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.
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.
Notes
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. You could use half and half or milk instead of heavy cream. Just know that 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.