Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Coconut Lime Chicken

http://menumusings.blogspot.com/
This Indonesian inspired chicken dish got a definite "thumbs" up from my teens last night!  It was super easy to make which was great because I was playing taxi cab driver back and forth across town for one of my kids.  You just throw the marinade together and shove the chicken in it, then grill it up when you get your brood all back together under the same roof.  

Anything with coconut, lime and cilantro is automatically going to get my vote, because that flavor profile just rocks!  And then with the addition of a spicy kick?  Yes, please!  This dish is adapted from a recipe found in Fine Cooking, Winter 2006.
#glutenfree #dairyfree #asian #familyfriendly #easy #paleo #cleaneating 

Click for Video Recipe

Ingredients:
  • 1 package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 3 Tbsp canola or avocado oil
  • zest of 1 large lime
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
  • 1 - 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp sugar of choice (eg. coconut sugar for paleo)
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 cup canned coconut milk
  • juice of 1 lime
  • optional - 1 serrano pepper, finely minced or cut into thin slivers 
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Step-by-step:

Prep the chicken -
Carefully cut the chicken breasts in half, as if you were butterflying them.

Cut them completely in half.
Put them in a gallon sized zip top bag.
 Pound them to the same thickness.

Make the marinade -
**Feel free to double the marinade if you like a lot of sauce.  It's that good! 
Add all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
3 Tbsp canola oil
zest of one lime
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp curry powder
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
Add marinade to the chicken -
Just dump it right in the bag with the chicken.  This makes clean up a breeze!
Squeeze all the air out and allow the chicken to marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Use this time to continue your "Mom's Taxi Service" gig! Then come home and cook!

Ready-set-go!
Get your pan really hot.  I am using my grill pan because I think the grill marks look so pretty on the chicken.  Spray it with nonstick cooking spray or a splash of oil.
non-stick cooking spray
Using tongs (because I can't stand to touch that chicken) remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the pan.
 Allow some room in between them.  You may have to cook in two batches.  This is a 12" pan.
Can you see all the beautiful spices and lime zest on the chicken?!
 Now pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan.
Bring to a FULL BOIL for at least 3 minutes.  This will make it safe to eat.  If you are really nervous about this, just double the marinade recipe and divide before putting the chicken into it.
Don't move the chicken around once you add it to the pan.  Just chill out and let it stay put for a few minutes.  See the nice color on here? 

While the chicken is cooking - 
So while you are NOT moving around your chicken in the pan, get your other stuff ready. Prepare some fresh lime wedges - because you MUST squeeze some of this over each dish when you serve it.
Chop your fresh cilantro to sprinkle over the top.
THINLY slice your Serrano pepper.  One pepper goes a LONG way!  I added this to my dish, but not to the kids' dishes.  If your family really likes heat, you could mince these and add them to the marinade, but I know that would have been too hot for my kids.

Now serve -
I served the grilled chicken breasts over rice with the sauce drizzled over the top, fresh lime wedges, thin slices of Serrano peppers, and chopped fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!!
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Looking for more recipes like this one?
Please visit my Recipe Index for tons of ideas!  Almost all of them have step-by-step photos and some even have video tutorials!

Here are a few more Asian ideas to start with:
Thai Chicken Wrap Bistro Boxes with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Thai Chicken Wrap Bistro Boxes with Peanut Dipping Sauce_menumusings.com
Asian Inspired Ginger-Sesame Turkey Meatballs with Teriyaki Glaze
Asian Turkey Meatballs_menumusings.com
 Vietnames Style Lettuce Cups
 Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli
 Steamed Asian Dumplings

Written Method:
The prep for this dish takes all of about 10 minutes.  Slice chicken breasts in half, as if you were butterflying them.  Place them in a gallon zip top bag and flatten them uniformly with a meat pounder (or heavy pan, or wine bottle, etc).   

In a bowl, add all of the marinade ingredients together:  oil, lime zest, cumin, soy sauce, salt, sugar, curry powder, coconut milk, lime juice, and Serrano pepper if you are using one.  This marinade may taste pretty salty to you right now, but once we put it over the chicken and bland rice, it will balance out.  Pour the marinade over the chicken in the zip top bag, squeeze the air out and allow to marinade at least 30 minutes, or preferably up to 2 hours in the fridge.  (I allowed one hour.) 

