Infuse your grilled chicken with the classic flavors of a fresh lime margarita! Fresh Margarita Chicken is quick, easy, and sizzling.
Despite the fact that winter 2.0 could potentially be making an appearance later this week (I can’t even talk about it) patio season is practically knocking at our door.
Bright umbrellas, deck chairs, and ice-cold drinks are my favorite spring and summertime staples, and Fresh Margarita Chicken is undoubtedly going to become one as well!
Classic margarita ingredients including tequila, agave nectar, and fresh lime and orange juices join forces with garlic, salt, and pepper, to infuse chicken breasts with mouthwatering flavor after marinating for just a couple of hours in the fridge.
Sizzling and char grilled then topped with guacamole — the only thing that could make this meal even better is pairing it with an actual margarita!
Start the Fresh Margarita Chicken by creating the margarita marinade. First zest 1 lime and 1 orange then add the zest to a big bowl or ziplock bag.
Next add the juice of 4 limes and 2 oranges, as well as 3 big crushed garlic cloves and LOTS of salt and pepper. After all, what is a good margarita without its signature, salty bite?!
Add 1/4 cup tequila next (optional – but the alcohol will cook off,) plus 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey.
Add 4 small chicken breasts and place in the fridge to marinate for 1-4 hours. I can’t tell you how fabulous this marinade smells by the way – just like a fresh margarita!
Let the chicken breasts rest out of the fridge for 10-15 minutes after marinating, then grill them over high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, or until cooked through.
Serve the Fresh Margarita Chicken over a bed of fluffy Cilantro-Lime Rice then dollop with Lazy-Girl’s Guacamole before diving in!
I promise you will fall in love with this chicken after the very first bite. If you don’t have a grill, or if it’s not warm enough to grill where you live, simply saute the marinated chicken in a hot skillet until cooked through.
You’ll still get that fabulous margarita flavor. YUM — and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 limes, 1 zested, all 4 juiced
- 2 oranges, 1 zested, both juiced
- 1/4 cup silver tequila, optional
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon agave nectar, or honey
- 3 crushed garlic cloves
- salt and pepper
- 4 chicken breasts, ~2lbs
Directions
- Combine ingredients from lime zest to salt and pepper in a large bowl or ziplock bag then mix well. Add chicken breasts then cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1-4 hours.
- When ready to grill or cook, let chicken breasts rest out of the fridge for 10-15 minutes then grill or saute over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, or until cooked through.
Notes
- Serve with Cilantro-Lime Rice and Guacamole.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I’ve made this twice now, and it’s my new favorite grilled chicken recipe. The marinade takes a few minutes to make, but is *SO* worth the effort. We’ve had it with cilantro lime rice and guacamole, and on a sandwich (with guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes). Thanks for sharing!
We’re on vacation and I just made this for my family and in-laws, and it was absolutely amazing! Cooked the marinade and used it as a sauce over rice, and made lime rice on the side. Oh my goodness – fantastic!!!
Would I be able to cook the chicken part of this recipe in a slow cooker?
I’ve never tried, but I bet it would work!
I made this for the second time tonight and my family loves it! The combination of the chicken, cilantro-lime rice, and guacamole is perfect!
This marinade sound/looks delicious! Can’t wait to make it! Congratulations on your new job! Looking forward to reading about your new adventures!
We made this chicken and rice as part of burrito bowls this evening. So good! Thanks for the recipe. With Trader Joe’s Mango salsa it tasted like we were back on our honeymoon :)
What a cool new gig! If you ever want to visit a dairy farm, let me know, my fiance has one in NE Iowa (and I’d love to meet you in person!).
Congrats on the new job, what a fun experience! This chicken sounds fabulous. It will definitely be made at my house this summer!
What a great project! My husband and I are both Iowa farm kids. After I left home for college, I really found out how many people live here who don’t know much about farming. We both grew up in very rural communities, so even those who didn’t live on a farm either had family who did or had some kind of interaction with “the rest of us” ;). When we bought our own home, we decided to get just a few acres so that we could have a large garden, a couple cows, and a handful of chickens to be a little more self-sufficient and know where our food comes from. It’s been really awesome and I love that we can share this part of life with our kids. I’m lookin forward to reading about all your experiences!
Mmm, this might be on our menu for the weekend (weather permitting) Also, my mouth has been watering all week long to make your raspberry lemonade crumb muffins, OMG I can hardly wait for Sunday morning! Congrats on your new job! Can’t wait to read all about it.
Awesome oppotunity!!!
I used to marinate chicken in margarita mix, 2 lemons, 2 limes, and honey. So similar! But I don’t buy the margarita mix anymore because of the high fructose corn syrup; this recipe will be a great alternative. Thanks!
Congratulations on your new blog job! Yay!
Margarita chicken looks simply amazing. Definitely want to give it a try!