Quick Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade

Cilantro and lime make this one of my favorite chicken marinades! I’m sharing with you the recipe, the best way to marinate chicken FAST and some convenient ways to prep ahead and save yourself time in the kitchen.

Ingredients

A good marinade will contain a form of fat, salt, acid, and seasoning. That’s what we’ll use to make this cilantro lime chicken marinade. The measurements are at the end of the post but first, let’s see the ingredients in detail:

• Fresh lime juice: the acid makes the meat more tender and flavorful when cooked. 
• Olive oil: adds flavor and helps coat the chicken with the seasonings.
• Cilantro: use fresh cilantro finely chopped.
• Ground cumin: for flavor.
• Garlic: more and more flavor!
• Salt: helps break down the chicken protein, making it more flavorful.
• Chicken: I use boneless chicken breasts, but you can use this easy marinade with any chicken cut.

How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade

The steps below will show you how ridiculously easy and quick it is to make this cilantro lime marinade to infuse your chicken with tons of flavor. Check it out:

1. Make the marinade
   In a large zip bag, you add all the marinade ingredients and the chicken breasts.
2. Marinate
   Let it marinate for 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge.
3. Cook the chicken
   On the skillet, you cook the chicken breasts for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until they are cooked through at an internal temperature of 165F. Discard chicken marinade.⁠
4. Let it rest
   Remove the chicken and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving with cilantro lime rice.

In this short video you can see how I make this Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade recipe:

Can I leave marinated chicken out at room temperature? 
At room temperature, raw chicken, or any meat, is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria that can make you sick, so I don’t recommend leaving marinated meat out.

How to Cook Cilantro Lime Marinated Chicken 

You can cook marinated chicken breasts in the skillet, bake them in the oven, or grill them. The chicken will turn out flavorful no matter what method you choose!

That said, my favorite way to cook chicken is on the stovetop since it’s the quickest and there’s very little clean-up. Plus, pan-seared chicken breasts are juicy with golden-seared edges. Delicious!

Can You Freeze Cilantro Lime Marinade?

This marinade can be frozen by itself or with your choice of protein. And when you’re ready to cook, the meat will marinate as it defrosts. If I’m using chicken, I prefer to defrost it in the fridge overnight or a water bath.

Success Tips for Perfectly Marinated Cilantro Lime Chicken

This cilantro lime marinade will add delicious and bold flavor to your favorite cuts of chicken, and below you’ll find additional tips to help you cook moist chicken and save time in the kitchen when you make cilantro-lime avocado chicken or any other recipe with this epic chicken marinade!  

Cook by temperature 
Making perfect, juicy chicken is all in cooking by temperature, not time, which is why I suggest keeping a meat thermometer on hand. 

Start with a HOT Pan
In this case, we are talking about cooking the chicken on the stove-top. You want to hear a good sizzle as soon as the chicken touches the skillet’s surface; this will sear the meat and help lock in its juices. 

Add this to frozen chicken
Have a frozen pound of chicken? Save yourself a step and add the marinade to the chicken. It will marinate as it defrosts.