This Dead Simple Hack Will Change Your Marinade Game Forever

Please stick with me.

The secret… is mayonnaise. But before you run away screaming while waving your arms over your head (like Kevin from Home Alone), hear me out.

Using mayo in your marinade will not make your food taste like mayo.

What it will do is ensure that your marinade sticks to the whatever it is you’re marinating, and it has the added benefit of helping proteins brown because it accelerates those two, glorious chemical reactions that make food taste great: Caramelization, and the Maillard Reaction.

Here’s why:

Water is the enemy of browning because it causes meat to steam when it hits the cooking surface, which in turn creates a layer of water vapor between the meat and the cooking surface (think hydroplaning in your car) – so the meat is no longer in direct contact with the cooking surface..

To make matters worse, the maximum temperature is 212°F – because it’s boiling water. That’s about 120°F too low for the Maillard Reaction and 150° too low for caramelization. So, what you get is a gray piece of meat.

Nasty.

A mayo marinade – or a thin, nearly translucent layer of mayo brushed on a piece of protein destined for the grill or a ripping hot cast iron skillet – solves all this by ensuring that the protein maintains direct contact with the cooking surface so that water vapor barrier between the meat and cooking surface can never actually form.

Additionally, because mayo is essentially just fat and egg proteins; the egg acts as a binding agent and the fat is the perfect conduit for heat to be evenly distributed across whatever it is that you’re cooking. If you don’t believe me, trying using mayo instead of butter the next time you make grilled cheese.

Aside from the chemical advantage that mayo offers to searing off meats and other proteins, it is also the perfect mechanism for delivering the flavor of your marinade to your meat – and your tastebuds.

Lastly, a mayo marinade makes weeknight marinating totally possible. While a mayo marinade does improve over time (just like any other marinade) it will have positive effect in as little as 20 or 30 minutes. If you have 10 minutes before you head out the door for work, even better – it can sit in the fridge all day and be ready for you when you get home.

There is one minor drawback here, but one that’s easy to overcome: because the egg proteins act as a binding agent, once that protein hits the heat, it’s going to stick – and probably stick hard. That’s okay. Assuming that you charged your pan or preheated your grill properly and then coated it with a thin layer of oil, your food will release when it’s ready to be flipped (remember: hot surface, cold oil, nothing will stick).

To make a mayo marinade, simply combine mayo and whatever it is that’s going to be the base of your marinade – pesto (pictured), curry paste, salsa verdé, chimichurri, BBQ sauce, Teriyaki – in a ratio of about 1:1. Alternatively, even just a handful of herbs and/or spices and ¼ cup mayo will take any protein to the next level.

Add a pinch of salt, maybe some pepper, a pinch of MSG if you have it, along with with a hit of lemon juice, lime juice, or apple cider vinegar (for some acid), and you’re well on your way to weeknight marinade perfection.

The possibilities are basically endless. Happy cooking!

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