This creamy cilantro lime chicken is a tasty one pot dish that tastes great over rice. Not spicy, but full of flavor and juicy chicken breasts make this a dish the whole family can enjoy.
I love making sauces from scratch, something about it just brings out even more flavor. This creamy cilantro lime sauce is no different. It hardly requires any effort and it still turns out amazingly.
The chicken breasts turn out nice and juicy with a golden color seared to the outsides. It looks and tastes great! What I really like is that this is one of those dishes that doesn't have spicy heat but still has those great flavors.
🥘 Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Water
- Lime Juice
- Cilantro
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt and Pepper
- Heavy Cream
- Corn Starch
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Measuring spoons
- Wooden spoon
- Whisk
- Skillet
🍴 Recipe Tips
You can stir the liquid until it thickens or if you're impatient like I am, you can make a little cornstarch slurry to add to the cilantro lime sauce for chicken. This cuts down on the time to make the dish by several minutes.
Diced chicken, thin chicken cutlets or tenders are all great with this sauce recipe and can give you different options for serving it up or stretching the meal. Either way you'll love this lime and cilantro chicken recipe.
💭 FAQs
I like to serve mine with brown rice because it gives it a little something extra compared to white rice (at least in my opinion). But serving it alongside some beans or black beans and rice could be a great idea.
Yes, you could use those in their place but the liquid will curdle. As you may know when the dairy meets acid, the milk will curdle. A higher fat content liquid like heavy cream will hold up better against the acidity than a lower fat milk.
To reduce the chance of crudling, you can remove the pan from the heat for about a minute before adding the lower fat milk product and then whisking like crazy to combine. It won't be foolproof, there will be a little separation, but it won't look as off as it could. The dish is still 100% fine to eat even with the curdling.
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make creamy cilantro lime chicken with these simple step-by-step instructions:
- Warm your skillet and the olive oil over medium or medium-high heat. If you want a more golden color and crispier chicken the higher heat is great, but if you want the chicken softer and not to have that golden skin, then a medium heat is great. (My picky kids complain about that coloration from time to time).
- Slice your chicken breasts in down the middle in half so that its wide and flat.
- Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the chicken in the warm skillet and then cook for about 5 minutes on both sides until they register 165F degrees on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from the pan and place on a covered plate.
- In the same pan, add your onions and cook until golden brown.
- Add in the minced garlic and then cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the water, lime juice, cilantro, and red pepper flakes (you can add in ½ teaspoon more f you want the dish spicier).
- Bring the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes to get the flavors to combine. Stir well to deglaze the pan.
- While it's boiling prepare your cornstarch slurry by mixing the 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a separate bowl until completely dissolved.
- Whisk the heavy cream into the boiled mixture while stirring constantly to combine. Add your cornstarch slurry. Stir for about a minute more for the sauce to thicken.
- Once thickened, remove from heat. Add the chicken back to the pan and add the remaining cilantro over the top as a garnish. Serve and enjoy.
Other tasty dinner dishes to try
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Chicken Divan Casserole
- Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs
- Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Baked Spaghetti Pie
- Honey Mustard Pork Shoulder
- Dorito Taco Salad
📖 Recipe
Cilantro Lime Chicken
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 Large Chicken Breasts ($3.98)
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil ($0.26)
- ½ Onion, diced ($0.30)
- ¾ cup Water ($0.00)
- 2 tablespoon Lime Juice ($0.12)
- ¼ cup Chopped Cilantro, divided ($0.50)
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes ($0.01)
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch ($0.02)
- 1 tablespoon Water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Warm your skillet and the olive oil over medium or medium-high heat.
- Slice your chicken breasts in half down the middle, lengthwise, so that they are long and thin/flat.
- Season both sides of the chicken with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the warm skillet and cook until the bottoms are golden brown (about 5 minutes). Flip and repeat.
- When the chicken is fully cooked and registers 165F degrees on an instant read thermometer, remove the chicken from the pan and set them aside on a plate. Cover them with a lid, foil, or something to prevent drying out.
- Add the onions to the used skillet and stir with a wooden spoon until the onion is caramelized (a golden brown color).
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add in the water, lime juice, cilantro and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes to get the flavors to combine. Stir well to deglaze the pan.
- While it's boiling prepare your cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch and water in a separate bowl until completely dissolved.
- Whisk in the cream while stirring constantly and add your cornstarch slurry. Stir for about a minute more for the sauce to thicken.
- Once thickened, remove from heat. Add the chicken back to the pan and add more cilantro over the top as a garnish. Serve and enjoy.
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