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! 😂
I didn’t have enough time to marinade more than 4 hrs. Still was delicious.I did freeze other breasts for future and I can’t wait to taste the diference. This is a winner!
I’m so glad you loved it Lyn!!!
I loooooooved it. I used thighs. Want to try it with diff parts of chicken.
Sounds great Pamela!!
If I could, I would post a picture of us grilling this fabulous recipe aboard our boat last night.. so delicious! I love the make ahead and freeze tip too.. will be doing that as we often have unexpected guests. If you ever come to Seattle, we owe you a boat ride for all the fabulous recipes you post that are helping me produce WAY better results in the kitchen! 😜. Big hug to Dozer too.
Sounds divine Joanne!!!
WOWEEE!! I would so love to get a photo function added to my site so I can see photos! Thank you for sharing that, I love the vision of you grilling these on your boat 🙂 N xx
Could this be done in the air fryer?
I haven’t tried Dixie but I see no reason why it would not work! N x
I use a lot of your recipes so thank you very much!
I just need to ask, do you wash your rice before you cook it?
I’m making your Coconut Coriander lime Rice tonight and I’m not sure weather to wash or not… 🙂
Hi Terry! If you buy the rice at supermarkets in packets and follow my recipe as written for liquid to rice ratios, you WILL have fluffy rice WITHOUT washing! N xx
Perfect! I love the idea of preparing and then popping into the freezer!
I made this last night with your coconut and lime rice, just beautiful.
Welcome to Brisbane!
Oh my my!! I love lime flavour and this chicken looks absolutely yummy..
Thanks Arpita! N x
Hi Nagi..take Dozer to Horseland they will custom fit some fantastic coats for your boy..my girls look great.
GENIUS IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the photo of Dozer with his raincoat on. I once tried that plus rain boots for my small dog who promptly sat down and would not move until I took all the gear off.
Ba ha ha! I can just imagine! Pretty sure Dozer would not know how to walk if I put boots on him 😂 N x
Keep up the good work, I love your recipes.
Thank you Jack, I’m glad you are enjoying them! N x
Does your marinated chicken spatter when cooking on the stove top? I love cooking marinated chicken but I seem to spatter every time 🙁
Hi Anita! No more than other recipes 🙂 Have you got a splatter guard?? N x
Can’t wait to try. How much fiber in the nutritional values. I do Keto and would like to know “net carbs”.
Hi Carol! I’m afraid the calculator I use does not provide that 🙂 Sorry! N x
Would it be worth it to use parsley and not cilantro or to leave out the cilantro? Can not abide the stuff. Thanks!!
Ali
Definitely! It’s the lime flavour that’s the star here, I think I even wrote that cilantro is optional in the recipe! N x
without a doubt, this was the best marinated chicken recipe ever. Really! Used BLSL thighs.
Followed marinade recipe exactly as written. Thank yoy, Nagi.
Wahoo, that’s great Dan!
There should be a law against this website – every time I think I’ve found what I want to cook next I see something even better! Do you ever sleep or do you just cook 24/7?
😂 sorrynotsorry Mike!!
😀
Easy and delicious, kids ate every bit on their plate, thanks Nagi!
Winner winner!! That’s awesome Laura!
Was looking for a chicken marinade that was not spicy as I was also making your jerk chicken. This was quick & easy however I did use fresh lemon juice as I didn’t have limes and chicken thighs. I was surprised how tasty and juicy the chicken was and love the idea of freezing the marinated chicken. What a great time saver.
Woohoo! So glad you loved it Natalie
I knew you’d have the recipe for me. We have chicken thawing out and I need to use up my lime. The chicken looks wonderful and I can’t wait to make it. Dozer looks so adorable!!!!!
Awww! Hope you LOVE IT Marisa! N xx
Could I use this marinade on a salmon steak?
Yes! but only for 20 minutes or so otherwise it will “cook” the salmon. 🙂
Thanks Nagi, I’d love to try this on salmon I’m having this weekend.
YES. So good on salmon! I will write a list of great marinades for salmon in the coming weeks using marinades for other recipes on my site! N x
This was just yum. Thanks
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Sandy, thanks for letting me know! N x
I made this last night for my daughter and I. I had prepped and frozen it a few weeks ago and last night was a busy night so it was the perfect time to pull this out of the freezer and try it. The flavours were so fresh and delicious. We both loved it. This will become a regular dish for sure.