A three-minute dip into a pungent cilantro-lime marinade is all that's needed to deliver big flavor to chicken breasts. Serve with saffron rice.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Chicken:

cilantro

lime juice

olive oil

(6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast

salt

Cooking spray

Salsa:

tomato

onion

black pepper

avocado,

To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.


To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.


I make this often because it is so easy and everyone likes it.  I do marinate the chicken about an hour before grilling.  Adding some minced jalapeno to the salsa is also a nice touch.  I serve it with yellow/saffron rice typically.

Hi, I am sure this is a dumb question but I wanted to know what the rice recipe is.  Do you have it or how do I find it?  Thank you for your help.Tammy

We added some mesquite seasoning to the marinade, otherwise made chicken &amp; salsa to directions.  Served with beans/fresh corn (made from CL's "shrimp over black bean and corn salad" recipe).  Good dinner.

I don't care for avocados so made the cilantro-lime chicken without the salsa.  I didn't get any cilantro or lime flavor - just a pretty boring grilled chicken breast.  This recipe is going in the "delete" file.

    I have been cooking this chicken dish for about two years, and it is BY FAR the most popular dish I can make. I typically only cook it for very special occasions for all my family due to the cost of making it for 10+ people, but everyone loves it and it really is worth it!    I have made a few changes.  One of them is that I add peaches to the salsa (when they are in season). Maybe just one large one when the recipe is doubled or tripled.  I also start the rice, then I prepare and start marinating the chicken, then do everything else before cooking the chicken; it might come out to 20 or 30 minutes before I start cooking it.  The cilantro doesn't really add much flavor after about five minutes, but I would say that if you are sensitive to cilantro or herbs, you oughta stick to the three minutes or so.  Finally, I try to make extra salsa, because it really does go fast. And when I say extra, I mean you could probably double the salsa and not have any left. It's real good and everyone loves to heap it on.  Oh, and I'm generous with the lime; everything gets a good squeeze of lime on top of what's already in the recipe.     TLDR: Make extra salsa, cause it's hot! And the recipe is fairly flexible; conservatively swap and add as you see fit. Fresh peach is grand!

I made this tonight for dinner. My husband who is a fussy eater  fussy eater loved it. I did change two things I added a chopped jalapeño pepper to the salsa along with juice from half a lime as I like my salsa spicy .

Wow....this was one of my favorite chicken dishes now!....the whole family loved it...it was easy to fix...my husband grilled the chicken out on the grill....I will be making this again!

We thought this was delicious! Served with Spanish rice. 

And it was delicious!  I nixed the bed of rice but added some orange bell pepper to the salsa for a little extra veggie fiber.  The only the wrong was I did not make enough of it!

This is one of our go to recipes when we have avocados.  We have made a few modifications.  We cut up the chicken into bite size pieces so it cooks quicker.  We also marinate longer.  We also add cilantro to the salsa.  I recommend making extra salsa because it will go quick.  

 This is one of my sons favorite chicken dishes. He didn't like avocados and this is the dish that got him to realize just how good they are.  

I thought it was delicious, the flavors combined together well for such a fiesta type flavorful chicken! Husband and I both loved it and the mashed up salsa must have been good because my 11 month old ate it up! Thanks for the great recipe and the unique flavor combination :) Will make this again. 4/5 stars 

Good recipe that both my husband and children enjoyed.  We made a few tweaks to it. First we marinated the chicken using a mesquite honey-lime  Grill-Mates packet. We wrapped it in foil and refrigerated it for an hour.  After the chicken had finished grilling,  a few of us had went with the salsa and really enjoyed it, while our younger children opted for melted cheese on top which they loved. Everyone voted "yes!" To make this again.

I know most people get annoyed with 5 star reviews followed by revisions but I rarely ever follow a recipe as written as I usually find, given my personal flavor profiles/preferences, there is room for personalization.  With that said - I made the following changes:

I used a whole chicken, skin removed and cut into quarters (breast/wing and leg/thigh).  For the marinade I combined (in a blender) a generous 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes), a large handful of cilantro (about 1/2 cup), 2 garlic cloves, 3 T. plain yogurt, 1 T. avocado oil, 2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp ground cumin (blended until smooth).  
I combined the marinade and quartered whole chicken in a Ziplock bag and allowed to marinate overnight.  

I cooked the chicken quarters for approximately 1 hour at 375˚F (convection).  
Served with the tomato avocado salsa (although I did add chopped cilantro to the salsa), saffron rice and a Mexican green salad with cilantro lime dressing.

Delicious and flavorful!  I omitted the salt completely and added cilantro to the salsa as well!  Wow - yummy and served with spanish rice.  Can't go wrong with this one.

