This grilled Southwest Chicken is tender and juicy with a hint of sweetness and just the right amount of spice. Serve on its own with your favorite side dish, or in salads, enchiladas, tacos and more.
The simple marinade is made with adobo chiles, lime, garlic, brown sugar, and spices that flavor the chicken and keep it super tender and juicy. If you would rather bake the chicken in the oven, you'll find instructions for that, too.
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Grilled Southwest Chicken
These grilled Southwest chicken breasts are so tasty, so versatile, and oh-so-easy. This recipe is honestly as simple as tossing a few ingredients that you probably already have into a freezer bag along with your chicken breasts, letting it marinate, and then firing up the grill.
It’s perfect for summertime when the weather is hot and you don’t want to turn on the oven. Serve it up at a summer BBQ along with grilled veggies and your favorite sides and watch friends and family scramble for seconds.
For a delicious tex mex meal throughout the week, we like to slice up leftovers and make burrito bowls with rice, beans, cheese and salsa. Or, add to tacos, enchiladas, salads and pizza. This marinade also works great for any cut of chicken, including kabobs.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts - this recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you could just as easily use the same Southwest Chicken marinade recipe for chicken thighs, chicken tenderloins or even chicken drumsticks.
- Lime Juice - fresh lime juice has the best flavor.
- Garlic - I like fresh minced garlic in this recipe. The kind in the jar will work in a pinch.
- Brown Sugar - either dark or light brown sugar will work great and add a little sweetness to the spice.
- Chili Powder - chili powder adds a nice, sweet heat to the marinade.
- Cumin - cumin is a traditional spice used in lots of Southwestern and Mexican cooking.
- Cayenne Powder - this is optional but tastes amazing if you like a little extra spice.
- Chili in Adobo - you can find this in cans in your local grocery store. You’ll only need one canned chili for this recipe, so reserve the rest for another use. Make sure you remove the seeds before mincing and adding to the marinade.
How to Grill Southwest Chicken
- Prepare the chicken breasts. Trim any excess fat or tendons, then place in a plastic bag and give it a few good whacks on the thickest parts with a meat tenderizer.
- Make the Southwest Chicken marinade. In a small bowl combine the avocado oil, lime juice, garlic, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and chili in adobo sauce. Mix well until combined.
- Marinate the chicken. Pour the marinade over the prepared chicken in the Ziplock bag and let chicken marinate for 2-24 hours in the fridge.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade. Preheat the grill. Scrape and clean the grill if necessary, then spray with nonstick cooking oil. Remove the chicken breasts from the Southwest chicken marinade using tongs and place on a plate. Salt and pepper each side.
- Grill. Transfer to the preheated grill, smooth side down. Close the lid and grill at about 375 degrees for about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip each breast over and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- Let the chicken rest. Remove chicken from the grill and place on a plate. Let rest for about 5 minutes to let the juices redistribute, then squeeze with fresh lime juice just before serving.
- Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
I like to plan on serving 4-6 oz of uncooked chicken per person, or 4 oz per person if I’m using it in tacos. Of course some kids will eat less, and some adults will eat more but I’ve found it evens out to about 4-6 oz overall.
Absolutely! All chicken needs to reach 165 degrees F to be considered safe to consume, so the only difference will be in the amount of time it takes to grill. Smaller cuts of meat will take less time to cook, while larger cuts will take longer.
If your chicken isn’t thawed yet, no worries. Just pop them into the marinade frozen, and let them thaw while they marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Assuming your grill is heated to about 375 degrees F, it should take a total of 8-10 minutes to cook the chicken breasts on the grill. You’ll want to flip them about half way through the cooking time so that both sides cook evenly and get those pretty little sear lines.
If you would rather not fire up the grill, you can absolutely cook your chicken in the oven. Follow the instructions for marinating the chicken, then remove from the marinade and place in a baking dish.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest before serving.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator: store leftover Southwest Chicken Breasts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: reheat on a baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until heated through. You can also reheat a small portion in the microwave, for about 1-2 minutes on high, or until warmed through.
Southwest Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 large Chicken Breasts
- ¼ cup Avocado Oil or your favorite cooking oil
- 3 Tablespoons Lime Juice fresh
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Powder optional
- 1 each Chili in Adobo Sauce seeds removed and minced
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Lime to serve
Instructions
- To prepare your chicken breasts, trim any excess fat or tendons, then place in a Ziplock bag or between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, or the bottom of a mason jar, give the chicken a few good whacks on the thickest parts.
- In a small bowl combine the avocado oil, lime juice, garlic, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and chili in adobo sauce. Mix well until combined.
- Pour the marinade over the prepared chicken in the Ziplock bag (or a large mixing bowl) making sure you coat all sides of the chicken evenly. Transfer to the refrigerator and let the chicken marinate for 2-24 hours.
How to Grill the Chicken
- Preheat the grill. Scrape and clean the grill if necessary, then spray with nonstick cooking oil.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the Southwest chicken marinade using tongs and place on a plate. Salt and pepper each side, then transfer to the preheated grill, smooth side down.
- Close the lid and grill at about 375 degrees for about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip each breast over and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- Remove chicken from the grill and place on a plate. Let rest for about 5 minutes to let the juices redistribute, then squeeze with fresh lime juice just before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More of the Best Chicken Recipes to Try
- Chicken Quesadillas
- Chicken Tacos
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken
- Cornflake Chicken
- Baked Lemon Chicken
- Simple Oven Baked Chicken Breast
- Honey Soy Chicken Thighs
- More Chicken Recipes
- More Easy Dinner Recipes
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This Southwest Chicken breast is made with delicious southwest chicken marinade. This is one of the best-grilled chicken marinade recipes! These juicy grilled Southwest Chicken Breasts are tasty, versatile and super easy to make. They're perfect for eating as is, or tossing into salads, wraps, enchiladas, tacos and more.
Brandy
This was a hit for dinner! Definitely a new favorite chicken recipe! I'm already being requested to make again!
Jill Baird
I'm so happy to hear you loved it!
Gina
Grilled some chicken up tonight using this marinade and it was fantastic! So much flavor and very tasty!
Jill Baird
Horray! So happy you loved it!