Key West Grilled Chicken with Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice is light, healthy, and full of fresh flavors. Sizzling chicken meets refreshing salsa in this easy dish.
Summer is rolling right along which means its the perfect time to share a new juicy, flavor-packed grilled chicken dish — Key West Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa & Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice!
Chicken breasts are infused with a Key West-inspired, honey-soy-lime marinade, grilled, served on a bed of low-carb cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, then finished with a heaping spoonful of fresh mango salsa.
This dish is summer on a plate! The honey in the marinade caramelizes on the grill, and the lime juice and soy sauce in the marinade keep the chicken so flavorful and tender.
Start by marinating 4 chicken breasts in a combination of sweet, salty, savory, and spicy ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together gluten-free tamari (or soy sauce if not GF) and vegetable oil.
Followed by honey and fresh lime juice.
Finish the marinade with a couple crushed garlic cloves and half a jalapeno.
Place the chicken breasts inside the ziplock bag, pour the marinade on top, then squish everything around so all the chicken gets covered.
Let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 1 hour, and up to 8 hours.
While the chicken is marinating, mix up the quick, tropical-tasting Mango Salsa to spoon on top of the grilled chicken. The combination of cold and hot is fantastic!
Combine fresh mango with jalapeno, green onions, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and lime juice. You can make this a day ahead and let it hang out in the fridge.
Finally, prep the Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice that will go underneath the grilled chicken.
Slap the grating blade onto your food processor then process 1 head of cauliflower that’s been cut into large florets.
If you don’t have a food processor, use a box or flat grater, or purchase frozen cauliflower rice from the store.
Saute the fresh cauliflower rice in vegetable oil, seasoning with salt, until it softens and starts to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat, then add in fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro.
Meanwhile, grill the marinated chicken over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, basting with the leftover marinade once or twice.
Plate the cooked cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, then top with a grilled chicken breast and hefty scoop of fresh, mango salsa.
I love how flavorful and moist the chicken becomes from the easy marinade, plus the sweet-heat of the cold and refreshing salsa on top is so much fun to eat. Enjoy!
Key West Grilled Chicken with Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Key West Grilled Chicken:
- 1/4 cup gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not GF
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice, ~2 limes
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded
- 4 chicken breasts, ~2lbs, pounded to an even thickness
For the Mango Salsa:
- 1 mango, chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 lime
- salt and pepper
For the Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice:
- 6 cups shredded cauliflower, ~1 head cauliflower, could use frozen cauliflower rice
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
- salt
- 1 - 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
For the Key West Grilled Chicken:
- In a small bowl, whisk together tamari (or soy sauce), honey, vegetable oil, lime juice, and garlic. Add chicken breasts and jalapeno to a large ziplock bag then pour the marinade on top. Squish to coat chicken in marinade then refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Grill chicken over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, basting with the leftover marinade a few times as it grills.
For the Mango Salsa:
- Combine all salsa ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice:
- Grate cauliflower using the grating blade on a food processor, or by hand with a flat or box grater. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat then add cauliflower, season with salt, and saute until cauliflower is tender and golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat then add 1 Tablespoon lime juice and cilantro. Taste then add more lime juice if desired.
- Scoop cooked Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice onto plates then top with chicken and mango salsa and serve.
Notes
- To make all three components of this recipe you'll need 1 bunch cilantro, 1 jalapeno, and 4 limes.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This looks so good. I am definitely going to try it out this week! How ripe was your mango? I always feel like I don’t wait for them to ripen enough, then they don’t taste as good.
Ever since you made the cauliflower rice for the salmon, I’ve been obsessed with it. I make it all the time (seriously, 3 times a week!) I’ve been trying a bunch of different seasonings and so far my favorite is Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. Yum!
I’ve never even heard of cauliflower rice! But I just bought a cauliflower at the store and now I know what I’ll be doing with it! Thanks:)
I’ll have to let you know how it goes!:)
I’m seriously about to go buy some cauliflower, jalapeno, and club soda (being the only ingredients not already in my cupboard) so I can make this entire meal. My fiancee will LOVE it… and I’ve been trying desperately to figure out something other than margaritas (or shots) I can do with my bottle of tequila, so thanks for that :D
The food you make always looks so yummy and healthy! Thank you!
Just popped this in the refrigerator to marinate until supper. I’m so excited to taste it! I had all the ingredients on hand except for the mangoes. So, I ran to the store to pick them up and thought I’d check for a cherry-pomegranate mix as well (we don’t have Trader Joe’s in the N. Liberty area). I didn’t find any, but I was super excited to find Crystal LIght Mojito & Margarita mixes. I’m going to substitute the Margarita one for the drink tonight. Thanks for the always-amazing recipes and ideas!
This looks fabulous! I am so glad that I took the time to read your whole post…my initial reaction (when I saw the first picture) was “This looks so good, but I am eating low carb, so I will just skip the rice” So, to find out a few paragraphs later that it wasn’t rice at all! Can’t wait to try this! I am also looking forward to finding that drink mix at TJ’s. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful meal! I can’t wait to make this!!!
Shesheglam.com
Yum! Looks amazing,this is definitely being made at our house next week :) Definitely making the drink tonight!!
this looks so yummy!!
question – do you baste the chicken with leftover marinade that the chicken had been sitting in or do you set some aside for basting?
That drink looks fabulous! And while I haven’t made your black bean burger version yet – I did buy the box ones from Costco and am going to try it for lunch with some guac! Yum (I hope)!
I love all the summer-y recipes you come up with! I just made the BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad you had on your blog a couple weeks ago, and I loved it! I didn’t have to eat much of it to feel very satisfied, and it was my first time trying quinoa, which I am now in love with! Thanks so much for sharing all your tasty and season-inspired recipes :)
I buy those drink mixes all the time! What a great use for them! Any tips for making cilantro last? It always seems to go bad before I can use it all. : (