I really liked this fast easy recipe. The only things I did differently was I put the cilantro in the salsa instead of the 3 min marinade and also to the salsa added some jalapeno. The salsa was fresh and jalapeno added a little zing to chicken. Yum!

I loved, love, loved this recipe! We had a surplus of avocado, so I was searching for simple recipes to use them up in. I made extra salsa and sat down with a bowl of Tostitos for a wonderful snack.

Easy and so delicious.  Took the advice of some of the other reviewers and doubled the salsa recipe and also added more cilantro and lime juice to the marinade. Great ideas. Next time will add some jalapeño to the salsa for a little more kick but this was a great dish!!

This is SO delicious!  We have used the salsa recipe, often.  I did cut the amount of salt, in the salsa, in half.

This was a great recipe! I followed the directions exactly, it was so easy and very quick to prepare. It had a lot of flavor and tasted very fresh. I started the marinade first and let the chicken marinate while I prepared the rest of the dish. I served the chicken with a side of Spanish style rice. My boyfriend loved it! I will definitely be making this again. Next time I plan to add a few jalapenos to spice it up a bit.

This chicken has become my "go to" grilled chicken. Prepared without the salsa (which is also delicious), it's a great all purpose chicken to chop up in salads, etc. And it's so easy. Just three minutes on each side in the marinade, and the chicken comes out so moist and tender! Just adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts so as to not overcook. Yum!

Amazing recipe.  For once, I didn't have to add a thing and the dish was amazing.  As others said, I marinated the chicken for about an hour (as long as it took me to prep everything else and cook the rice).  This was also incredibly fast and easy, and only dirtied a few dishes, so I would highly recommend this for a quick weeknight dish!

loved it !! only one thing i did not have cilantro so instead i used parsley!!!!!!!!!!!!! great!!!!!!!

Delicious.  A perfect clone of a dish I had at a Mexican restaurant.  Will definitely make again.

My husband and I thought this was terrific. I added cilantro and jalapeño to the salsa and marinated the chicken for about 20 minutes, but otherwise made as written. I served it with a roasted poblano rice, which was a great combo. I will definitely be making this again!

Ok seriously, I'm challenged when it comes to cooking and this meal was so incredibly easy to make and was so yummy! My man even liked it and he's usually scared to eat my food. Hahaha, anyways, I loved it so much I even posted a review which I never do! Try it, you won't be disappointed! I decided to marinate it just a teeny bit longer than what it said which I don't know if it makes too much of a difference, but I had it marinating while I was prepping everything else.

Super easy and really good. I will marinate longer next time and grill the chicken breasts instead of using a grill pan. A bit more salt than was called for was needed to bring out flavor and cilantro added to the salsa helps. This was a hit!

This was amazing! It looked pretty, was easy to make and tasted so good! Don't skip out on the saffron rice! It tasted so good with the chicken and avocado salsa! I will definitely be making this again.

Excellent, quick recipe!  I marinated for a few hours.  I also added cilantro, diced red jalapeno and mango to the salsa. Wonderful flavors!

This recipe is perfect for the household that demands heart-healthy but still loves great &amp; unique taste! - Definitley a 20 minute meal!

This recipe was a hit with every single member of my family, which NEVER happens.  So happy to add this into our regular rotation!  Delicious!

This was a great recipe!! I wanted to try something new and my family loved it!

Love this recipe! I especially like it in wraps. Yum!

I make this salsa all of the time and often double it because we love it so much. The only change I make it I add chopped cilantro and if we want some heat, jalapeño.  Fresh lime juice really makes a difference, I have tried bottled and was not as happy with the favors.  The chicken is excellent too and the short list of easy to find ingredients means I often have them on hand or can easily pick the up at the store. This is a keeper!

This was very good and easy. I used turkey tenderloins instead of chicken and cooked indoors...delicious flavor!

This was a great recipe! I loved the taste of the grilled chicken and the salsa was fantastic. I added one more roma tomato to my salsa, so I added a bit more lime juice and I also added cilantro to the slaw. I did marinate the chicken for a few hours, but next time I make this I will double the marinade and let it marinade overnight because I couldn't really taste the marinade on the chicken. I made this with mexican beans and rice and it was a huge hit with the family.

so good. the avocado salsa is amazing. easy to make, used a little more lime. great with quinoa or brown rice

This is a family favorite.  We threw the magazine with this recipe in it away and just spent time on line searching to make sure we could keep this one permanently.   This is a perfect summer meal.  We love it.

This is easy to make and is delicious. I used chicken tenders instead of breast meat and let them marinate for an hour. Definitely a new family favorite.

