Coconut Lime Chicken is an easy one pot recipe that is full of delicious flavor. Your family will love this fantastic dinner recipe.
In the quest to regularly bring you easy dinner recipes that are far from boring, let me introduce you to coconut lime chicken. It has a small number of ingredients, but the flavors of them marry perfectly in this one pan dinner. The flavors of this dinner make you vaguely feel like you are on a tropical island without leaving your kitchen, all in just 30 minutes!
How to Make Coconut Lime Chicken
Here is a brief overview of how this one pan coconut lime chicken comes together. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Bonus, it is dairy-free and gluten-free!
- Season the chicken. Once you cut the chicken into cutlets, season both sides with salt and black pepper.
- Cook the chicken. Cook in a hot skillet with oil for five to six minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Once cooked, remove from the pan and tent with foil.
- Cook the garlic. Melt butter in the pan and add garlic, onion, and ginger. Sauté for about five minutes.
- Make the sauce. Add the coconut milk and lime juice, scraping up the browned bits. Bring to a low simmer, then stir in the cilantro. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Put it all together and enjoy! Return the chicken to the pan with the drippings from the plate. Serve over rice.
Cutting Chicken Into Cutlets
Chicken cutlets are simply chicken breasts that have been cut into thin pieces and have many benefits in recipes. Chicken cutlets cook more quickly and evenly than whole chicken breasts, ensuring that each piece cooks through at the same rate. They are also more tender.
You can also go to the butcher at your grocery store and ask for one pound of chicken cutlets.
- To cut your chicken into cutlets, use a sharp knife and hold your hand on top of the chicken breast.
- Butterfly it open by slicing it horizontally through the thickest part of the breast and then opening it like a book.
- Continue cutting all the way through until you have two pieces.
Cooking Temperature For Chicken
Chicken is considered fully cooked when its thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Use an instant read thermometer to know exactly when your chicken reaches this temperature so you can remove it from the pan. This ensures that it is cooked enough for food safety purposes, but not overcooked and dry.
Instant Read Thermometer
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is liquid that comes from grating the meaty flesh inside of a coconut. Unsweetened coconut adds great flavor to dishes. Be sure that what you buy is labeled coconut milk and not coconut cream. Coconut cream is similar but contains significantly more fat and some cases, quite a bit of added sweetener.
Cooking with Ginger
Grated ginger adds such a unique flavor to recipes that I love. When a recipe calls for fresh ginger, you have two options.
- Buy pre-grated ginger: This option offers convenience for busy cooks and is usually the option my family goes with. Pre-grated ginger is readily available in jars or tubes at most grocery stores. It’s already peeled, grated, and ready to use. It is ideal for adding quick bursts of ginger flavor to recipes.
- Use fresh ginger root: The second option is to buy a piece of ginger root, peel off the outer skin with a spoon or vegetable peeler, then grate the desired amount using a fine grater or microplane into your dish. You can keep ginger in the freezer and grate it into recipes right from the freezer. This option tends to be cheaper.
How to Serve
Serve your coconut lime chicken with rice, or for a low-carb option, cauliflower rice. I love the way that the delicious sauce from this recipe soaks into the rice. It turns this from an easy weeknight meal, to delicious comfort food in a snap.
Cauliflower Rice
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Store any leftover chicken and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Store it separately from any rice that you made to go with the dish. Reheat in a small saucepan or the microwave on half power until heated through and serve with fresh or reheated rice. As with all recipes, use your best discretion when it comes to leftovers.
Other Easy Dinner Recipes
If you try this one pan coconut lime chicken recipe or any of my other recipes, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
Coconut Lime Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half (see photos in the post here)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 small red onion diced fine
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 15 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 3 tablespoons freshly minced cilantro
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chicken and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken from the pan and tent with foil.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add the butter to the pan (no need to clean it first). Once melted, add the onion, ginger, and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes.2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 small red onion, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 4 garlic cloves
- Add in the coconut milk and lime juice, scraping up the browned bits. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Taste the sauce and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken to the pan with the drippings from the plate.15 ounces unsweetened coconut milk, 1/4 cup lime juice, 3 tablespoons freshly minced cilantro
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
Roberta Smeal says
Your coconut lime chicken sounds delicious. Will give it try after the next time I go shopping.
Thanks for you recipes!
You’re welcome!
Denise says
Hi, love your recipes Lisa…..i was wondering with your breaded chicken cutlets they are fried for 2 min on each side. With Coconut Lime chicken, cutlets are fried for 5-6 min each side. Are coconut lime cutlets thicker than 1/2”? Thanks
It’s just two different cooking processes. One is in quite a bit of oil and the other isn’t.