Summer’s right around the corner, which means it’s time for fresh flavours and quick meals! These cilantro lime chicken tacos definitely check those boxes and make the perfect summer dinner. Juicy cilantro lime chicken pieces smothered with your favourite sauce and toppings — totally irresistible.
Why Should You Make Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos?
Not only are these cilantro lime chicken tacos simply delicious, but they require simple ingredients that you may already have on hand. This makes it a pretty convenient meal to make.
To add to this, you can marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours, which is great to start prepping ahead of time; it will also help save you some time.
Ingredients to Make Chicken Tacos
Fresh and simple ingredients are needed to make these scrumptious cilantro lime chicken tacos. You may likely have these ingredients on hand.
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs: I urge you to get your hands on chicken thighs, rather than chicken breasts. The thighs are much juicier, flavourful, and more tender.
- Corn tortillas: This is what holds all of that juicy chicken, sauces, and toppings. You can also use flour tortillas if preferred.
- Cilantro: It wouldn’t be cilantro lime chicken without the cilantro. Cilantro lends a peppery-lemon taste to the chicken.
- Lime: And it wouldn’t be cilantro lime chicken without the lime. Lime gives the chicken a beautifully tart flavour.
- Spices: A few spices are used to bring all the flavours together, including salt, black pepper, ground cumin, garlic powder, and paprika.
How to Make Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
Making these tacos is a pretty straightforward process.
The first thing to do is prepare the marinade by mixing all the marinade ingredients together. Add your chicken to the marinade and mix together, making sure every piece of chicken is coated with the marinade. Leave this to marinate for at least 30 minutes. If marinating for more than 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
While this is marinating, it would be a great time to start prepping your desired toppings, sauces, etc.
Once the chicken has finished marinating, you will cook them over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. The chicken should develop a nice browning. Remove the chicken from heat, cover, and let it rest for about 5 minutes (this will keep the chicken moist and juicy). Once it’s rested, cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces.
Now it’s time for the fun part! It’s time to assemble your tacos. You start with a warm corn tortilla, fill with the cilantro lime chicken, and drizzle over your favourite sauce + toppings. Done!
What Toppings Should You Use?
These tacos go so well with pretty much ANY toppings you love. You can choose toppings such as tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, or sour cream. You can use sauces such as cilantro lime sauce or salsa.
My favourite toppings for this particular taco is pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, avocado crema, and sour cream…YUM!
Frequently Asked Questions
I strongly suggest using thighs as it results in juicier, more flavourful tacos. However, if you prefer, you can use other cuts of chicken, like breasts. Be sure to not overcook the chicken breasts and let it rest before cutting it into small pieces to retain as much juice as possible.
Yes you can! You can prepare the chicken and start marinating it up to 24 hours before you cook it. Be sure to keep it tightly covered in the fridge. Remove it from the fridge about an hour before cooking to allow to come up to room temperature.
You can also cook the chicken, cut it up, let cool, and then refrigerate in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days. When ready to use, reheat chicken and prepare the tacos as instructed.
You can serve these tacos with a variety of side dishes. Mexican rice, beans, corn on the cob, and salad all make really good side dishes for these tacos.
If you love these tacos, then you might also love my Easy and Mouthwatering Chili Recipe.
Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
Description
Soft corn tortilla shells filled with juicy cilantro lime chicken. Top these chicken tacos with your favourite toppings, such as pico de gallo, avocado crema, sour cream, shredded cheese, or onions.
Ingredients
Ingredients
Marinade Ingredients
Suggested Toppings
Instructions
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Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade together until well combined. Add the prepared boneless and skinless thighs to the marinade and use your hand to thoroughly coat the chicken with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and let this marinate for 30 minutes.
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While chicken is marinating, you can use this time to start preparing your favourite toppings.
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Heat a pan over medium high heat. Once hot, place your marinated chicken thighs onto the pan, do not overcrowd. Your chicken thighs shouldn't be too thick, so it should only take about 2-3 minutes to cook on each side.
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Once cooked, remove chicken from pan and place on a plate, cover and let rest for a few minutes.
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On another pan over high heat, warm up the corn tortillas. This should take about 15-20 seconds on each side.
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Once chicken has rested, slice or chop it up into small bite size pieces.
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Now it's time to assemble the taco. Grab a tortilla, place some chicken along the center, and top with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Note
- You can choose to grill or bake the chicken, if you prefer.