One of my favorite recipes!  Served with black beans too.

"Thanks for a great meal" were the comments last night after dinner.  This is a great recipe.  The only changes I made were to marinate the chicken an hour and add cilantro to the salsa !!!  This is defintely a keeper !!

This was outstanding.  The topping for the chicken makes a great chunky salsa for chips as well.

OH MY GOSH !!!!!!  This was SOOOOOO good. One slight addition. The second time I made this I added cilantro to the salsa.... REALLY OUTSTANDING !!!!
Thank You My Recipes !!!!

Easy to make and absolutely delicious!  The chicken was so flavorful and tender, and the rest of the dish was the perfect complement.  We served it over yellow rice, but next time I think I will try it with tortillas, too.

Love love love!!!! Served over rice and also over tortilla shells. Family loved this!!

This is my family's favorite chicken recipe.  It is light and refreshing and easy to make.  The presentation is beautiful and the flavor is outstanding.

This was so simple and tasted great ! I did add a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of crushed red pepper.

My husband and I both loved this easy and delicious dish!  Tonight I will be trying it with shrimp.

I fixed it with of all things spaghetti squash.  I seasoned the squash with garlic, cinnamon, cumin, red pepper.  Baked the squash and then prepared it appropriately, topped it with the chicken and salsa...PERFECT!!  The squash cut the carbs by a lot over using rice.

YUMMY! The only thing I would change is either less tomato or more avocado.

OMG! This was SO GOOD!!! I am really picky about chicken. I often feel like it tastes really bland and flavorless, but this was perfect. It was good even without the salsa...(But I make this salsa a lot and eat it with tortilla chips, so I really love the salsa by its self also). I did marinate the chicken for about an hour though, which I highly recommend, and we also did it on the grill outside, rather than the "grill pan", which I also highly recommend. All in all, it was easy and so so good. We served it with Zatterans Yellow Rice, which is relatively low in calories as well and it was a wonderful compliment to the dish. :) Good luck all, and enjoy as this has become a staple in our family menu.

This was so easy and delicious for a summer's dinner.

This dish is so good and so simple. It's like edible summer, and sometimes I like to make it during the winter just to reawaken our taste buds. The only thing I do differently is that I add a little cilantro and chopped jalapeno to the avocado salsa - basically turn it into deconstructed guacamole. We smash the salsa into a bed of white rice. Fantastic!

The perfect dish for a warm summers night . I also serve  tortilla chips  w/ the avocado salsa .

Great, light and fresh recipe.  I added about 2 T cilantro to the salsa as well.

Excellent!  Had to cook the breast a bit longer...they were fairly large but everything was delicious!

This dish was great.  My whole family enjoyed it.  I did it with mahi mahi and let it marinate for an hr or so, added cilantro to the salsa. Served it with white rice and cooked spinach. Will do it again for sure.

This recipe got rave reviews tonight at my house! The only thing I did differently was added some cilantro to the salsa mixture.  It turned out perfectly! We'll definitely make this again!

My girlfriend made this for me last night.  It's a very tasty and beautiful dish.  We weren't that hungry so she thinly sliced the chicken and used the grille.  She even added some shrimp to go along with the chicken.  She added a homemade caesar salad along with the Mexican Gazpacho.  It's definitely a warm dish and fills you up quickly.  We're having leftovers tonight!

I used half a cup of lime juice and left the chicken for about 15 minutes in the marinade, and it only improved in flavor. 
I used two avocados for the salsa, and served it over fresh spinach leaves. 
I used a stovetop grill pan and it worked wonderfully. The chicken turned out to be very moist. Even leftovers were excellent.

This recipe is really tasty!  It has tons of flavor while also being healthy.  I marinated the chicken  for about 10 minutes to give it extra flavor.  I'll definitely be making this again and sharing with friends.

So tasty! I didn't grill the chicken but cooked it in a skillet. Bet grilled would be even better. I would make a little more salsa for 4 people.

I love this recipe!  It made a wonderful dinner two nights in a row.  On the second night, we put the chicken and salsa on a bed of fresh spinach and liked it even better.

This was SO simple and so good!  The salsa would also be great on any white fish.  No substitutions needed as I had everything on hand (that's a first!) The chicken did take longer than 6 minutes per side but the breasts were bigger than what the recipe called for.  It's a keeper!

This is the best summer chicken recipe - light and refreshing.  I've made it 3 times this month!  Absolutely delicious!

This was quite good for a hot summer day.  Easy to make and tasty fresh ingredients.

EASY. Tasty. Simple. Equally as good, if not better with halibut.

