How to season chicken? So that you never have to ask yourself that question again, we have the best tips to make it really tasty!
Everyone knows and loves it: the smell of chicken is around the corner. The thought of crispy skin and tender chicken breast brings tears to my eyes. We would also like to get that feeling at home alone. To make it work, we’ll show you what you need to consider, which spices go well with chicken, and then we’ll share our best chicken spice recipe.
Seasoning for chicken: list of suitable seasonings
dry herbs
- rosemary
- thyme
- oregano
- sage
- tarragon
- fennel
- savory
- fenugreek
- coriander
spice powder
- Paprika powder / smoked paprika
- curry powder
- ground cumin
- cumin
- turmeric
- saffron
- chili
Fresh spices
- garlic
- lemon
- lime
- lemon tree
in addition
- pepper and salt
- soy sauce
- butter
- Barbecue sauce
- Ketchup
- Worcestershire sauce
- honey
- Maple syrup
- brown sugar
- mustard
a mixture of spices
Chicken Seasonings: The perfect fried chicken
Perfect fried chicken with a crispy crust and tender meat requires a certain instinct. Especially on the right seasoning it matters If you follow our advice, nothing should go wrong.
Pickling
When cooking a whole or fried chicken, it becomes coat all chicken with liquid marinade. You can choose one for this Use brushes or hands. The advantage of using your hands is that you can see exactly where you have already applied the marinade and can rub it into the skin of the chicken better.
Spices
One marinade season fried chicken usually consists of salt, pepper, paprika powder, garlic and oil and also optionally disabled Thyme, rosemary or oregano. Before applying the marinade, rinse the chicken under running water and then dry it. You can do this in addition to the external marinade Season the inside of the chicken with a little salt.
Here’s how it works
Then marinated chicken in the oven in a pan, on a wire rack with a drip tray underneath or wrapped in aluminum foil for approx. Cook at 200 degrees upper/lower heat for about 80 minutes. If you cook the chicken in a pan or on a grill, it should be periodically brushed with a running marinade. So it stays juicy.
Our top tip: For a particularly crispy skin, it is advisable to supplement the marinade with a small amount of brown sugar. During baking, the sugar caramelizes and makes the skin extremely crispy.
If you want to learn more about how to properly cook a whole chicken, you can read here: How to cook a chicken or try our recipe for a classic fried chicken.
Recipe: Chicken Wagon Roast Chicken Spice Mix
Ingredients for 1 whole chicken approximately 1000 g
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika powder
- 2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt
- 3 pinches of pepper
- 4 tablespoons of oil
Finely chop the garlic. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients well with the oil. Rub the washed and dried chicken evenly with the marinade and massage well. Then cook in a preheated oven to 230 degrees top/bottom heat for about 60-80 minutes.
Importantly: After about 40 minutes, the chicken should be covered with aluminum foil or cooked directly in a closed pan so that the paprika does not burn the skin.

Chicken legs taste much better with a delicious marinade.
© Julia Furman / Shutterstock
Season the chicken thighs
Here’s how it works
Seasoning chicken thighs works the same way as seasoning a whole chicken. First, wash the thighs and dry them. Unlike a whole chicken, chicken thighs Really fry for about 8 minutes before marinating. Only after that they should be marinated and cook for about 40-45 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees above/below. The same applies to thighs: regularly lubricate them with marinade.
Spices
In the choice of spices for chicken thighs, creativity is given free rein. with It gets spicier with chili, a little more oriental with cumin, saffron and turmeric, and with an Asian touch with soy sauce and lemongrass. For everyone Barbecue lovers can eat a thigh also with something Barbecue sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, honey and paprika.

Whether marinated or seasoned with dry herbs: the main thing is that the chicken breast remains really juicy.
© Julia Furman / Shutterstock
Season the chicken breast
Unlike thighs and fried chicken, chicken breast cooks much faster. Because Cooking time is less and also that Pickling is not so difficult. Another difference is that Chicken breasts are both marinated and dried may be.
Dry season the chicken breast
If you want to season the chicken breasts with dry spices and herbs, I recommend adding them only after frying put on the meat. Otherwise, they may burn and have a bitter taste. In other words: sear the chicken breast in a pan for about 6-8 minutes on each side, then cover with a little liquid and cook in the pan or alternatively in the oven, wrapped in aluminum foil, for about 10-15 minutes. Then season.
Marinate the chicken breast
Chicken breasts are great for marinating for a long period of time so that they absorb the individual spices deep into the meat, allowing you to create your own unique flavor for your piece of meat. Marinades should be based on butter or sauce, to make them easy to distribute. If Asian, barbecue, fruity, spicy, Indian, oriental or Mediterranean is entirely up to you. You can then grill, bake, or bake the chicken breast in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.
Video tip: school of cooking videos on chopped chicken
And here you will find even more delicious chicken recipes.
How much do you need to marinate the chicken?
Only chicken breasts are suitable for long-term marinating. For best results, it is best to marinate the chicken breasts for about three to five hours. For a whole chicken, it is enough to rinse with marinade immediately before cooking and rinse with marinade again during the cooking process.
This will keep your chicken breast juicy
Keep the temperature moderate when frying, grilling or baking. A higher temperature can be used for frying, but then it should be lowered so that the chicken does not dry out. One more tip Wrap the chicken breasts in aluminum foil or cook covered in a pan. This keeps the liquid from leaking inside.