Enjoy the Southwestern flavor of delicious Honey Lime Grilled Chicken. Chicken thighs are marinated, then grilled/basted with the easy to make sauce.
Looking for an easy to prepare, but full of flavor chicken recipe? May I recommend this one for honey lime grilled chicken? Chicken thighs are seasoned and flavored in a simple flavor-packed marinade.
After marinating, the seasoned chicken thighs are grilled on a BBQ (or cooked on stovetop) and are basted with a glaze (made using part of the reserved marinade)!
This simply marinated, glazed and grilled chicken taste wonderful. These chicken thighs are juicy and are complimented by the tangy glaze they’re coated with while grilling.
The sweet honey, fresh lime juice, along with some Southwest-inspired spices result in some quite tasty pieces of chicken. This is a perfect recipe for hot summer nights.
To make it REALLY convenient, you can marinate the chicken early in the day and then grill them later in the evening, for a quick dinner! YUM. Here’s how to make this chicken:
What’s In The Marinade?
This marinade (which also doubles as a basting sauce later) is super easy to make, in hardly any time at all. The ingredients are olive oil, honey, lime juice, fresh ginger, cumin, coriander, oregano, minced garlic and salt.
Prepare The Honey Lime Marinade
Measure the marinade ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan. Stir the ingredients well so they are fully combined.
The reason you need to put the ingredients into a saucepan is because you will remove some to use as a marinade and then cook the remaining sauce into a slightly thickened basting glaze.
Marinate The Chicken Thighs
Measure out 4 Tablespoon of the marinade into a large gallon-sized re-sealable bag. Add the chicken thighs, and “massage” the bag(s) well, to ensure all sides of the chicken are covered with marinade.
NOTE: *I did not have a large gallon-sized bag available, but I did have two, quart-sized bags. I put 2 Tablespoons marinade into each of the 2 smaller sized bags.
Place bag(s) in the refrigerator and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. You can marinate the chicken for up to 12 hours, so this is easy to prepare early in the day.
Let the chicken hang out in the refrigerator until you’re ready to grill it. TIP: The longer the chicken marinates, the better the flavor!
Make Basting Sauce For The Chicken
While the chicken is marinating, you can make the basting glaze using the remaining marinade in the saucepan. Heat the sauce on medium heat until it comes to a boil.
Once it begins boiling, keep an eye on the sauce, stirring occasionally. It will bubble quite a bit, and you don’t want it to bubble up and out of your saucepan.
Continue to boil the sauce for between 1-2 minutes or until the mixture becomes more like a slightly thicker syrup. As it continues to cook the liquid will reduce in volume by about a half.
Once done, remove the pan from the heat, and set it aside until you’re ready to grill the chicken.
Cook The Honey Lime Grilled Chicken!
When ready to cook the honey lime grilled chicken, you have two options: you can grill it outside on a BBQ OR you can cook it on the stove top in a large skillet. *Inside cooking directions can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
FOR OUTSIDE GRILLING: preheat grill (or charcoal briquettes) to a medium high heat. Once hot, transfer chicken pieces directly onto BBQ grate. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper (if desired). Baste the chicken thighs often with the honey lime glaze as it cooks (baste and grill on all sides).
The chicken will take about 15 minutes to cook (more or less, depending on heat source AND size of chicken pieces). The chicken is considered safely “done” when its internal temperature reaches 160°F. It should be nice and golden brown in color.
Ready To Enjoy
Once you remove the chicken from the grill, cover it (to keep it warm), and let it rest for about 4-5 minutes to let the juices redistribute inside the chicken.
We enjoyed the honey lime grilled chicken, garnished with fresh parsley, and served it with a Cauliflower Mushroom side dish and some steamed rice.
The chicken was moist and it was incredibly flavorful and delicious. I think you will love it, too!
I truly hope you will consider making this easy, delicious honey lime grilled chicken recipe for yourself and for those you love.
Thanks for stopping by, and I invite you to come back again soon for more family friendly recipes. Take care, may God bless you, and have a great day.
Looking For More CHICKEN Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have LOTS of delicious chicken recipes to choose from, including:
- Chicken Cutlets with Pecan Sauce
- Crunchy Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Asian Chicken Thigh Skillet
- Grilled Lemon Chicken Breasts
- Artichoke Chicken Bake For Two
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Original recipe source: Chris, at: thecafesucrefarine.com/mexican-honey-lime-grilled-chicken/
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Enjoy the Southwestern flavor of delicious Honey Lime Grilled Chicken. Chicken thighs are marinated, then grilled/basted with the easy to make sauce.
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (6 pieces) , visible fat removed
- salt/pepper (to lightly season chicken before grilling) , OPTIONAL-amount used as desired
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Measure marinade ingredients into a medium saucepan. Stir well, to fully combine.
Measure 4 Tablespoons of marinade out; transfer into a large re-sealable plastic bag (or divide evenly between 2 smaller bags). Add chicken thighs, and "massage" bag(s) well, to ensure each piece is covered with marinade. Place bag(s) in refrigerator; marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes, or up to 12 hours.
While chicken marinates, make basting glaze. Cook remaining marinade in saucepan on Medium heat until it comes to a boil. Once boiling, keep an eye on it, stirring often, so it doesn't bubble up and out of the pan. Boil sauce for 1-2 minutes, until mixture becomes a slightly thick syrup. As it cooks, liquid will reduce in volume by about half. Once done, remove pan from heat; set aside.
Preheat gas grill (or charcoal briquettes) to medium high heat. Once hot, transfer chicken pieces directly onto bbq grate. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt/pepper (if desired). Baste chicken often with honey lime glaze as it cooks (baste and grill on all sides). Chicken will take about 15 minutes to cook (more or less, depending on heat source AND size of chicken pieces). The chicken is safely "done" when it's internal temperature reaches 160°F. It should be nice and golden brown in color. Remove chicken when done, and let rest for 4-5 minutes before serving, to let juices redistribute through meat.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. When it is really hot (but not smoking), add chicken, but do not over-crowd the skillet. Season lightly with salt/pepper (if desired). Cook for about 10-12 minutes, basting with the glaze, and turning chicken frequently. Chicken is safely "done" when it reaches an internal temperate of 160°F. Remove chicken when done, and let rest for 4-5 minutes before serving, to let juices redistribute through meat.
NOTE: Caloric calculation is approximate, due to varying sizes of chicken thighs that might be used.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!