Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe
Zesty, moist, juicy baked chicken with mouthwatering marinade is a sure-fire way to tantalize your palate and appetite.
This is one my favorite Mexican recipes and I have the perfect baked cilantro lime chicken recipe for you.
This recipe couldn’t be any easier as simple ingredients are all you need. Aromatic cilantro, fresh lime juice, garlic, chili flakes bring out the explosive flavors of the chicken.
Serve the chicken with side dishes such as Cilantro Lime Rice, Tequila Lime Shrimp or make taco salad with the chicken.
You can also serve with a simple sauteed broccoli.
How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken?
To make this easy recipe, first you marinate the chicken for 15 minutes.
Next, pan-fry the chicken in a skillet for a few minutes before baking it for 20 minutes. It’s that easy!
Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade
The marinade is the soul of this dish. It calls for everyday ingredients that you already have in your pantry:
- Olive oil. This will keep the chicken moist and juicy.
- Garlic.
- Cilantro, stems and leaves.
- Lime juice.
- Red chili flakes.
- Salt.
Cook’s Tips
To make sure that you have the best results, follow the tips below:
- Use chicken thighs, which are more tender, moist and juicy. Buy bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs and debone it. Click on this post to learn how to debone chicken thighs, with video guide.
- You can use skinless and boneless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, if you like.
- Use freshly squeezed lime juice if you can. You will love the fresh and citrusy aroma from the lime juice.
- Use lots of cilantro stems and some cilantro leaves as there is a lot of flavors in the stems.
- Pan-fry the chicken on a skillet first, to make sure that the skin is browned and crispy before baking the chicken in the oven. This extra step turns your cilantro lime chicken from good to exquisite.
- After baking, spoon the marinade over the chicken to make it extra flavorful and moist.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 404 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
Serve this dish as is or with rice and other side dishes. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Cilantro Lime Chicken
Juicy Mexican cilantro lime chicken marinated with cilantro, lime juice and garlic. Pan-fry, bake or grill the chicken with this easy cilantro lime chicken recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. (0.4 kg - 1 kg) skin-on deboned chicken thighs
- lime wedges, for garnishing
- chopped cilantro, for garnishing
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems and leaves
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Whisk all the Marinade ingredients together in a big bowl, mix well. Add the chicken into the Marinade, stir to coat well. Marinate for 15 minutes but best for 2 hours.
- Heat up a skillet and pan-fry the chicken with the skin-side down until slightly browned. Turn over and pan-fry the other side of the chicken until slightly browned.
- Spoon the leftover Marinade on top of the chicken before baking. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken and the Marinade residual to a serving platter (discard the oil), squirt some fresh lime juice, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
Notes
Make sure you use an oven-safe skillet or pan before baking the chicken in the oven. You may also grill the chicken. For the chicken, you can use boneless and skinless chicken breast/chicken thighs or bone-in chicken thighs.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size
3 peopleAmount Per Serving Calories 404Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 215mgSodium 602mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 44g
Lynn
This is so good. I use it for chicken tacos, with some refried beans, lettuce and pico di gallo. Delicious.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes!!!
Paula
This was so good! I made the marinade as written except I omitted the red pepper flakes, since most of my family doesn’t like them, and used some freshly ground black pepper instead. But I wanted to use the chicken in burritos, so I cut up chicken tenders into chunks (that’s what I had on hand), marinated them, then pan fried them until cooked through. They made the burritos so delicious and flavorful! Looking forward to trying this again as the main dish.
Reena Bansal
I got a staub dutch oven for my birthday and this was the first recipe I tried. Delicious…..simple and easy to make. The skin was cripsy and flavorful searing on the stove top. I only left the lid on in the oven for a short period of time to let the flavors and juice soak in and then finished cooking wiht lid off. I’ve also tried an alternative by just using the sumac spice I got from the Spice House along with a little salt/pepper and fresh garlic. Sumac is an amazing spice!! I’m learning so much from this site on use of spices and how to prepare!! Thanks Suzy for the videos and helpful links to find ingredients!!!
dinesh
Thanks very much
B
I don’t have an oven. Will it taste as good if we just pan fry them?
Do we need to make any adjustments should we do so?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, you can just pan-fry.
EnhanceYourPalate
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Destiny
Can we used minced garlic instead of cloves ?
Cathy Johnston
I’m going to try this tomorrow using chicken wings and drummettes! I’ll marinate them for a few hours and then just bake them. Hopefully will be yummy!
Crystal
This was DELICIOUS!!! I’m always looking for yummy recipes without added sugar and this hit the spot!! The entire family enjoyed it. I paired it with your cilantro lime rice and the garlic spinach. Yes!!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Crystal, thanks for trying my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Sheila
Delicious! I used chicken breasts that I pounded about 1/4″ thick, then pan fried (about 3 minutes on one side and then as long as it took to get to 155 degrees). Great flavor.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Sheila awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
dinesh
I’m going to cook tonight for my love