Zippy, garlicky, and bursting with fresh herby flavor, this cilantro lime chicken is an easy dinner you’ll make on repeat!
It’s a blessing that this recipe is so easy, as it is one of my family’s most requested dinners. While many cilantro lime chicken recipes rely on an overnight marinade, I’ve found that a bold spice blend brings so much flavor that you don’t need to plan ahead!
It’s the same trick I use for my Balsamic Chicken, Garlic Dijon Chicken, and beyond. Here, paprika, nutmeg, and garlic powder give the chicken thighs a sweet-savory depth that perfectly balances the zing of fresh lime.
Everything comes together in one pan, which means fewer dishes and richer flavor. The savory chicken drippings mix with white wine, lime juice, and cilantro for a pan sauce is so tasty you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful. The chicken thighs simmer in the sauce until they’re juicy and fall-apart-tender. Incredible!
- Tip: Turn them into a tasty lunch the next day! Shred the chicken and toss with black bean and corn salad for a protein-packed power lunch, or make a zippy healthy chicken salad.
Table of Contents
Cilantro Lime Chicken Ingredients and Substitutions
Fresh cilantro and lime juice are a perfect duo that may call to mind Mexican cuisine, but they are also gloriously used in Mediterranean cooking, where we balance the lime’s zing with fragrant warming spices. You’ll need:
- Chicken: I love juicy, crispy-skinned chicken thighs, but you can use any cut of chicken you have. Just adjust the cooking time so the chicken registers at 165°F at the thickest part.
- Extra virgin olive oil: There’s no substitute for good Mediterranean olive oil! Use a high quality extra virgin variety for the best flavor.
- Garlic: Adds that addictive sweet-savory quality. If you avoid garlic, substitute with shallot or green onion.
- Limes: Add a sharp zing. Lemons will work too, just keep in mind they tend to be slightly sweeter.
- White wine: Dry white wine adds a rich depth of flavor, and most of the alcohol cooks off. If you avoid alcohol, swap with more chicken stock or broth and an extra squeeze of lime.
- Chicken broth: Use homemade stock or broth if you have it, or go for a low sodium store bought option.
- Cilantro: Both the stems and leaves add loads of flavor. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, this recipe is delicious with parsley.
- Spices: Spanish paprika, garlic powder, and nutmeg bring a warming, cozy quality to balance the zing of the lime. Salt and pepper perk everything up.
How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken
It’s a blessing that this cilantro lime chicken is so easy, as it is one of my family’s most requested dinners. Here’s how it’s done:
- Get ready. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Roughly chop 6 garlic cloves. Chop 1 bunch of cilantro, discarding and tough stems.
- Season the chicken. In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Pat 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs dry, then season all over with the spice mix. Be sure to season underneath the skin as well. Let the chicken thighs sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes while your oven heats.
- Brown the chicken. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs with the skin side down and wait until the skin releases from the pan and turns golden, 5-7 minutes. Flip and wait until the second side is golden, about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken from skillet and set aside briefly.
- Make the cilantro lime chicken sauce. Lower the heat to medium low and add 1 cup white wine to deglaze the skillet. Let cook for a few minutes to reduce, then add 2 cups of chicken broth. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Stir in the cilantro (save a little for garnish) and garlic, then juice in 2 limes.
- Simmer the chicken in the cilantro sauce. Return the chicken to the skillet and bring to a simmer once more. Simmer for about 5 minutes or so.
- Bake the chicken. Cover the skillet with the lid (or foil if you don’t have one). and transfer to the heated oven for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with more cilantro, if you like.
What to Serve with Cilantro Lime Chicken
When you’re planning what to serve with cilantro lime chicken thighs, your number one goal is to take full advantage of the incredible pan sauce. A hunk of crusty bread more than does the trick. I also love the chicken on a bed of rice, with plenty of the sauce spooned over top. Round out the meal with something fresh and crunchy, like a mini sweet bell pepper salad.
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Ingredients
- 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
For the Spice Mix
- 1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika (or hot paprika, if you like)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Get ready. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Season the chicken. Mix the spices in a small bowl. Pat the chicken thighs dry, then season all over with the spice mix. Be sure to season underneath the skin as well. Let the chicken thighs sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes while your oven heats.
- Sear the chicken. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs with the skin side down and wait until the skin releases from the pan and turns golden, 5-7 minutes. Flip and wait until the second side is golden, about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken from skillet and set aside briefly.
- Make the cilantro lime sauce. Lower the heat to medium low and add the white wine to deglaze the skillet. Let cook for a few minutes to reduce, then add the broth. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Stir in the cilantro (save a little for garnish), lime juice, and garlic.
- Simmer the chicken in the cilantro lime sauce. Return the chicken to the skillet and bring to a simmer once more. Simmer for about 5 minutes or so.
- Bake the chicken. Cover the skillet with the lid (or foil if you don’t have one). and transfer to the heated oven for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with more cilantro, if you like.
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Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The pan sauce may solidify in your fridge; simple reheat over low heat. Alternatively, shred the chicken and into a healthy chicken salad, wrap, or as a topping for Caesar salad.
