Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa is a delicious recipe that's light, fresh, and loaded with bold flavors. Cilantro lime chicken is not just another boring chicken recipe; in fact you might want to make a double batch of this 5 stars worthy meal!
Looking for more nutritious and satisfying dinner options? Give our Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash and Mexican Chicken Sweet Potato Skillet recipes a try this week.
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Why make this Cilantro Lime Chicken recipe
Is because it sounds delicious a good enough reason?
If not, these boneless skinless chicken breasts come out tender and juicy after bathing in the cilantro lime marinade and have been cooked to perfection in a cast iron grill pan.
With easy prep, a fairly quick cooking time, and so much flavor, you really can't go wrong when you make cilantro lime chicken.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken breasts — we used boneless skinless chicken breast.
- Produce — limes, fresh cilantro, tomatoes, red onion, and avocados
- Pantry — extra virgin olive oil, granulated garlic, ground cumin, chipotle powder, salt, and pepper.
How to make Cilantro Lime Chicken
Step 1 — Place chicken in an air tight container, shallow dish with a lid, or zip-seal bag. In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, chipotle powder, cumin, and roughly chopped cilantro together and pour over the chicken. Seal and shake it about, making sure the chicken is well coated. Place flat in the refrigerator. Allow to marinate for at least an hour.
Step 2 — Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. While the pan is warming, remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade and any clinging cilantro from the chicken. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken and allow to cook for 6 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature registers 165°F on a meat thermometer.
Step 3 — While the chicken is cooking, prepare the salsa. Add the diced tomatoes, avocado and onion to a medium bowl. Stir in the cilantro and season with the salt and pepper. Toss the mixture with the freshly squeezed lime juice.
Adaptations and variations
- Chicken — you can use bone in chicken breasts, with or without skin. Chicken thighs are also a great substitution. Boneless or bone in thighs are incredibly juicy. If using skin on, pull the skin back so the cilantro lime marinade can work it's magic on the chicken.
- Spices — Play with the seasonings: cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or the more mild chili powder in place or along with the chipotle powder. If you're short on time or spices but have some taco season, that will work.
- Lime — We recommend using fresh lime juice, but bottled lime juice could work in a pinch. A little bit of fresh lime zest will give the marinade a bolder and brighter flavor.
- Garlic — Garlic powder can be swapped for granulated but fresh garlic cloves are excellent. Roughly chop or minced garlic will infuse better than whole cloves.
- Salsa — Add some freshly diced peaches or mangoes to the salsa to give it a touch of sweetness. So in essence you'd have avocado peach or mango salsa.
What to serve with Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Beans — Refried, pinto, or Black beans
- Rice — Spanish or Mexican rice. Cilantro lime rice. Cauliflower rice.
- Plating — Sour cream, queso fresco, and lime wedges as additional toppings. Corn or flour tortillas.
Recipe FAQs
Most pieces of chicken breast have a thinner bottom with a plumper top. Use a meat mallet or similar to thin out the thicker areas of the chicken to ensure even cooking.
Yes. You can marinate it for several hours or best flavor results, marinate it over night. Rotate the chicken every so often to ensure maximum coverage.
Your trusty cast iron skillet, or any skillet will be perfect in place of a grill pan.
Cooking time will vary based on how thick the chicken is and what cut you're using.
The chicken will last up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. The salsa will last about a day or two.
Other Related Chicken Recipes
If you tried this Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa
Equipment
- cast iron grill pan OR
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- ¼ cup cilantro roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons lime juice fresh
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Avocado Salsa
- 4 tomatoes medium (on a vine, roma)
- 2 avocados large ripe; diced (3 medium)
- ½ red onion diced (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro fresh, finely chopped (up to ¼ cup)
- 2 teaspoon lime juice fresh
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper fresh, ground
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Chicken
- Place chicken in an air tight container, shallow dish with a lid, or zip-seal bag.
- In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, chipotle powder, cumin, and roughly chopped cilantro together and pour over the chicken.
- Seal and shake it about, making sure the chicken is well coated.
- Place flat in the refrigerator. Allow to marinate for at least an hour.
- Heat a grill pan over medium high heat.
- While the pan is warming, remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade and any clinging cilantro from the chicken.
- Once the pan is hot, place the chicken and allow to cook for 6 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature registers 165°F on a meat thermometer.
Avocado Salsa
- Add the diced tomatoes, avocado and onion to a medium bowl and stir in the cilantro.
- Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss the mixture with the freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Gianne says
The tangy lime and fresh cilantro perfectly complemented the juicy chicken, while the creamy avocado salsa added a delightful burst of flavor. This dish is now a favorite in my household, and I can't wait to make it again!
Nathan says
Though I'm actually not a huge fan of cilantro (yes I have the soap gene sadly) I made this dish without it and it still turned out perfectly! So easy to make and lots of flavor.
Emily says
I made a double batch for a dinner party and served it with cilantro lime rice! It came out so tender and juicy; everyone loved the bold flavors!
Charah says
Best recipe for this summer, thank you for sharing
Dina and Bruce says
Ned,
Seriously this is so good! Thank you for sharing! We love your recipes!
Andrea says
Oh, does this sound absolutely delicious. It's fairly easy to make and I know my family are going to love it.
Tayler says
I made this chicken for burrito bowls last night and it was delicious! So full of flavor!
DK says
Man, I just love the taste of this cilantro lime chicken! And the avocado salsa was just the perfect addition to round out this dish!
Paula says
This dinner was so tasty! Excited to make it again for my family.
Heather says
Perfect quick summer dinner, so fresh and delicious! This was a total hit at our dinner table, thanks so much!
Kathleen says
What marvelous, fresh and fabulous flavors in this Chicken. I love how the avocado salsa brings everything together. You get a fantastic burst of flavor in every bite. Yum!
Sisley says
This is my idea of heaven! lime and cilantro is such a great combo.
Jacob says
This is one of my favorite recipes! I have made it twice just this week. I pair it with some Spanish rice, and it tastes great.
Cami says
Looks awesome!
Mark says
There’s no avocado in the recipe
Ned says
Well Mark, it seems you're right. How embarrassing to leave off such a star ingredient. I fixed the recipe card. Thank you so much for pointing my omission out.