A high-quality marinade adds flavor and makes your grilled proteins more succulent.
If you’re lucky, you already have a trusty homemade marinade recipe all ready to go.
I marinated each batch of wings overnight before grilling and sampling.
Design by Joe Heroun for Eat This, Not That!
I should have known better.
Most Caribbean-style jerk sauces come in a very dark, almost black color.
This one looks… brownish-orange?
Ricante Tropical Tamarindo Caribbean Jerk (left), Sky Valley Organic Teriyaki (center), Cleveland Kitchen Fermented Miso Jalapeño (right)Chris Shott/ Eat This, Not That!
Well, not exactly.
One taster totally dismissed it as “flavorless.”
Plus, one my tasters can’t tolerate the other stuff.
Courtesy of Ricante
One called it “so light, it’s almost refreshing.”
Another complained of an unpleasant aftertaste.
It’s also the highest-priced sauce I tried: $9.39 for a 17-ounce squeeze bottle at Whole Foods.
Courtesy of Bachan’s
Trader Joe San Soyaki
Trader Joe’slabels this marinade as “a unique teriyaki sauce.”
(Warning to the gluten-averse: this one does contain wheat.)
It’s also lighter in sugar and sodium, yet much heavier on garlic.
Amazon
The listed ingredients include both garlicpureeand dried garlic.
Even so, the Soyaki-soaked wings also sort of sucked.
One taster dismissed them as “blahtotally unremarkable.”
Courtesy of Cleveland Kitchen
Whatever the reason, TJ’s Soyaki ranks on the lower rung, as well.
It might be the most unique marinade in this group, but perhaps too unique for traditional wing-lovers.
The same taster suggested it might work better as a salad dressing than a marinade.
Courtesy of Sky Valley
That’s why I’m sticking it right here in the middle, stuck between the losers and winners.
Sky Valley Organic Teriyaki
Idaho’sSky Valleymakes all kinds of sauces, notably including a Sriracha-style chili sauce.
Comparatively, the brand’s classic teriyaki might seem a little unassuming.
Couresty of Grace
“I would happily eat more than one wing,” one taster said.
Somehow it just tastes sweeter than the others, despite having an equal or even lower amount of sugar.
It’s also oddly lower in salt.
Courtesy of Melinda’s Foods
These surprisingly positive results with fewer added ingredients catapult Sky Valley into my Top 3.
Mashed tabasco and cayenne peppers give this sauce its sharp piquant quality, according to the label.
Interestingly, though, the first listed ingredient is lemon juice, and the recipe also includes lemon powder.
Grace Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (top), Melinda’s Peri Peri Hot Sauce (bottom)Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
It’s the most well balanced and delicious one of the bunch.
Bonus: it pairs really well with blue cheese, too, just like a good spicy-sauced wing should.
