Cilantro Lime Chicken is the the most flavorful chicken breast recipe, marinated in olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, and cilantro and cooked in the air fryer or on the grill/grill pan.
Cilantro Lime Chicken
Switch up your grilled chicken game with cilantro and lime. Chicken breasts can be a little boring, but this marinade makes them a lot more exciting. Of course, chicken thighs would work great here too. You can cook the chicken however you prefer – on the grill, grill pan, or air fryer – and add it to bowls, salads, or tacos. For more ways I use this classic flavor combo, try my Cilantro Lime Rice, Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos, and Cilantro Lime Shrimp.
How to Make Chicken Breast in the Air Fryer or Grill
Below is how to cook this chicken on the grill or grill pan or in the air fryer.
- Grill: Heat a grill or grill pan over medium to medium-high heat and cook the chicken breasts for five minutes on each side. To ensure they’re
cooked through, use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperate is 165 degrees. - Air Fryer: Cook the chicken in the air fryer at 380 degrees for five minutes on each side.
How to Serve:
These cilantro lime chicken breasts are fantastic for meal prep. You can easily double the recipe and save the leftovers for meals throughout the week. There are so many ways to serve the chicken that you won’t get tired of eating the same meal on repeat.
- Bowls: Serve over rice or quinoa with black beans, avocado, pickled onions and cherry tomatoes. Add jalapenos for some spice.
- Tacos: Stuff corn or flour tortillas with chicken, cabbage slaw, and queso fresco.
- Salads: Top romaine lettuce or mixed greens with chicken, black beans, corn, avocado, cucumbers, and bell pepper. Drizzle with fresh lime juice or cumin-lime vinaigrette.
- Main dish: Serve this cilantro lime chicken with Mexican-inspired sides like these Instant Pot Black Beans, Corn Salsa with Lime, or Mexican
Cauliflower “Rice.”
Variations:
- Sub chicken thighs.
- Use this marinade as a base and change up the flavors with different citrus and herbs, like lemon and basil or orange and rosemary.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Cilantro Chicken Salad
- Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Bowls
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Chicken Taco Poblano Rice Bowl
- Enchilada Chicken Roll-Ups
Cilantro Lime Chicken Breast (Grilled or Air Fryer)
Ingredients
- 4 organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 oz each
- zest and juice of 1 lime, plus 1 lime cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, divided
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Pound the thicker end of the chicken breast with a mallet to make it even with the thinner end.
- Combine the juice of 1 lime, lime zest, olive oil, 1/4 cup of the cilantro finely chopped, garlic and salt to a large glass or ceramic container with a lid, or a gallon size freezer bag.
- Coat the chicken well on both sides and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour or as long as overnight, the longer the better, turning halfway.
- When ready to cook, oil a grill or grill pan over medium to medium-high heat.
- Grill about 5 minutes on each side, or until charred and cooked through in the center.
- Remove and set aside on a platter and squeeze the remaining lime over the chicken. Garnish with the remaining fresh cilantro.
Air Fryer Directions:
- Air fry in a single layer at 380 degrees for 5 minutes on each side.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Notes
- Sub chicken thighs.
- Use this cilantro-lime marinade as a base and change up the flavors with
different citrus and herbs, like lemon and basil or orange and rosemary.
The recipe is great!
Long time fav of my hubby’s and mine. I use the fresh garlic paste in the tube and double the amount, plus triple the amount of olive oil and lime juice so it makes a good amount of marinade. You could even add half a shot of tequila. I recently tried doing a 24 hr marinade and it came out the best yet.
My finicky son loved this chicken, as did the rest of the family. Super moist and delicious. He often complains that my baked chicken is dry.
Thank you, Gina. We LOVE this recipe, especially in the heat of summer! At times, I find our chicken breasts are much larger than 6 oz., so when that’s the case I slice them into cutlets. These take the marinade very well, too. Another winner that’s on repeat in our house!
Glad you all enjoyed it!
Your recipe looks absolutely delicious, Iove this combination of flavours. I’ll be trying this in my Air fryer for sure. Best, Pauline (Happy Retirees Kitchen) https://happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com
Made in air fryer for 10 minutes, marinated 7 hrs. It is really moist and tasty. Please make more delicious marinades for us.
OMG Thank you so much for this recipe! I love the charred flavor. Something I’ve missed. Only thing is my chicken wasn’t cooked in the 10 recommended minutes. I know it usually takes longer. But as the grill is cast iron, I popped them into the hot oven. Perfection.
Used tenders, 24 hr marinade amd 7 min air fry. These were delicious!
I love this recipe thank you so much whoever uploaded it. There’s one of my favorite. I’ve already made it two times in the last week.
