Denser meats such as pork and steak can marinate for 24 hours or even longer. A lighter meat like chicken can marinate between 2 hours and 24 hours. Seafood marinating times range from 15 to 60 minutes. Exceeding these time, unless you are following a very specific recipe/technique, will result in tough to mushy texture and even disintegration of the protein. Emma · 8 years ago.