Lime Grilled Chicken with Avocado Peach Salsa
An easy trick for grilling chicken - that makes for moist, juicy chicken - and fast clean-up.
Even if the grill has always been your husband's domain, this grill trick is for you. Case in point: Me. Until a few days ago, I'd never turned on the grill!
Plus grilled chicken - my husband has found - is hard to get right: Grilling breasts or bone-in thighs yielded unevenly cooked pieces; and boneless thighs are oddly shaped and fall through the grill racks.
Enter: This fun tip from Deanna's Grilling Edition of #HealthyKitchenHacks - the trick is for Grilling Fish on Lemons. Would it work for chicken?
I knew I had to learn how to turn on our grill - and try it out.
Beautiful peaches have been showing up in my markets, so I made up an Avocado Peach Salsa with lime to serve with the grilled chicken. So, since I had extra limes, I used them instead of lemons on the grill. And since boneless chicken thighs are shaped most like fish fillets, I gave them a whirl.
Well, it worked! And even if you've never grilled before (like me!) this trick for grilling chicken on limes is surprisingly easy and fun. Here's why:
- It's not scary. The intense heat of the grill makes me timid. But you can place the limes and chicken on the grill rack before you start the grill (or before placing the rack on a charcoal grill.)
- It's fast. Standing over a hot grill for a long time isn't my thing. But since boneless chicken thighs are typically ½- to ¾-inch thick, they cooked quickly - only about 8-9 minutes .
- No flip. Grilling on limes keeps the meat from getting scorched. (But still yields a few nice grill marks where the meat doesn't rest directly on the limes.) Closing the grill top helps the chicken cook quickly without flipping - and develop a nice little smoke flavor.
- Tender, juicy chicken with great lime flavor. Enough said.
- Easy clean up. The chicken lifts right off the limes - no stuck bird. For ease, remove the charred limes after they have cooled on the grill.
[bctt tweet="Grill chicken on limes for zippy flavor and quick clean-up==> Lime Grilled Chicken w/ Avocado Peach Salsa via @TspCurry" via="no"]
Lime Grilled Chicken with Avocado Peach Salsa
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy trick for grilling chicken - that makes for moist, juicy chicken - and fast clean-up. Lime Grilled Chicken with Avocado Peach Salsa is one of our all-time favorite recipes!
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber, seeded, peeled (leaving a few strips of peel), sliced
- 2 cups chopped peaches (unpeeled) About 2-3 peaches
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- 2 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon corn/canola oil
- ¼ teaspoon grated lime zest/peel
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about ½-inch thick)
- 2-3 limes, sliced ¼-inch thick (don't slice thinner or limes with scorch and stick to grill)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine cucumber, peaches, avocado, mint, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons lime juice and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine remaining ½ tablespoon lime juice, oil and lime zest. Brush over chicken and sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper to taste.
- Spray grill racks with non-stick cooking spray. Lay lime slices in center of grill about ½-inch apart in the shape of chicken piece. Lay chicken on top. Close grill cover/lid.
- Grill over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until 165-degrees internal temperature is reached. Serve with Avocado Cucumber Salsa.
Notes
Serve with Cilantro Rice from this recipe for Naked Chicken Burrito Bowls
Serve with a salsa of any combo of seasonal vegetables. If you grill in the winter - or when peaches aren't in season - frozen (thawed) corn would be a good substitute for peaches.
By the way, I was so encouraged by the tender, flavorful chicken - I tried out exactly the same method and made Lime Grilled Fish with Avocado Cucumber & Tomato Salsa another night!
Are you a grilling pro? Or are you more timid when it comes to grilling?
I love this! My husband is the griller in the family, too, but I'm determined to learn this year!
Honestly, I felt giddy to have mastered the grill...FINALLY. (: Good luck with your endeavor Sues - actually endeavor is too daunting of a word. It really wasn't that tricky. Surprisingly!
I've sauteed chicken with lemons before - but never grilled chicken ON lemons! What a fantastic tip! Thanks for passing it along Deanna - I cannot wait to try this!
You won't believe how easy it makes life Shashi!
Grilling chicken is my favorite thing to do in the summer!
You're WAY ahead of me Rebecca! Since I'm new to the grilling game, I've got to catch up quickly. But it's a fun job!
lime and chicken sound amazing!!!
Such a genius idea! I've never done the grilling either, but I may just have to turn on the grill to make this yummy chicken. Love the salsa too!
EA, I'm not sure it's a total win-win...as now I can't pretend to be ignorant on the topic of grilling...and sip a cold one while hubby grills. But there are certainly pluses too. Like being able to try ANY recipe I want!
I've grilled before but never on limes - so creative! And I love salsa on grilled meats. This one sounds wonderful!
Marie, Thanks for stopping by. This 'salsa' was just what I had in the fridge....it's so great to adapt to all the fruits and veggies around this time of year. Enjoy!
What happened to the mint??? Is that for the salsa?
Thanks for the catch Julie. Yup. It zips up the salsa!
Good to know! I'll add that next time. My peaches were a little underwhelming (picked before peak), so the salsa ended up a little bland as well. We're big spice people, so I doubled the lime, added a diced jalapeño, and sprinkled some cumin, cayenne, and a little chile powder. We got compliments all night on the salsa and chicken. I definitely don't cook enough with thighs, so I'll remember to do that from now on!
Now spice would nice! GREAT idea Julie to use the jalapeno. Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to let me know how it turned out!