Cilantro Lime Chicken is both simple and flavorful! Pair it with cilantro-lime rice and mango avocado salsa for a delicious, healthy meal.
Cilantro Lime Chicken
The marinade for this Cilantro-Lime Chicken is everything a good marinade should be: it’s easy to whip together, has so much flavor, and doesn’t contain any “strange” ingredients. This recipe also pairs really well with my mango salsa--I always make it as a side when I make this dish. I’d recommend giving it a shot!
How To Make Cilantro-Lime Chicken
- Whisk together the marinade: Remove about 1/2 cup of the marinade (we’ll use it later).
- Prep the chicken: You want to pound chicken breasts to an even thickness so they’ll cook evenly later on. This is best accomplished by a meat mallet.
- Marinate: Place the chicken in the marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Cook: Grill, bake, or saute the chicken until it reaches 165 degrees F. (Take the guesswork out by using a digital meat thermometer.)
- Baste: As you cook the chicken, brush it occasionally with the reserved marinade mix.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure to slice the chicken in half, or pound it to an even thickness before marinating. This allows the chicken to soak up more flavor from the marinade (improves taste), and the even thickness will allow it to cook evenly.
- If grilling, generously oil your grill grates. I do this by rolling up a few paper towels, drenching them in oil (I use canola), and using tongs, rub the drenched paper towels along the grill grates. Doing this will contribute to a beautiful sear, and ensure the chicken doesn’t stick to the grates.
- If grilling, fully preheat your grill. I know it’s hard to wait, but adding meat to a fully preheated grill will sear the surface of the meat–and that gives you a juicier chicken. It also allows the chicken to get a great char.
- As the chicken is cooking, brush the reserved marinade on the chicken. Doing this will further enhance the flavor.
- Once it’s finished, let the cooked chicken rest, tented with foil, for 5-10 minutes before cutting in!
Quick Tip
Mangoes have a large pit inside and that makes it tricky to slice them. Here’s a helpful visual guide: how to cut a mango.
Make It A Meal
One of the things I love about this recipe is how easily it pairs with other sides. Below are a few of my favorites to serve with this meal:
- Mango-avocado salsa: The salsa has an outstanding texture that pairs perfectly with Cilantro-Lime Chicken. The sweetness of the mango and the orange juice perfectly balance the tang of all the cilantro and lime from the chicken marinade. Check out the mango salsa recipe or find it in the recipe card below as well.
- Cilantro-Lime Chicken and Rice: Serve Cilantro-Lime Chicken over cilantro-lime quinoa or rice for an amazing meal. I’ve included my favorite recipe for cilantro lime rice (or quinoa) in the recipe notes section.
- Cilantro-Lime Chicken Taco Salad: To convert this recipe into a salad, finely chop some romaine lettuce, add the (cooled) chopped chicken, your favorite veggies (such as cherry tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, cucumber, etc.), and the dressing from this quinoa black bean salad.
Alternate Cooking Methods
Cooking times will vary, depending on several factors, so I always recommend using a thermometer to test your chicken as it cooks. Aim to hit exactly 165 degrees F. (Undercooked = unsafe; Overcooked = dry chicken)
- Baked Cilantro-Lime Chicken: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 18 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through. Remove from the oven, and loosely cover the sheet pan with foil. Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Sautéed Cilantro-Lime Chicken: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast(s) and cook for 4-6 minutes per side until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. As you sauté the chicken, brush it generously with the reserved marinade. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate, loosely cover with foil, and let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes.
Cilantro-Lime Chicken Sides
- Fruit Salad (Rave reviews!)
- Mandarin Orange Salad (Best dressing!)
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts (Reader favorite!)
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Incredible seasoning blend!)
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
Cilantro Lime Chicken
This Cilantro Lime Chicken recipe features juicy, marinated chicken served with a fresh mango-avocado salsa. Perfect over cilantro-lime or coconut rice for a healthy, flavorful meal!
Equipment
- Zester
- Medium bowl
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
For Serving
- 1 batch mango-avocado salsa
- Cilantro-lime rice or coconut-lime rice, optional
Instructions
- Zest orange and lime with a zester to get 1 teaspoon of zest from each. Juice them using a citrus juicer to get 3/4 cup orange juice and 1/3 cup lime juice.
- Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup marinade and pour the rest into a large resealable bag.
- Trim chicken of fat. Pound chicken to even thickness or slice in half to get evenly sized breasts and place in bag with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and flip the bag halfway through. Marinate for up to 6 hours.
- Preheat the grill to 450°F and lightly oil the grill grate or grill pan. Place the marinated chicken on the grill, discarding any leftover marinade. For baking or pan-searing options, refer to the "Alternate Cooking Methods" section in the full post.
- Grill for 10–12 minutes or until chicken juices run clear and internal temperature is 165℉ (see note 1). Flip chicken halfway and brush it generously with reserved 1/2 cup marinade.
- Prepare mango-avocado salsa.
- If desired, prepare cilantro-lime or coconut rice.
- Serve grilled chicken over a bed of rice (if prepared) and top with mango-avocado salsa. Enjoy immediately!
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Cooking times will vary, depending on several factors, so I always recommend using a thermometer to test your chicken as it cooks. Aim to hit exactly 165℉. (Undercooked = unsafe; Overcooked = dry chicken)
Storage: Let chicken cool, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store mango-avocado salsa separately and eat within 1 day. Reheat chicken gently.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 430kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 557mg | Potassium: 792mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 851IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Excellent recipe. Salsa was bright and flavorful, loved the rice and the chicken was excellent!.
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks so much Mark! 🙂
Made this for tea 09/08/2022 followed the instructions and tasted the marinade but wasn’t over keen i thought it tasted a bit bland but I decided to persevere and marinated the chicken in the sauce for 7 hrs I’m so glad I did because it turned out absolutely delicious and I think by letting it marinade for as long as you can it helps to infuse all the ingredients into the chicken. As for the salsa that was also delicious and I would definitely make this again.
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this! Thanks Bev! 🙂
We made this for dinner. It was amazing!! Full of flavor! Will definitely be making it again!
I’m so thrilled to hear this! Thanks Renee! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! The mango salsa is the star of this show. Will definitely make this again and again…
I am so thrilled to hear this! That salsa is definitely the star! 🙂
This recipe is really hard to read and follow. Half the marinade ingredients are meant for the salsa. If you’re going to separate them like that, you should just put those ingredients under the salsa heading.
Thanks for your feedback Sara!
The ingredients measurements do not match what is written in the directions. What is the correct amount? I.e., soy sauce? Cilantro?
I’m confused what you mean. The soy sauce is what is written in the recipe and the cilantro is divided use so you add 1/4 cup to marinade and 1/4 cup to the salsa
Came here to find this comment or add it myself.
The chicken marinade ingredients say “2 and 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce” and “2 teaspoons minced garlic” but the marinade instructions say “1 teaspoon each cumin, soy sauce, garlic”. If you only use 1 tsp each of the soy sauce and garlic for the marinade, when do you use the rest? (the cumin is right, 1 tsp in the marinade, the remaining 1/4 tsp in the salsa)
This recipe is the best, btw!
I am so thrilled you loved this recipe! Everything is updated, thanks for your feedback!
It calls for 2.5 tablespoons of soy sauce in the ingredients, but then it only mentions adding one teaspoon of soy sauce to the marinade. What about the rest of it? It isn’t mentioned anywhere else.
Thanks for catching this! The recipe is updated!
2 times i make . Its delicious 😋
So happy to hear! Thanks Johnna! 🙂
Absolutely nothing about this dish was “easy to whip together” but I can’t say the difficulty wasn’t worth it. This may be the most delicious dinner I’ve ever made. I used skin-on thighs instead of chicken breasts, and we can’t eat avocado, so I added some pinto beans instead. Fantastic!
I am beyond thrilled to hear this is the most delicious meal you’ve ever made! Thanks so much! 🙂
Delicious, used fresh pineapple in place of mango and put cilantro in salsa too.
Glad you enjoyed the dish!
Question for you! Life got crazy and the chicken has been marinating for 2 days. Is it still good?
I’m not sure! If it smells okay it’s probably alright. The citrus from the marinade has probably dried it out quite a bit (acid will begin “cooking” the chicken)