After marinating, grill the chicken over moderately high heat in a pan with a bit of cooking spray or canola oil in it.  Get the pan really hot before you add the meat.  You want it to sear.  Allow to sit without moving it for several minutes on each side until just cooked.  The time will depend on the thickness of the meat.  While cooking the meat,  add the marinade to a small saucepan and bring to a full boil for at least 2-3 minutes.  This is sufficient to kill all of the bacteria in it.  Or you could double the marinade, divide in two, and just toss the part that you used for the chicken. 

Serve the chicken and a drizzle of the sauce over rice with chopped cilantro and fresh lime wedges.  This is a very important part, as these flavors bring balance and brightness to the dish.

61 comments:

  1. I'll be trying this tonight. It looks so simple and right up my alley!

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    1. Mona.... Let me know how it goes! (It IS very simple!)

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  2. Sounds and looks wonderful. I am allergic to coconut. Do you know If I can still use Coco. Mild, or do you know of a sub I can use?

    ~Erica
    ebevanstx@sbcglobal.net

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    1. Oh Erica.... I am so sad for you, as coconut is one of my favs! You might try mixing low sodium chicken broth, evaporated milk or cream, and a teaspoon or so of brown sugar to get the sweet flavor. If you try it, please let us all know, as others may have the same issue! :) Julie

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  3. Julie May,
    This looks so delicious! I love coconut and lime together and can't wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing :)
    Michelle

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    1. Thanks Michelle! My family really enjoyed it. Hope yours will, too! Julie

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  4. We tried this tonight from my Pinterest board and it was amazing and fragrant - just delicious. In fact, my husband have deemed dinner party worthy without the headache. However, I would serve as side dish - tempura brocoli with toasted cashews...or just brocoli in butter. Wonderful, easy and a must try. LDG

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    1. LDG - thank you for that glowing review! Hope you come back and visit my blog again.
      Julie

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  5. I made this dish tonight for my husband and myself. I altered it just a bit by cutting back on the salt, switching to light coconut milk, and I sauteed some green peppers, mushrooms, onions and garlic to layer on top of the rice and under the chicken. We absolutely LOVED this dish. The flavors were amazing and you're so right, the lime and cilantro at the end just make the dish. yum!

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    1. That's awesome. My very favorite thing about cooking is that you can take a dish and transform an "idea" into something that is just right for YOUR family. Thanks for dropping the note to me... hope you will be back. :)

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  6. For coconut allergies could you sub almond milk? My sister doesn't like coconut so I was going to use almond milk instead. Think that would work?
    Sounds great can't wait to try it!!

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    1. Michele -
      Absolutely, the almond milk should work just fine. Let me know how it comes out! :)
      Julie

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  7. I have added this to next weeks menu. I will let you know how it turns out. And I LOVE your bandaid. So fashionable. So much better than the GI Joe one's I grab for! :)

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    1. Thanks Liz!

      Do let me know how the recipe turns out for you. As for my Band-aid choices, it all depends on who is "doctoring" me... If my daughter grabs one for me, its Hello Kitty, Princesses, or some cool animal print. If it's my son, I end up with Angry Birds, Spiderman, etc.. So a GI Joe may indeed end up on a blog post one day! HA!!!

      Thanks for visiting my blog. Good luck with the recipe!
      Julie

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  8. My husband and I tried this recipe and we LOVE it. Thank you soooo much for sharing! This is quite possibly the best chicken I ever ate!

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  9. Just made this tonight and it was amazing!!! Definitely one of my favorite dishes I've made! I subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce (soy allergy) and I baked it (don't have a grill pan), but it still turned out delicious! My husband loved it and even my super picky daughter ate it well. :) I'll definitely be making this again, and trying out more of your recipes!

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    1. Hi Molly -
      Thanks for the note. Coconut aminos is definitely a new one for me, but I'm really glad that you found a way to enjoy it despite your allergy. Please do come back again any time. Hopefully you'll find something to pique your interest that your family will enjoy. I appreciate you stopping by my blog!
      Julie

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  10. Delish! We got rained out so I baked the chicken in the marinade instead of grilling and it was perfect! Whole family loved it (no small feat with 4 teenagers:) We'll definitely be making this again and hopefully try the grilling method if it ever stops raining here in Chicago.

