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Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole

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Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Homemade Guacamole

There is just nothing better than chicken on the grill, especially when the weather is a bit warmer.

I love Mexican-inspired flavors and this cilantro lime marinade for chicken is perfect for when I’m craving something Mexican-inspired, but also lighter, cleaner, and fresher-tasting than a barbecue sauce or with as much sodium as other store-bought marinades have.

You probably have everything in your fridge and pantry to make this cilantro lime chicken marinade because it’s as simple as olive oil, lime juice, honey, chili powder, salt, pepper, and optional cayenne pepper.

My recipe as written serves six because as long as you’re grilling, I always figure why not make a bit more so I have planned leftovers because I will never tire of grilled chicken. However, feel free to halve the recipe if you don’t need as much.

Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole - EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

Ingredients in Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

To make the cilantro lime marinade for the grilled chicken, you’ll need:

  • Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Olive oil
  • Lime juice
  • Honey
  • Chili powder
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper, optional
  • Fresh cilantro, for garnishing

Making guacamole at home is as easy as combining the following ingredients:

  • Avocado
  • Roma tomatoes
  • Red onions
  • Cilantro
  • Lime juice
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper, optional
Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

How to Make Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken 

Making lime cilantro grilled chicken is so easy, and the marinade time is super short! Follow these easy steps: 

  1. Make the lime cilantro chicken marinade: Simply add the chicken and marinade ingredients to a large zip-top bag. Seal the bag and squish the chicken around in the marinade.
  2. Make the guacamole: While the chicken marinates, you can make the guacamole by combining together all the ingredients and stirring or gently mashing the avocado for a smoother textured guac.
  3. Set it aside, covered tightly in plastic wrap in the fridge while the chicken marinates.
  4. Preheat the grill: Once the chicken has marinated, pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.
  5. Grill the cilantro lime marinated chicken: Grill until cooked through, making sure to flip halfway through.
  6. Serve: Garnish plenty of fresh cilantro before serving and additional freshly squeezed lime juice if desired. 
Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole - EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

How Long to Marinate Chicken for Grilling 

If you have time, you can marinate the chicken overnight for the full tenderizing and flavor effects, but if you’re running short on time, even 30 to 60 minutes will do.

Can I Use Chicken Thighs Instead? 

Of course! I prefer grilling chicken breasts, but chicken thighs work just as well. You may need to adjust the cook time if using thighs instead of breasts. 

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

Tips for the Making Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

I used thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts to make this cilantro lime grilled chicken because they are easier to control with respect to cooking time.

This type of chicken breasts needs roughly 10 minutes total to cook through, flipping at the 5-minute mark.

If you’re not using thin-sliced breasts, I highly recommend pounding the chicken to a uniform thickness otherwise the thick end of the chicken will likely be raw and the thin end will be burnt and dried out. 

Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole - EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

Tips for Making Homemade Guacamole

As a tip, rather than actually mashing the avocado, I score it both horizontally and vertically with a knife while still in the skin, and then scoop out the flesh in chunks with a spoon.

The act of stirring together the avocado with the other ingredients, in the presence of lime juice and salt, will cause the avocado to soften more and break down more.

I like my guacamole to have texture so am not a fan of mashing it with a fork as if it were a banana being mashed for banana bread, but everyone has their own preferences with texture.

You definitely want your avocados to be on the ripe to quite ripe side. If they’re a bit under-ripe they won’t mash easily and their taste always seems a bit ‘green’ to me, kind of like eating a too-green banana.

However, if an avocado is too ripe it’ll be mushy and tends to be black or discolored in the interior when you slice into it. When that happens, those go straight into the trash for me.

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

What to Serve with Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

Rather than actually putting the guacamole on chips, I slather it right over the chicken, and then put the smothered chicken either on corn tortilla chips or tostados. It’s THE perfect bite – juicy, creamy, and crunchy all in one! 

Since you’ve already got your grill fired up, you can grill some vegetables like I did in this Grilled Lemon Chicken recipe. The veggies cook in the same amount of time that it takes to grill the chicken, about 10 minutes. Place the vegetables in a grill basket over high heat on one side of your grill and place the chicken on the other side over medium heat. 

I also highly recommend this Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad. Take advantage of fresh corn that needs only about 10 minutes to grill, shave it off the ear, and combine it with lime juice and cilantro to play up the lime-cilantro flavor profile.

Additionally, Grilled Mexican Corn (Elote) is another family and crowd favorite!

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken with Guacamole — EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!

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4.91 from 10 votes

Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken with Guacamole

By Averie Sunshine
EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors!! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 6
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Ingredients  

Chicken and Marinade

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced or pounded to an even thickness
  • â…“ cup olive oil
  • â…“ cup lime juice
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
  • â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
  • Fresh cilantro, for garnishing

Guacamole

  • 2 large ripe Hass avocados, scored and seeded
  • â…“ cup finely diced red onion
  • â…“ cup finely diced Roma tomatoes with seeds removed
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced or to taste
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
  • â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional and to taste

Instructions 

Chicken and Marinade

  • To a large ziptop plastic bag, add all ingredients (except the cilantro for garnishing), seal, and smoosh around to evenly coat chicken. Place bag in fridge for at least 30 to 60 minutes, or overnight, to marinate.
  • Lightly oil grill grates and preheat grill to medium-high heat.
  • Add the chicken, discard the bag with the marinade, and grill for about 5 minutes on the first side with lid closed, flip, and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes on the second side with lid closed, or until chicken is cooked through and as done as desired.
  • Garnish chicken with additional cilantro, optional lime wedges, and serve immediately with the guacamole.

Guacamole

  • While the chicken is in it's final 15 minutes or so of marinating or when you start to preheat the grill, score the flesh of ripe avocados both vertically and horizontally after halving them, and scoop the flesh out with a spoon into a bowl. For chunkier guac, keep as is; for smoother guac mash the avocado lightly with a fork.
  • Add all remaining ingredients, stir to combine, and taste. If the guac tastes at all flat, it likely needs more salt, and/or a pinch of heat from either additional black pepper or cayenne pepper*.
  • Store the guac covered very tightly with plastic wrap in the fridge while you're grilling the chicken.

Notes

*The cayenne in neither the chicken marinade nor in the guacamole adds any real heat because you’re not using enough. However, it prevents anything from tasting on the bland side.
Storage: Chicken will keep airtight for up to 5 days in the fridge or for up to 4 months in the freezer. Guac will keep for up to 24 hours, noting that it will become more watery (from the salt) and it will oxidize at time passes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 345kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g, Cholesterol: 51mg, Sodium: 1538mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 13g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

 

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Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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