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Get perfectly juicy chicken every time with this Lime Chicken Marinade. Made with lime juice, lime zest, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and other pantry-staple ingredients, you’ll end up with tangy and tender chicken every single time.
Bring bold and bright flavors to your grilled chicken with this Lime Chicken Marinade. A blend of pantry-staple ingredients and freshly juiced citrus soaks deeply into chicken thighs, giving them plenty of flavor and moisture. Similar to my mexican chicken marinade, the citrus in this recipe helps tenderize the meat for a few hours while you can sit back and sip on a margarita!
The shining start in the easy marinade is the fresh lime juice and zest. Combined with olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, and a little bit of brown sugar, it’s the perfect marinade for grilling chicken in the summertime or pan-frying it any time of year.
Lime Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- Lime juice
- Lime zest
- Olive oil
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Cilantro
- Garlic
- Red pepper flakes
- Ground cumin
Variations
- Turn this into tequila lime chicken! Add some blanco tequila to the marinade. It’ll add a little extra brightness and because the alcohol cooks out, the chicken will still be family-friendly.
- Don’t have chicken thighs? Use the marinade on chicken breasts, wings, or shrimp instead.
- Not a fan of cilantro? Replace it with parsley or arugula.
How Long to Marinate Chicken Thighs
You’ll get the best results when you marinate the chicken thighs for 6-8 hours. This is enough time to tenderize the meat and make everything juicy and flavorful.
I don’t recommend leaving them in the marinade for longer (unless you plan on freezing the marinade – see notes below). Any longer and the acid will begin the break down the chicken and make it mealy.
Quick Tip
The best way to ensure you get juicy and finger-licking good chicken is not to overcook it. I cook my chicken to 165°F to make sure it’s fully cooked but not overcooked. This instant read thermometer is my absolute favorite for temping meat and fish. It’s incredibly accurate and a must-have kitchen tool.
Make It Ahead of Time
You can easily get the marinade and chicken ready in a Ziploc bag ahead of time and store it in the freezer until it’s time to eat. Take the bag out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw completely in the fridge. Grill it the next day for lunch or dinner and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
- Rice! Try my cilantro lime rice, Mexican rice, arroz verde, or cauliflower lime rice.
- Mexican quinoa salad
- Mexican zucchini
- Grilled corn salsa
- Refreshing drinks! Try my classic margarita, watermelon margarita, or virgin margarita.
More Marinades
Lime Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 2 limes zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- In a large resealable plastic bag (or a large mixing bowl), add all the ingredients and toss to combine.
- Seal bag (or cover bowl) and marinate in the fridge for 6 to 8 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off any excess.
- To grill chicken: Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs and cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until chicken reaches 165°F.
- To cook chicken on a skillet: Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook 5-7 minutes per side, until fully cooked through.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Marinating time: You’ll get the best results when you leave the chicken thighs in the marinade for 6-8 hours. This is enough time to tenderize the meat and make everything juicy and flavorful. I don’t recommend leaving them in the marinade for longer (unless you plan on freezing everything). Any longer and the acid will begin the break down the chicken and make it mealy.
- Freezing: You can easily get the marinade and chicken ready in a ziploc bag ahead of time and store it in the freezer until it’s time to eat. Take the bag out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw completely in the fridge. Grill it the next day for lunch or dinner and enjoy!
- Turn this into margarita chicken! Add 3 tablespoons of blanco tequila to the marinade. It’ll add a little extra brightness and because the alcohol cooks out, the chicken will still be family-friendly.
- Don’t have chicken thighs? Use the marinade on chicken breasts, wings, or shrimp instead.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The whole family gobbled it up. Delicious!
Delicious! We used chicken breasts, bottled lime juice and Italian parsley–it was still excellent. Can’t wait to make with fresh limes!
Hello- so the chicken won’t get a funky texture sitting in the marinade in the freezer because if the lime juice? Just want to double check as I’m making a large batch for a party and don’t wAnt to ruin it 😣
Hi Amber! No the citrus makes the chicken really tender! Let us know how it turns out.
I kind of winged this recipe because I couldn’t find the soy sauce and had to use whatever packets I had (which is about 1 1/2 T each. I had 4.). I also found Sriracha in the cupboard so I used that instead of cumin and red chili flakes.
Then I took your advice and added about 4T tequila.
It’s marinating now and I just realized I forgot the brown sugar!
Should I just see what happens without it?
Hello Micheal! Yes, the marinade will lack the subtle sweetness and caramelization from the brown sugar but it should still be tasty!
Delicious!
SO good!! I don’t know how, but the marinade leaves the chicken amazingly juicy and tender. It honestly cut through like butter with the side of a fork. Our 22 month old liked it too!