Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken
This Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken skillet is a 30 minute, one-pan meal with major Southwest-inspired flavor and the most delicious light cream sauce. Serve over rice and with a quick salad or veggie for a family favorite weeknight dinner!
Simple skillet, major flavor:
This dish combines two of my dinnertime loves: simple chicken skillets and big Southwest-inspired flavors. The chicken breasts are seasoned with a trifecta of kosher salt, black pepper, and ground cumin, then seared to tender perfection in a pat of butter plus olive oil. Enlist all the delicious browned bits rendered by the chicken to season the most delicious pan sauce, with red onion, garlic, lime juice, fresh cilantro, and just enough cream to add richness without weighing you down.
Plate these chicken breasts alongside rice or another grain and with a simple Mexican salad, steamed green beans, or asparagus on the side. Be sure to drizzle the extra sauce over those extras — it’s way too good to waste!
Ingredients & substitution notes:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You’ll slice these lengthwise through the middle to get two thinner cutlets which cook quickly and evenly.
- Spices:Â cumin, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Butter and olive oil for cooking. Using both gives the best of both worlds: butter flavor but reduced risk of burning or blackening.
- Red onion. Red onion has a relatively sweet, mild tang that adds a lot of flavor to the sauce. Substitute any other type of onion if you like.
- Fresh garlic, fresh lime juice, and fresh cilantro leaves. Fresh is ideal for these ingredients, and I’d say a must for the lime and cilantro. Jarred minced garlic also works very well. If you’re in a pinch and using garlic powder, I recommend using it to season the chicken and leaving it out of the sauce unless you taste and crave more garlicky goodness at the end, in which case you can add a pinch or two directly to the pan sauce.
- Low-sodium chicken broth.
- Heavy cream. A little adds richness to the sauce. You don’t need a lot. Light cream or half and half works too, it just won’t thicken quite so much.
- Lime wedges, green onions, and more cilantro for optional but tasty, beautiful garnishes
Pro Tip
When making a pan sauce with cream, take the cream out of the refrigerator early in the cooking process. Very cold cream is more likely to separate when added directly to a warm sauce, whereas cream that is closer to room temperate is easier to incorporate smoothly.
Remember: this is just an overview and the why of the ingredients I choose here. Find full amounts in the print-friendly recipe card below.
How to make cilantro lime chicken:
Season and Cook Chicken Breasts: First, cut the chicken into cutlets, unless you’re starting with thin-sliced breasts already. This is important for quick, even cooking. Season both sides of each cutlet with salt, pepper, and cumin, then sear until browned on the outside and done through the center. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Start the Pan Sauce: Quickly sauté onions, followed by garlic, then stir in broth and lime juice. Let this mixture simmer for several minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavors.
Pro Tip
Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan well after bringing the chicken broth to a simmer. This will loosen any browned bits left over from browning the chicken, enriching the flavor of your sauce, and also make your pan significantly easier to clean!
Add Cream: Slowly stir in the cream and cilantro leaves, reducing the heat further to medium-low. You want to incorporate the cream at a low bubble. If you do want to thicken the sauce slightly further, you can leave it as this low bubble stage for another minute or two.
Return Chicken: Now it’s time to nestle the chicken breasts back into the sauce. Spoon it over generously and let the chicken warm through for a minute or two. This is also the time to sample the sauce and season with more salt, pepper, or lime juice to taste.
When ready, generously sprinkle on the green onions and extra cilantro (or save these for individual plates) and serve it up!
Serving suggestions:
We love this chicken with a little rice on the side — be sure to drizzle the extra pan sauce over the rice, too. So good! Cauliflower rice or another veggie would also go well and keep the whole plate low carb. An everyday Mexican salad perfectly rounds out the meal.
Storage & reheating:
Storage: Tuck leftover chicken breasts in any airtight container, cover with sauce, and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. (These are our favorite meal prep boxes for the fridge.)
Warming: Reheat on 50% power in the microwave until warmed through. Using half power reduces the odds that your chicken will dry out in the microwave. Or, warm in a small covered skillet, adding a splash of broth or water if needed to release the sauce.
I don’t recommend freezing this one, because the cream sauce is likely to separate.
Related recipes:
Craving more Southwest flavors? Try this black bean and corn chicken skillet or a Santa Fe chicken salad next. Feeding a crowd? Crockpot shredded chicken tacos are easy and delicious, or try making your own slow cooker barbacoa to impress. Sheet pan chipotle lime shrimp fajitas also deliver big Tex-Mex flavor with minimal prep or clean-up.
Need a quick side to accompany any of these? This Mexican three bean salad is delicious and a little outside the ordinary, but I also never heard anyone complain about homemade salsa and guacamole.
If you try this Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken recipe, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.
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Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- lime wedges, green onions, more cilantro optional garnishes
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts in half, length-wise through the middle, so you are left with two thinner cutlets. Season both sides with a light sprinkle of salt, pepper, and the cumin.
- Melt butter together with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken cutlets and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until browned and just cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
- If the skillet is very dry, add another small drizzle of olive oil, then add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until beginning to soften.
- Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant, then quickly pour in the broth and lime juice. Scrape the bottom of the skillet to remove any stuck on browned bits. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium and let it bubble for 3-4 minutes, until slightly reduced.
- Reduce the heat further to medium-low, then add the cream and chopped cilantro. Stir gently until the cream is incorporated, then nestle the chicken breasts back into the sauce.
- Let the sauce simmer very gently for about 2 minutes to warm the chicken through. During this time, spoon the sauce generously over the chicken, and sample the sauce and season with more salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste. Serve right away with lime wedges, green onions, more cilantro, etc. sprinkled on top as optional garnishes. Enjoy!
