It’s too salty.

Don’t get us wrong: The salt in your marinade is essential. But overly salty meat can end up leading to a tough and dry finished product. Keep this in mind when preparing your marinade.

And don’t go wild with the salt because it draws the moisture out of your ingredients. You can always add more when cooking and keep some at the dinner table.

The flavors are too bold.

You CAN have too much of a good thing. You don’t need to do anything crazy, like combine horseradish and sriracha! Many people make the meat-marinating mistake of not being mindful of the flavors of their ingredients and how they’ll go together when they’re cooking.