THIS Is The Minimum Amount of Time You Should Marinate Meat

With grilling season comes marinating season, so we're prepping you with all the knowledge you need for tasty success.

When it comes to how long meat should marinate for, we all know that longer is usually better and that it can depend on the type of meat you're cooking — but we turned to "Top Chef" star Richard Blais for a general bare minimum. (If you're in a time crunch, this is probably good news for you!)

RELATED: Rachael's Balsamic-Marinated Chicken Legs, Green Tomato Salad and Corn with Garlic Butter

Richard says you need at least an hour for the meat to pick up any flavor.

"If you use vacuum bags," he adds, "you can use 90% less marinade. It's going to save you some money if you're doing a lot of marinated meat." 

Now, if you're anything like one of our studio audience members, you're looking to get out of a marinade rut (our viewer has been on a citrus kick). So what does Richard recommend? 

Marinating your meat in yogurt!

"It has a little bit of sourness and sweetness and gives it a nice sticky charred texture," he explains. 

Give it a go with our Senior Culinary Producer Jeanette Donnarumma's Bottom-of-the-Greek-Yogurt-Jar Chicken Marinade.