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    1. Crystlle - That's awesome! I may try that myself next time. :)
      Thanks so much for dropping me a line to let me know how the dish came out for you. I hope you'll come back again.
      Julie

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  11. HOLY COW!!! We licked our plates, even the picky 4 year old. I modified it a tad based on laziness and what I had on hand. We used chicken thighs; doubled the sauce, skipped the curry powder and used 2 t of ground ginger instead; skipped the peppers; marinated for 24 hours; skipped pounding thin; seared in cast iron skillet and finished for 10 minutes in a 300 oven. Thank you so much for the recipe. It was fantastic.

    Carrie

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    1. Carrie -
      What an awesome message! I absolutely love it when people take a recipe and "make it theirs." That is the whole point of it! :) Thanks for letting me know how it came out. I hope that you will become a subscriber to my blog and part of the MenuMusings community!... and please share the blog with your friends!
      Julie

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  12. Hi Julie
    Thx so much for giving us ( young daughter & husband, who claimed.." best ever chicken") an amazing dinner. Everybody Love it!!!
    Followed the receipt step by step and it did work to perfection.
    Please keep the good work☆☆☆☆☆

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  13. I absolutely LOVE this recipe. Ok correction I'm slightly OBSESSED with it. I have consistently made it at least once a week, if not more, since I first tried it. The flavor is so amazing and everyone I have cooked it for totally agrees! I always serve it with a coconut mango rice and flavor combination is to die for! Thanks for the GREAT recipe!

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    1. Okay - You are NOT getting off THAT easily!! You are stalking my blog and making my food, and then come up with something so amazing as Coconut Mango Rice?!! You MUST share that recipe!!!!! ... and next time, there better be a subscriber name, not anonymous! LOL

      Thanks for the compliments...
      Julie

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  14. Have made this dish 3 times now! My husband normally is not a fan of curry but he absolutely loves this dish:) making it for dinner again right now.

    Coconut mango rice? Please share!

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  15. I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit! I know I will be making it again soon.

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  16. Do you think you freeze all ingredients together and then cook in the crock pot?

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    1. Hi there. I don't make this recipe in a crock pot. I just quickly grill them on the stovetop. If you were going to try a crockpot... That sounds like a good way to do it. I don't think they will need to cook long, though. Perhaps 4 hours max, or else the chicken will be dry and overcooked.

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  17. I made this tonight and it was just about the most delicious thing I have made in a very long time. I actually marinated all day and the chicken was so tender. I will definitely make it again soon. Question, does coconut milk in the can last in the fridge after opening the can, or how do you store the rest after using only a portion from the can - could I freeze? Another question, instead of rice what would be better carb conscious sides I could serve. AMAZING, thank you!

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    1. I am SO sorry... I never saw your question! (Bad blog host!) I would put the extra coconut milk in something other than a can to store it. And freezing sounds like a great option for next time. :) As for your last question, you could slice the chicken and make some amazing lettuce wraps!

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  18. Julie, thank you for the delicious and easy recipe. I made it together with the kids and they loved it. You can see the result here :) http://vkusnoteka.blogspot.com/2014/08/blog-post.html Best regards

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  19. Super Recipe Shared. Thanks for Sharing this delicious and easy recipe :)

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  20. Delicious simple and such a pretty dish!

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  21. this was sensational, I cooked this tonight almost to the recipe and we all raved about it. I added a splash more coconut milk and I didn't have serrano chilli but it had a long red chilli so I finely chopped it and sprinkled it over the top. OMG...it's our new favourite recipe. Thank you for sharing.

