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!
Lime Coconut Rice (pictured below) – lime overload?? Nope! Lime tastes different when cooked with the chicken vs in a coconut rice. 😇
Keeping with the healthy theme, serve this with Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
Mushroom Rice – because this goes with everything!
Lemon Potato Salad (bright lemon flavours!) – or everybody’s favourite creamy Bacon Potato Salad
Sweet/savoury Fondant Sweet Potato for contrast against the citrusy chicken
Super Quick Couscous Salad – great emergency side with leftovers for lunch!
Leafy greens with French Dressing or Balsamic Dressing
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! 😂
Omg. This was so good. Some of the best chicken I’ve ever made
Woah what a great compliment, thanks so much Lien! N x
Just made this after a quick google search for “lime chicken marinade”. It was killer! Everyone agreed it needs to go in the regular rotation. Thank you!
Delicious! It is summer here now, so we are grilling daily. Made this with thighs. Super easy and summery! Thank you!
Loved the refreshing lime flavor. Thank you for the recipe!
Nagi—I made this lime chicken last night along with your coconut rice. My family loved it!
You’re totally awesome for everything you do for others … and my son just adores Dozer.
Thanks so much for the great feedback Gigi! N x
Hi Nagi… Love your passion and all the recipes I have tried. This one was delicious just a tad dry in the oven cooked one and more dry in the pan cooked. Did use the oil as suggested . Any inputs ? Thanks a ton.. love
Hi Pratibha, sorry you had issues here, if your chicken is dry it sounds like it’s been overcooked unfortunately. N x
Magi, I made the beef marinade for our grilled flank steak salad tonight. It was off the hook! Tomorrow night will be the lime marinade chicken for the grill. I appreciate you! Thank you.
That’s great to hear Karin! N x
Took the marinating Lime Chicken camping! Threw it on the barbeque. It was a hit! Such a nice change! Will definitely make again! Thank you Nagi!
Making this tonight for company. ALL your recipes are fabulous.
I am thinking of making this recipe but I do not have fish sauce. Is oyster sauce the same? If it is not, what can I replace it with? Thanks a million!
Hi Marisa, you can use sy sauce in its place – enjoy! N x
Thanks again Nagi for the delicious lime chicken recipe!!
Tomorrow night is Greek Chicken. I really appreciate and enjoy your recipes.
Hello Dozer from Greta
Sounds great Sheena!! N x
I just finished making this recipe and it’s absolutely fantastic.
The instructions were clear and super easy to follow even for a complete novice cook like myself (the video also helped) and the results blew my expectations away. Congratulations on the site and I’ll definitely be coming back to check some other recipes.
Which brand of fish sauce do you use for this recipe? I used 3 crabs and it tasted too fishy
Hi Suzy, sorry you found it too salty, I used Squid brand – N x
All your recipes are fantastic! This one in particular is great!
One thing: Shouldn’t be a good idea not to use a plastic bags to keep the chicken during the marinade in order to help stopping the use of plastics?
Greetings to Dozer
Hi Sandra, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! You don’t have to use a plastic bag if you prefer you can always marinade in a bowl – I just find that means you need to increase the volume of marinade significantly to cover the meat. N x
soooo delicious! made these with chicken thighs, skipped out on the cilantro (bet it would’ve tasted great though) and a little bit more fish sauce. this marinade was fresh because of the lime, and umami because of the fish sauce. will definitely make again!
I’m so happy you loved it Michelle!
Can we boil the marinade and use it as a sauce?
This is devine. I totally toast my corinder and put with marinade and u need the fish sauce. I then chop it up like Mexican style to make tacos with. Everybody thinks I order it from somewhere it’s that good.
Hello Nagi, I want to try this recipe but we are not keen on cilantro – will parsley work just as well as cilantro?
Thanks.
Hello Nagi could I freeze the marinated lime chicken for a few weeks as I would like to serve it in my new restaurant ..Thank you
Hi Bruna, yes you can – I mention this in the notes 🙂
Hi Nagi
Thank you for your reply ,the reason I asked because I’m planning to freeze it for a few months as I’ll be opening a restaurant soon I would like have some recipes to freeze. 🍝
This chicken is bursting with great flavors. It was a very easy prep and I have another two breasts frozen in the marinade.
Thank you for another great recipe!
Wahoo! The perfect freezer meal!
Hi, I’m doing a Mexican fiesta for my birthday for about 60 people. Trying to plan ahead as much as possible. What would be the best way to keep the chicken warm on the day once it’s cooked?
Hi Vesna, possibly a slow cooker? You don’t want to keep it in the oven or it will dry out – N x