Lime Chicken infused with garlicky, savoury lime flavours! The trick to getting depth of flavour in a simple lime marinade is to use soy sauce for saltiness, plus a touch of sugar for great caramelisation.
Fabulous for a quick midweek meal and ESPECIALLY great for the BBQ! Bonus: super healthy at less than 300 calories for a whole chicken breast.
Lime Chicken
If you love lime flavour – and I’m yet to meet anyone who doesn’t – this Lime Chicken has your name written all over it.
It’s juicy. It’s caramelised. And it truly tastes of lime. (gasp shock horror!)
(PS The key is to use lime ZEST. That’s where most of the lime flavour is 👌🏻)
Grill it. Pan fry it. You can even BAKE it!
And it’s HEALTHY, clocking in at under 300 calories per serving!
Lime Marinade for Chicken
The trick with fresh citrus based marinades is getting depth of flavour into it. If you just use lime juice, salt and garlic, the flavour is quite flat and the chicken – especially if using chicken breast – will lack something (because breast has virtually no fat, and fat = flavour).
So I add a bit of sugar and olive oil (so the chicken caramelises when cooked), use soy or fish sauce for the salt (adds complexity but doesn’t taste fishy OR Asiany!) and throw in chopped cilantro / coriander for another layer of flavour!
Actually, this marinade is based on Vietnamese marinades, like the one I use in my Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowl and Vietnamese LemongrassPork Cutlet. The Vietnamese know their marinades, that’s for sure!!
But this one doesn’t taste Asian. 🙂
How long to marinade chicken
For this Lime Marinade, chicken is best marinated for 12 to 24 hours. It will make the outside a touch white because the amount of lime juice in this marinade “cooks” the chicken a bit (think ceviche).
But it doesn’t take it so far that the chicken starts to break down so don’t be alarmed. In fact, this marinade is fine for 48 hours, though I wouldn’t take it further than that.
TIP: I like to prepare freezer bags of the chicken in marinade then immediately pop it in the freezer. Then the night before, put it in the fridge and let it defrost for 24 hours, during which time it will marinate.
What to serve with Lime Chicken
The Lime Marinade makes the chicken juicy on the inside and injects with flavour so you won’t need a sauce with it. And after resting the chicken for a few minutes before serving it, some of those juices will sweat to the surface, like you see below.
As for what to serve on the side, here are a few suggestions!
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Lime Coconut Rice (pictured below) – lime overload?? Nope! Lime tastes different when cooked with the chicken vs in a coconut rice. 😇
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Keeping with the healthy theme, serve this with Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
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Mushroom Rice – because this goes with everything!
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Lemon Potato Salad (bright lemon flavours!) – or everybody’s favourite creamy Bacon Potato Salad
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Sweet/savoury Fondant Sweet Potato for contrast against the citrusy chicken
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Super Quick Couscous Salad – great emergency side with leftovers for lunch!
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Leafy greens with French Dressing or Balsamic Dressing
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Warm crusty rolls slathered with butter, Garlic Bread or Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread
Enjoy! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 600-750g / 1.2 - 1.5 lb chicken breasts (4 pieces) or boneless thigh (Note 1)
- Zest of 1 lime (zest before juicing)
- 4 tbsp lime juice (1 - 2 limes)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro/coriander (optional)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (OR 2 tbsp soy sauce) (Note 2)
To Cook
- 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Use fist (or rolling pin!) to pound fat end of chicken breast to about 1.7 cm / 2/3" thickness (not required for thigh).
- Place chicken and Marinade in a ziplock bag, massage to distribute marinade evenly. Place on a plate or bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours (min 12 hrs, max 48 hrs - Note 3)
- Remove chicken, discard Marinade. Cook using one method below.
To Cook (cooked internal temp 165F/75C)
- STOVE: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken for 3 minutes on each side or until caramelised and golden brown (see video!).
- BBQ: Brush grills with oil and heat to medium high (or medium if your BBQ is strong). Cook chicken for 3 minutes on each side until caramelised (see video!).
- OVEN: Preheat oven to 425F/220C. Bake 15 minutes, then flick broiler/grill on high and grill for 3 minutes to caramelise surface & finish cooking.
Rest and Serve:
- Transfer chicken to a serving plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 3 minutes.
- Garnish with extra coriander/cilantro, lime wedges and chilli if desired, then serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Lime Chicken originally published 20 April, 2016. Updated with new photos, brand new video, new writing, and step photos. No change to recipe – readers love it as is!
More great chicken marinades
LIFE OF DOZER
He’s thanking his lucky stars that the largest one was still too small for him…. I couldn’t do it up around his chest. It was stretched so tight, the buttons almost popped off! 😂
Can you substitute lemon for lime in this recipe? 🙂
sorry I meant lime for lemon
LIME ZEST FROM ONE LIME? MY LIMES GROW IN MORE THAN ONE SIZE. HOW MANY t spoons?
Chicken was delicious! I added some habanero hot sauce to give it a kick and it was good. Just enough to give a kick and not take away from the flavours.
Sensational!! Added chilli flakes & I tend to swap out sugar in marinades with homemade honey & it never fails. Only had 1 hour to marinate but was beautiful, tender & caramelised cooked on a stovetop grill pan. Served with your baked vegetables on rice. Thank you ❤️
I would like the recipe for tequila lime chicken
Hi Nagi!
I really enjoyed this marinade and will definately use it in future. I chose to filet my chicken for quicker cooking and marinated for 6 hours and it was still flavourful – no doubt 12 hours would be even better. I used soy sauce this time, will try with fish sauce next time.
Thanks!
Holly x
Nagi – this is another fantastic recipe from your website. After marinating we cooked it on the bbq and it was crispy on the outside and very tender on the inside. I’ll definitely make again.
Thank you
Betty
I’m so glad you loved it Betty, thanks so much for letting me know!!! N x
Really great! Substituted cilantro for dill and really enjoyed it 🙂
I love this!! Hubby too! I’ve cooked it twice this week and was thinking to cook again next week but will avoid overdoing it lol. Thanks heaps.
Scrumptious! I really love lime and this was great. Your recipes speak to me Nagi (across the pond in the UK)
Froze the chicken with marinade last week. Defrosted in the fridge last night and baked in oven … OMG the flavors are amazing! TY Nagi. Another winner! Your website is my go-to for recipes!
INSANELY GOOD! I made this last night, with chicken thighs + a mix of dried parsley and a pinch of coriander to stand in for fresh cilantro. We did a accidental low temp grill/smoke treatment and paired it with a cabbage salad dressed w/your everyday dressing.
Outstanding–I just made the same for my lunch! And Nagi, in 10 yrs of marriage, this is the ONLY time my husband has been excited about “just” chicken for dinner; he couldn’t stop raving about the flavor and juiciness (and he loves the dressing, too).
Definitely a heavy rotation keeper in our kitchen!
It was super tasty. I tried it and everyone loved it. I used lime and coriander.
Image is itself creates temptation.
Absolutely delicious. Too much snow to grill, but the oven method came out juicy. Great recipe.
This lime marinade really delivers taste wise. Definitely making again.
Love this recipe so much. Serve it with your Vietnamese Noodle recipe (which is outstanding) instead of the Lemongrass chicken (because I’m rarely organized enough to have lemongrass in the fridge). Thank you Nagi! I’ve never been disappointed. You have been my go to website for months now and I recommend it often.