Lime and Coconut Chicken
I have been trying to be more open minded about recipes lately. I no longer reject a recipe just because it calls for curry powder or coconut milk. In the past, I would turn up my nose at any recipe that didn’t have a flavor profile I immediately recognized. Mix cumin and soy sauce? Never. Makes no sense. My attitude these days is more along the lines of: “I like cumin and I like soy sauce, so I why won’t I like them together?” Also, I feel like I should trust the experts. If Fine Cooking says these flavors taste good together, then I am willing to try it.
This turned out to be a really nice, quick dinner. Serve over rice or couscous to soak up all of the juices and sauce. The chicken is marinated for a few hours and then seared. The marinade is reserved and then boiled and served as a sauce. If you don’t like the idea of using the marinade as a sauce you can either double it and reserve half before adding the chicken or you can serve it without the sauce. I thought it was juicy and flavorful on it own, mrChaos liked the sauce a lot (and by the way if you asked him he would tell you he doesn’t like curry powder or coconut milk)-so it’s up to you.
Lime and Coconut Chicken
serves 4, prep 10 minutes, marinade up to 2 hours, cook 15 min, adapted from Fine Cooking, Winter 2006- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp oil
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- pinch cayenne
- 1 small fresh hot chili, such as Thai or Serrano, minced (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Fresh limes, cut into wedges
- Trim fat from chicken breasts. Starting on thick side of the breasts slice the chicken breasts almost in half, then open each like a book.
- Place each open breast between two pieces of plastic wrap, wax paper or inside a large, open, Ziploc bag.
- Using a small heavy pan, bottle or smooth meat mallet lightly pound out each breast into even thickness.
- Mix all remaining ingredients except fresh cilantro and limes.
- Add chicken and marinade to a large bowl or ziploc bag and chill in the refrigerator for up to two hours.
- Your chicken doesn’t take long to cook so you can use this time to get your dishes prepped and ready.
- Once you are ready to cook the chicken, remove each breast from the marinade.
- Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Boil continuously for at least 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
- In a heavy skillet or grill pan, heat a splash of oil over high heat.
- Cook the chicken in batches to prevent over crowding the pan.
- Place the breasts in the hot pan and cook without turning for a couple minutes
- Flip the breasts over and cook until the other side is golden, it shouldn’t take long depending on the thickness of your chicken.
- Place cooked breasts on a plate in a warm oven or under foil while cooking the remaining chicken.
- Sprinkle with fresh lime juice and cilantro. Serve with sauce on the side.
If you typically have these ingredients on hand this is a quick, cheap main dish to throw together. It would be delicious on the grill or as kabobs as well.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
“you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up….” is now running through my head. I have the CD – love that song. I”m with you on the reticence to use coconut milk – I hate the soup you get at some Thai restaurants that’s got coconut milk in it. But I love coconut itself in desserts. Don’t know if I can be as open-minded as you to try this recipe. It sure LOOKS good, though!
July 30th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Mm, this looks and sounds gorgeous! Definitely want to try this, thanks for sharing the recipes.
Cheers
Hungry Jenny x
July 30th, 2009 at 4:52 am
Looks great. I think those flavor combobs sound good. It wasn’t too coconutty huh?
July 30th, 2009 at 7:41 am
That sounds like a great marinade, and that photo looks awesome!
July 30th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Wow, thanks this looks delicious! Big fan of coconut milk and TheHusband LOVES chicken, so this is a win-win for everyone.
Am bookmarking this and will definitely give it a go.
July 30th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I used to be the same way about recipes. Now I’ll try just about everything once.
These look really, really good. I plan on making this dish very soon.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
What a refresh recipes its looks and sound. I never use coconut in a chicken.
Thank you.
July 30th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
wonderful, I will make a vegetarian version of this I just love coconut milk and curry
July 31st, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Looks delicious Katie. I am open to new flavors lately too. Love that huge photo, I can’t get mine that big on my blog, but I am a goofball when it come with working with html codes.
July 31st, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I would definitely make this… looks so lovely. Thinking a coconut-lime sorbet would also be nice… (I’d leave the chicken out of that one.)
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
This looks lovely!
I do like to try recipes that are a little unfamiliar.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I made this recipe with extra firm tofu and it was really wonderful.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Mmmmm… that’s a flavor profile I not only recognize but love! YUMMY!
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:34 pm
I used to think the same way about recipes. I kept to my comfort items and dared not mix something that sounded odd. I just mixed cinnamon and cumin today. That weirded me out but it made a fantastic salad! This looks excellent, I’ll give it a try!
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Hi, I came over from Mary’s Blog as she gave you a shout out.
I had a chuckle about your comment about strange ingredients. You described me. I am a bit more interested in trying those recipes but still hesitant to go forth. This recipe sounds fabulous but it is quite involved. We’ll see.