Loved the combination of ingredients, very fresh on the palate.
Loved it!
This was my favorite chicken recipe of yours so far! my four year old loved it too
Perfect! Thank you! 🙂
This was a very good marinade and something I will use in rotation! I made it in the air fryer came out quite moist.
Thanks for a great recipe
Best chicken marinade and I have tried many!! Everyone loved it!!
Easy marinade with minimal chopping. I paired with a pre packaged Thai Peanut Salad. The lime and peanut flavors paired well together on a hot night.
Can the chicken be frozen in the marinade to grill at a later time?
If you freeze, it will not marinate.
Delicious. I usually make this on the barbecue.
This was really easy, really good cooked on the grill.
I marinated the chicken overnight.
Will definitely make again!
This beats the tequila lime chicken recipes. So flavorful.
Great!!
Great recipe! Thanks so much
One of my favourite bbq recipes.
This is my go-to summer grilled chicken recipe! Soooo easy but soooo delicious. Serve with roasted peppers and onions and a few tortillas.
I absolutely love this chicken marinate!!! I’m could never find a marinade that made chicken taste good not only when first cooked but also taste amazing as leftovers!! I make this twice a week!
Its in the making now. We don’t have a grill, and my grill pan doesn’t seem to heat evenly over electric burners. (Its a long grill pan) I love my chicken with a char on it to go with flavor. Hope im able to get the char. I wouldn’t ruin this recipe by using thighs! I hate them, and so does my cardiologist.
I’ll get back to you on the char. Although you didn’t specify, im assuming you actually meant “air fry”…Not sure about others, but my air fryer has many options, other than just air fry!
Very lovely. Different to taste lime on grilled chicken. Very delicious snd would certainly try this recipe again. A new twist on chicken breasts.
A nice change from my usual chicken marinade.
I’ve made it with both chicken breast and thighs. I can’t decide which I like more! I do the fiesta bean salad as a side with this
This was delicious, say to mak, and fast! It’s just me so I cut the recipe in half and still had enough for 3-4 days of meals. I cut the chicken breasts into thirds since I buy the Costco ones and they can be big. I also accidentally marinated it for 2 days.
Serve it with some fresh sliced avocados with a squeeze of line and sprinkle of salt, you won’t regret it!
I’m not much of a cooker nor do I have patience for it. I decided to give it a try and not only is this so easy but my goodness it was delicious!! Making it again tonight for the grandkids.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tried this tonight and we loved it! I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces before they marinated, and it worked well. My husband asked for this to be made again soon. Thanks for a great recipe.
So simple, fresh and great flavor!
Not sure what air fryer you’re using, but 5 minutes per side is nowhere near long enough! I’m using boneless thighs, and my Ninja says 18-22 minutes at 390.
This is delicious! Flavorful and tender.
Made this tonight with the corn salsa my family loved it. Will definitely make again and I will have to try the shrimp one.
I am marinating my chicken now. In.the picture it looks like there is a lot of olive oil in the pan. Mine hardly had enough to brush on the breasts. Did I do something wrong?
Soooo good, tasty and tender 😋
Ahhhmazing and super easy, cooked in the air fryer bc it’s just like a grill!
Delicious! But definitely needed more time in the air fryer. Next time, I’ll follow the cooking time and temp from my a.f. Directions. More like 8 mins. Per side at 400. Very flavorful!
It def depends on the thickness and the air fryer you have
Sounds delish, but would be a good substitute for cilantro?
Followed recipe exactly as written. Marinated over night.t.
Juicy but not very flavorful. Pretty bland. Won’t make again
If you overcook it, it will def be dry. I use a tenderizer for chicken breast and it makes a HUGE difference
Thanks Gina! Which kind of tenderizer do you recommend? My family loves your recipes, thank you!
amazing and delicious! I let it marinate overnight. My husband couldn’t stop talking about it. I will definitely make this again and again! Thanks Gina:)
I am so glad to hear!
Very tasty. It’s raining so I cooked the chicken in a nonstick frying pan.
Wow, wow, WOW! Juicy, fresh, delicious and easy— is there anything better? I make something from this site every single week since I don’t even know when, and I have yet to be disappointed. Another tasty treat! I used air fryer (ninja) and marinated for 2ish hours. YUM!
Great,! Just wished I had marinated longer however still tasted great!
Delicious Air fryer easy chicken. I made this and will use leftover for meals as suggested. Thanks for moist tasty chicken recipe. Loved this one. I added a bit of cumin to the marinade to match the bean salad with Lime and cumin vinegrette I will be making. Yum yum\
I made this in the air fryer tonight and it turned out delicious! I only marinated the chicken for an hour and it was so flavorful. I’ll definitely make this one again!
