you can be left with a less than desirable situation. Enter: yogurt. The one ingredient that will uplift any chicken or shrimp marinade and leave you with your tender meat dinner dream.
Yes, you read that right! Yogurt isn’t just for a snack or breakfast parfait anymore. While you can surely go out and buy pre-made marinades or make your own with oil or plain seasoning, yogurt is actually the secret to transforming your meats to tender perfection.
First off, It has a delicious tangy flavor that can liven up any plain old recipe and add a savory kick that you’ll absolutely love. Second, yogurt is, in fact, better than oil-based or dry marinades because the lactic acid and calcium in it helps break down the meat proteins in chicken and shrimp and infuses them with more moisture and richness. Marinating your meats in yogurt will make them all the more tender and juicy!
Using yogurt as a marinade is pretty simple. All you have to do is combine one cup of yogurt with your meats and seasonings, like garlic and lemon, in a bag and seal. A ratio of about one cup yogurt to two pounds of meat typically works, but you can adjust according to your taste. You should allow the marinade to soak in for at least 30 minutes, but can also let it sit overnight. Then, cook your meats as usual, and that’s it!
It’s best to use plain yogurt for your marinade (unless you want your chicken to taste like vanilla). You can use Greek yogurt, but you might need a bit more since it tends to be thicker. When choosing your yogurt, favor full-fat varieties, since low-fat yogurts contain extra ingredients like thickeners and other additives that have been linked to diseases and take away flavor! We hope you love this hack as much as we do!
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