I see some of your previous posts and just the titles are fun and different.
Nice to meet you.
Hugs, Jeanne
March 4th, 2012 at 10:26 am
I made this last night. Wow! This is such a flavorful dish. The chicken was so tender & juicy. I served the chicken with Jasmine rice that I cooked using the left over coconut milk as some of the liquid.I will be making this again. So,so delish!
March 10th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
I too am trying to be more open, but one thing I can not be open to is cilantro—-it is a torture for me to eat. What are your thoughts about subbing regular parsley or is it integral to the flavor? Thanks!
March 15th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
This chicken is one of my new favorite recipes. I substituted thighs and drumsticks (bone in/skin on) for a more authentic feel and had my husband grill the marinated meat. It was AMAZING!!! Thanks!
March 15th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Kathryn…I’d try basil as it is part of the thai tradition that this recipe draws on.
March 30th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
This looks good…but its just curry chicken, in our Jamaican household we make it all the time. Soy sauce is needed to make it. The only diff, is instead of chicken breast we use chopped up chicken and minus the lime. But it looks good though!
March 31st, 2012 at 12:14 pm
This was *divine*–really flavorful and complex. Our whole family loved it with Jasmine rice. Thank you!!
April 7th, 2012 at 7:14 am
Looks yummy! I will add it to my next month menu. Reminds me of chicken piri piri which is a huge hit in the house!
April 18th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
#23 on the list of people saying “holy crap this was delicious”… yup, that’s me!
April 21st, 2012 at 7:29 am
Found you on Pinterest, thought this meal was delicious! My kids gobbled it down, which is always a bonus. Thanks for sharing!
April 25th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Made this for dinner last night and it was amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
May 26th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Just finished eating this. SO GOOD!!! I doubled the sauce but wish I’d tripled it.
June 5th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Absolutely deeeelllliiissshhhh!
July 8th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
I just made this for dinner and it is fantastic. This will definitely become a favourite for something special on the weekends.
August 6th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Looks super yummy–I bet it would be great with fish as well–I just may have to try that this week
August 13th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
If you’re concerned about marinade on your plate- grill this! It was awesome. Flavors go perfectly together. We seared both sides on grill, high heat, 3-5 minutes each side, then moved over to medium heat and checked. Because they’re butterflied AND pounded they actually cook pretty quickly. But we marinated at each turn- it used up the marinade but we didn’t need any sauce at all. It was more like a tandoori coating because of the coconut milk this way, but a beautiful spicy yellow color, thick, which preserved the juice inside. With a salad, saffron cashew basmati rice and grilled corn we had the best end-of-summer meal in a long time!
August 19th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Made this for dinner tonight, with a few changes (due to missing ingredient and a 6 year old’s taste buds joining me for dinner!), and OMG!!! LOVE it!!!! So did she!
This is going to be one of my new regulars!
August 20th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Can I marinade it for more like 9 hours while I’m at work?..
September 15th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
could I barb-que this?
September 16th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Made it for dinner tonight, it was great. I would omit the kosher salt,as I found it a bit salty, and it doesn’t need extra salt with the soy sauce in it. It was very delish!!
September 23rd, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Made this for dinner tonight. It was a huge hit with the whole family. Wonderful flavours and the chicken was extremely tender. Thanks for the great recipe!!
September 29th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Sounds delicious! Like Kathryn, I too can’t take the taste of cilantro so thanksfor the idea to replace with basil
October 6th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I made this and then used the leftovers to make a Thai Lo Mein-it was fabulous!!!! I cut up the chicken, tossed it with steamed carrots. snow peas, peas, water chestnuts, red pepper & green onion and some spaghetti.
November 4th, 2012 at 10:05 am
I made this last night. I grilled the chicken after marinating and ended it in the oven. It was delicious.
Thank you for the recipe!
November 11th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I just made this for dinner and it was fabulous! I used boneless, skinless thighs. There was no need to flatten. I also used the Serrano pepper and it gave it flavor, but it was not hot. Hubby loved it! Thanks for posting this.
November 24th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
My husband is such a picky when it comes to food! I made him this and his eyes simply glared while he was eating! great recipe!
February 7th, 2013 at 8:08 pm
I made this for dinner tonight and…wow. This dish is incredible. I was expecting it to be good, but I couldn’t get enough. I wish I had doubled it!!
To the ladies asking if they can replace cilantro with basil…I left the cilantro out completely (just forgot it), and I didn’t even miss it. It was that good!
February 22nd, 2013 at 1:41 am
I made this recipe for my family the other day and it was a great success! Thanks x
March 30th, 2013 at 7:53 am
Wow! All my favorite flavors together; can’t wait to make this!
April 28th, 2013 at 5:04 pm
This was fantastic. Will definitely go into the normal rotation!