- Slow Cooker/Crockpot Instructions: Once you’ve browned the chicken and prepared the sauce, transfer the sauce to the bottom of a large slow cooker or crockpot. Nestle the chicken into the sauce and add the fresh cilantro. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or high for 2 to 3 hours (internal temperature should register 165 degrees F).
Nutrition
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I love this recipe! Thank you for posting! The chicken falls off the bone and the sauce is amazing! If I could give it 10 stars, I would. I’m making for my daughter’s family now, as they just had a baby and could use a delicious treat!
Thanks, Betsy! And congrats on your new grand-baby!
Suzy, this cilantro lime chicken is amazing! So easy to prep, and the chicken is delicious. I served it over quinoa, it is fantastic. All of the flavors pop, this will be a regular in my rotation. I love the spices and the lime juice.
I have been following Mediterranean Dish for a little over a year now, and Suzie’s recipes never let us down. I tried the Easy Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe and it was absolutely superb. The flavors were off the chart. We paired it with Majadara, lentils and rice with crispy onions, and Shirazi salad. An excellent meal. Thanks Suzi
Omgod!! Amazing!! Sooooo delicious!! I absolutely loved this chicken! And it was soo easy to make. The juice that the chicken cooked inside the oven in, I mixed with pasta. It all turned out to be such a great dinner! Thank you so much for this recipe 🙂
Delicious. Definitely make again..
Thanks so much!
This was delicious! I used the 2 cups of broth with boneless skinless thighs (I used 2 Costco packs-10 thighs). Covered and cooked on the stove, then uncovered and kept on low. Sauce thickened (almost too much!) and had such great flavor. Will definitely become a regular in the rotation.
Awesome! Thanks, Kristin!
Suzy, I can hardly wait to try this recipe! Thank you so much for including slow cooker instructions. When the temperature in West Texas is 105 degrees, I can’t bring myself to fire up my gas oven!
Whew! That is HOT!
Can you use chicken breast instead of thighs??
Sure!
This is delicious!! Made it exactly as-is, and squeezed a third fresh lime and another ~1/2 cup cilantro over the chicken once cooked.
Next time I’ll increase the recipe (maybe 12 thighs) since it’s the same amount of work and my 12″ pan seems large enough. I will also serve this over rice (should’ve followed Suzy’s advice…) so that I have something to pour the broth over. I served the chicken with roasted baby potatoes and asparagus this time, but they don’t soak up the liquid as well — which is a shame because it’s so good.
Will definitely be making again!
Thanks for sharing, Alexandra!
Just made this tonight – SO GOOD!!! I already have requests to make this again. Thank you and cannot wait to try more recipes from your website!
Yay! Thanks, Judy!
Hi Suzy. Could I prepare this recipe to a point, refrigerate, then continue later on the day?. I want to make this for friends coming in the evening but don’t want to be frying just before they come. At what point could I pause and continue later? BTW, the recipe sounds amazing, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Hi, Denise. You could complete the whole recipe a day or two in advance, refrigerate in a tight-lid glass container, and then warm it up in a medium-heated oven.
Made sorta a half recipe: 4 thighs with the rest per recipe (there’s only 2 of us not counting the puppies). BUT would like to see some of the amounts in standard measuring units. Limes vary a lot in size; mine were about golf ball size & 2 of them gave me a little over a TBS of juice. Final result had a hint of lime, but that’s all. Really felt like lime should have shown through a bit more robust. From my bunch of cilantro, I got about a half a cup or so . Cilantro got lost in the final result; maybe I needed a full cup or more. Agree that cilantro flavor is critical for this recipe, so want to have enough to taste.
Chicken was excellent: great seasoning and flavor, falling off the bone tender, delightful!
This is clearly a do again, and I suspect it will take me several iterations to get it “right”, measuring lime and cilantro and making notes to get quantities in TBS, Cups, etc.
PS: Ditto garlic on quantities. Of late my garlic has had smaller cloves than last year My 6 cloves were slightly more than a TBS this time whereas at another time, I’d have 2+ TBS.
Did this again with a bag of limes and 2 bunches of cilantro. Squeezed limes until I had 1/4 cup of juice; got 1 heaping cup of cilantro (agree with Suzy that cilantro is critical for this dish). Everything popped! Flavors were perfect; chicken was falling off the bone tender; 4 large thighs – 2 meals. Clearly a keeper & do again often.
Love to hear it, Jim! Thank you!
I love this recipe just as it is, but am making it for a group that includes people who don’t like cilantro. What do you suggest I substitute?
Hi, Suzy. The cilantro is pretty essential to this particular recipe. You might just want to try a different chicken recipe, like these Wine Braised Chicken Thighs.
This was really good! I made mine with boneless skinless chicken thighs, so I did all the cooking in the pan and skipped the oven step. I thickened the sauce into a gravy with a little cornstarch and served it with rice.
Suzy, are there any differences between using finely diced cilantro stems versus using only the leaves?
And, what alternatives do u suggest instead of white wine?
Thanks!!
Hi, Mary Ellen. I’m not sure, but I never use only the stems. I prefer to cut and discard the large woody stems, and only include the stems right where the leaves start to grow, along with the leaves. And regarding the wine, if you would prefer not to use any here, you can just use a bit more broth.
So good!! The whole family loved it! Even the picky eaters 😊 Definitely make this recipe again…Thanx for sharing…
Yay! So glad it was a hit!