Grilled Chili Cilantro Lime Chicken

Grilled chicken is a staple of warmer weather! This grilled chili cilantro lime chicken will get dinner on the table in a hurry for your family and it will be packed with flavor.

Even though it is already over 100 degrees daily in Phoenix, I love the summertime. I love it for the usual reasons, but I also love it because it becomes grilling season. Which means I get a break from cooking dinner every night! My husband loves to grill and will always take me up on a request to grill for dinner.

Grilling is such an easy and fast way to get dinner on the table which is what we all need in the summer. Every summer we do the same thing: as it starts to get darker later in the day, we get really bad at eating dinner early.

Before we know it it’s 7 o’clock and we haven’t started cooking at all. This has been one of the first summers we have been better about not doing this, simply because of our toddlers bedtime. But it’s also helped that we frequently grill out in the summer which gets dinner on the table earlier.

Over the years as I’ve learned more about cooking and become more comfortable with it, I’ve learned that homemade dressings and marinades are incredibly easy to made. I think our culture is quick to assume that if you can buy it premade, it must be difficult to make.

But the reality is that marinades are actually one of the simplest recipes you can make and the best part is you’re going to see immediate results when you use a homemade marinade for grilled meat.

Marinating meat before cooking it, especially chicken, is really the key to making sure that chicken doesn’t dry out while cooking. Using bone in chicken helps a lot too but until recently I have never been a huge fan of bone in chicken because it’s usually dark meat.

After making these chicken thighs and drumsticks though I’m a total believer. The meat is so tender and the flavors from this chili cilantro lime marinade basically define summer! Cilantro is one of my favorite summer flavors and it actually has a lot of health benefits too.

This recipe pairs perfectly with these other healthy summer recipes from a few of my blogger friends! Be sure to check them all out.

Lime Corn Salad from Little Chef Big Appetite
Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad from Marissa Moore
Chile Lime Grilled Chicken from A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
Honey Thyme Balsamic Grilled Chicken from The Clean Eating Couple
Paleo Key Lime Pie Bites?from Lean Clean and Brie
No-Bake Berry Tarts?from Just Jessie B

Ready to make your own? Scroll down for the recipe!

Grilled Chili Cilantro Lime Chicken

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• Author: Madison Wetherill
• Prep Time: 35 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 53 minutes
• Yield: 10 1x
• Category: Chicken
• Method: Grilling
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Grilled chicken is a staple of warmer weather! This grilled chili cilantro lime chicken will get dinner on the table in a hurry for your family and it will be packed with flavor.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb bone in chicken thighs
• 1 lb chicken drumsticks
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro (roughly one cup), stems and leaves
• Zest from 2 limes, divided
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons chili powder plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

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Instructions

Using an immersion blender, combine cilantro, zest from?one lime, olive oil, lime juice, honey, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Clean and trim chicken thighs and place into a gallon size Ziploc bag with the drumsticks.

Cover the chicken with the marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 24 hours).

Preheat grill to 350 degrees.

Spray with grill spray.

Using grill tongs, remove chicken from bag and place on grill over direct heat. Discard remaining marinade.

Grill chicken for around 18?minutes, flipping every six minutes (one side of the thighs will be grilled twice), or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165.

Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before eating. Garnish with additional lime zest (from one lime), a teaspoon or so of chili powder, and chopped cilantro.

Notes

Grilling temperatures and times may vary. Gas grill was used for this recipe.

This recipe is mild, not spicy, but if you prefer spice use a spicier chili blend like ancho chili powder.