This is DELICIOUS!! Making for a large group – is there a way to cook it ahead and warm it up day of?
Such a delicious and easy recipe. I let it marinate about 4 hours and cooked it as directed in the air fryer. It was so tender and juicy. I served it with the Fiesta Lime Rice. So good!
My absolute favorite chicken recipe!
I loved this!! I want to try a new recipe every week. I love lime and cilantro which I know many people do not like. It’s a fresh tasting piece of chicken. You can totally do this with fish too.
We did our chicken on the grill. Great fresh tasting flavours. Will definitely make this again
Another winner and favorite way to grill chicken. We did chicken breasts and it marinated 24 hours. Excellent. Served with cauliflower rice and fajita veggies.
Freaking fantastic!
Question: using the air fryer, will the chicken ‘brown up’ at all?
Made this tonight, only had time to marinate for 45 minutes…still, simply perfect!
This was absolutely amazing! Had leftovers on a salad the next day – total yums! Definitely going in the “to make again” file!
Absolutely delicious recipe I marinate all day and grilled flavor fantastic!!
Great!!
Could I bake this?
I would ibalsoblike to know this
Oh. My. GOSH! I needed a recipe for something with chicken thighs and fresh cilantro from our garden. I didn’t have time to marinade, so I baked it right away in the convection oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. My boyfriend and I LOVE it! It came out perfectly juicy with crunchy skin. He said, “You’ve got to save that one. Can you please make some for_______ and .__________? They’d LOVE this!” I mixed some of the leftover marinade in ride and that was great, too.
Made this for dinner tonight. Excellent. Also love the WW points that get loaded directly into my WW app.
Love the idea of this recipe but I don’t like cilantro. What would be a good substitute?
I don’t know how well basil would partner with lime but substituting basil for the cilantro and lemon for the lime works really well. Follow the rest of the recipe as it’s written and I wish you much enjoyment!
This is such a quick and delicious recipe. I highly recommend it!
Amazing! My 2nd time making this for my family. It tastes like restaurant quality chicken fajitas. I doubled the recipe for dinner and meal prep for a family of five.
I was blown away by how much flavor is in this chicken! I don’t have a grill pan, so I made it in the air fryer. I think I’m going to finally have to buy a grill pan, because using the air fryer was less than ideal.
Delicious! I didn’t add extra lime juice and fresh cilantro prior to serving but it was still flavorful. Thank you! Another yummy recipe for my family. Shirley
I’ve made something very similar for years. Yes, the longer you marinate the chicken the better it tastes. I’ve used this chicken for fajitas, chicken taco salads & it’s good cold in a regular salad. Love this chicken recipe!
Wondering this for a few of the air fryer recipes… do you allow the air fryer to do the five min heat up before popping the chicken in? Or do you toss them in cold?
Thanks in advanced!!! I love your recipes. <3
Loved it! I will add just a touch of tequila next time though!
Made this tonight and it was soooo good. Gina you are a flavor goddess!! We ate this with some doctored up black beans and a rice/cauliflower rice mixture. I topped with a bit of avocado, some of your pickled onions and another squeeze of lime. Amazing! Will definitely be doing this again! My husband said it was “company worthy”! Yummy.
I served these to friends for a football party. They were delicious with the seasoned black bean recipe, Friends loved them. So easy to do and very little prep work.
And it fits my WW plan.
Was excellent! I put it over rice and my husband ate it in a salad.
I am on weight watchers blue plan. You stated that this recipe has a 0 point value on blue but when I calculated it, it came up as 3 so. How did you come up with a 0 point value? I’m very confused….
If you calculate each ingredient separately, you get 1 point. Use the Recipe creator in your WW app. Because the oil is in the marinade and not much of the marinade is soaked up by the chicken, that’s probably where she got zero.
Three points for the TBSP of olive oil. However, when you spread that over four chicken breasts it’s less than a teaspoon of olive oil each. Since this is a marinade, some of the oil will remain behind. Anything less than a half teaspoon of olive oil *per serving* is zero points.
It is zero points for blue. Skinless, boneless chicken is zero points. Cilantro, lime juice, garlic, also zero points.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. I marinated the chicken for almost two hours and grilled them on the bbq. They turned out flavorful and juicy! I’m gonna be making these often!
This was absolutely delicious!
Thank you!
Marinated for 3+ plus hours in a vacuum sealed bag and the into the sous vide at 147.5 for 2 hours, finished on a grill pan on the stove. Turned out excellent, will definitely make again
Made this tonight on the grill and it was delish!! Used chicken thighs and added more garlic ☺️ So good!
Love that this can be grilled or air fried. Perfect year ’round.
This looks great! Also loved all of the ideas of ways to use the chicken breast. Thanks Gina