This was amazing!!! it was so easy and the flavors were great.  The avocado salsa totally made it.  It ended up marinating about 20-30 minutes, but soo good.

Excellent dish!!  Super easy to prepare and cook. Definitely great for the summer because it has such fresh flavors.  I added more cilantro to give it even more flavor but it's good as is too.  This is one of me and my husband's new favorites!

So easy and so good.  Salsa is great but chicken is good without it.  We grill this chicken all summer long.

This recipe was easy, colorful, and had a TON of flavor.  Served with a jicama/cucumber slaw (for crunch)and mexican rice.  My husband and kids asked for MORE!  Will definitely make again as is.

I love this recipe. So quick and easy, but really delicious. I have made it exactly as the recipe directs, or I have substituted tilapia for the chicken (just don't cook the fish quite as long) and it is delicious with the tilapia as well. The salsa is very light and refreshing. Definitely a quick and easy dish that is impressive enough for guests.

This was very good.  However, next time I will soak my onion in water to tone it down before adding it to the salsa.  I used red onion &amp; it was a bit strong, especially the next day.

All my hubs kept saying was how fresh the meal tasted.  The easy marinade and the tasty salsa were perfect for a weeknight dinner.  I served it with yellow rice.

Good recipe.  Easy to make, though I don't think it is as spectacular as many seem to say.   For the ease and the flavors, though, I would recommend it for casual entertaining or family dinners.   Made as recipe described, but used chicken tenderloins instead as that was what I had and I was cooking for kids and adults.     The kids loved it, though not many ate the salsa.

Oh My Gosh! Fixed this last night. I pound my 3 large chicken breasts flat between 2 sheets of wax paper prior to marinating and used about 4-6 tblspns olive (didn't have cooking spray) and used coarse sea salt sprinkled over each piece prior to cooking. Followed everything else as stated. Salsa was perfect amount to cover all 3 pieces sufficiently. Admittedly, was never a cilantro-lime fan, but this was FANTASTIC! Hubby ate his and what I couldn't finish. This easily moved to my FAV and ease of cooking list. Served with Martha Stewarts Green Beans with w/ Parmesan cheese.

So easy and so good!  We love sauce so I doubled the salsa amount.  I served it with grilled corn on the cob with lime-butter. Delicious!

A new favorite. I made it for friends and it was so good I blogged about it. :) 
Easy to make and great flavor. I will make this again and again!

This dish is delicious!  My husband and I both loved it.  He normally hates cilantro and isn't a big fan of avocado either, but he loved this chicken.  We didn't have any leftover.  I doubled the salsa recipe and am glad I did: it's really yummy!  This is a quick dish that is easy to put together on a weeknight, but tastes like something you spent time over.  I served the chicken over a spanish rice mix and it was great with it.  I will definitely be making this again!

Phenomenal recipe except that I would add PLENTY of lime juice to the marinade - otherwise you might miss it.  The salsa is just so awesome.  This is a great summertime recipe!

Delicious! .. a perfect recipe, small number of ingredients , healthy, and quick to prepare !

This was so quick and easy, and even more delicious. My husband says he's tired of chicken, but thought this was great. I did marinate the chicken closer to 10 minutes and added about a tablespoon of cilantro to the salsa. I bbq'd the breasts. We will be having this often and would be great for company as it doesn't take much time and makes for a nice presentation.

I made this recipe with tilapia instead of chicken and it was fabulous.  Super quick and easy.  Will make again soon.

Terrific recipe for a busy week night.  Would also make a nice lunch entree.  I marinaded the chicken longer, added more cilantro to the marinade, more lime juice to both the marinade and salsa, and cooked the chicken in the oven, finishing it under the broiler, to avoid the mess on the cooktop.  I serve it with roasted asparagus or raw zucchini and carrots chopped and added into either a brown rice mix (Trader Joe's has a great one if you have the time to cook it) or TJ's frozen brown rice which microwaves in 3 minutes, plus more fresh herbs.  Big hit with my picky 16 year-old and husband.

This recipe is so easy and really good.  I made it for my book club and got rave reviews.  Plus, I made the salsa topping the night before (which I think let the flavors really marinate) and cooked the chicken an hour before everyone arrived and reheated it quickly in the microwave!  It was juicy and really good!  I would serve this for company again in advance.  It looks like you worked hard and it's a very easy meal to make.  I served it with rice and beans.

A three-minute dip into a pungent cilantro-lime marinade is all that's needed to deliver big flavor to chicken breasts.

cilantro-lime chicken with avocado salsa

Servings: 2.5

Author : MyRecipes

Ingredients

Instructions

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