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  22. FANTASTIC! Made it for dinner tonight. My son was saying he loved it from the first or second bite. Said it was the best thing I had made lately. Subbed coconut aminos for the soy sauce. Subbed a more mild chili for the Serrano. It only got to marinate for about 40 minutes because I started late. We served it over rice with a big green salad. Next time I'm making more chicken and doubling the marinade so there will be more for the rice. Took a picture and posted on Facebook with kudos to you.
    Gail Valleau

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    1. Gail -

      I'm thrilled your family enjoyed this recipe. I had a really rough day yesterday and it was SO NICE to wake up to this message!!! And thanks for sharing on your social media, readers like you are the reason why they blog has grown. :)
      Julie

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  23. Oh this is right up my alley! This is why I love your blog, simple ingredients and you use the same kind of ingredients I love. I've only replaced the canned coconut milk for a fresh one, made from this stuff http://www.tiana-coconut.com/products/coconut-superfoods/raw-coconut-goodness/ and it came out very yummy.

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  24. Made this tonight and it was amazing! Perfect flavors. I wanted to drink the sauce!! Thank you for creating and sharing this recipe.

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  25. This recipe was amazing! I can't and don't cook, but this one was a hit with the entire family! Even my 3 picky littles! Thank you!

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  26. This looks awesome! I love all of your recipes that I've tried so far. very interesting...

    for more information visit Red Stripe and coconut milk chicken

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  27. Made this tonight for dinner. ZOMG AMAZING! The flavors are perfect together. Definitely making again.

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  28. I made this, but marinated it overnight, and after browning both sides on a grill pan, I topped it with smoked Monterey Jalapeño cheese slices (From Aldi's), and sliced avocado. I covered it with a lid, turned it to low, and cooked it further until the cheese melted. We loved it, and this will go on my regular rotation! Thank you for sharing this recipe! ~ Diane

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  29. WOW WOW WOW! This was such a hit! I made it for a dinner party and my guests begged for the recipe. It was SO SO good. The only thing I changed is I sauteed some onions in the saucepan before adding the marinade. I also served it with quinoa made with the leftover coconut milk and chicken stock and folded in some chickpeas before serving. Absolutely delicious!

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  30. Precise, clear, nicely illustrated and perfectly tasting.
    Thanks a lot, you helped me keeping my man at home ;)

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  31. Third time making this recipe. The first time I substituted the curry powder for ginger as another person had done and a little red pepper flake and cooked on the gas grill. Tonight I made this exactly as written. I prefer this recipe with the ginger. Another fabulous recipe Julie. I feel like a chef instead of a home cook when making your recipes. So glad I found your blog you make me look like a kitchen hero!

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  32. What would be a good side dish to pair with this?

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    1. You know, to be honest, we've struggled with that same question. We usually just go with steamed veggies. But a salad would be good, too.

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  33. This is our families go to recipe for guests anytime of year but in the summer we have it often. We LOVE it! Thank you for sharing! We always make extra marinade because peopled end up fighting over it!

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  34. I came across this absolutely tasty recipe at 0300 the other night..haha. Grilled them up for lunch after marinating it the night before. Twas a huge hit. Will def be making it again as it was so easy to whip up! Wonderful flavors despite me forgetting the cumin and skipping on the serano. Served over coconut brown rice. I doubled the recipe because I'm a saucy kinda gal. My bro in law could've drank the leftover sauce lol. Thumbs up and thank you!!!

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    1. Thanks Linda! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Please pass along the link to your friends. :)
      Julie

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  35. Think I can throw this marinade in the crockpot?

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    1. I like to get a good boil on my marinade, and a crockpot cooks very low, so I think I'd avoid it. Also, I think it may stay a little too thin.

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  36. This is one of our go-to recipes for taking to summer BBQ potlucks. At this moment I've got 6 pounds of chicken tenders marinating for a graduation party this evening. The meat barely gets off the grill before someone puts it on their plate. Thanks for such a simple, yet tasty, dish!

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    1. Yay!!! I'm in so glad, Erin! :) Thanks for letting me know that! - Julie

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  37. Has anyone made this in the Instant Pot?

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  38. When you say a package of chicken, about how much is that?

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    1. Emily, I'm sorry. That wasn't very clear, was it? The package I used typically comes three breasts per package. They are so huge that I typically butterfly them in half, giving me six more normal sized portions. Thanks for your question and allowing me to clarify.
      - Julie

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  39. This was SO DELICIOUS! And so easy. We moved it to our A-list of recipes, it was that good’

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    1. Thank you, Emily! I appreciate the comment. This is one of our favorites as well! My grown sons now make it for THEIR friends. :)

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