Prep Time 20min Cook Time 1h40min
Another delicious dinner! This is an absolute favorite summer meal. The chicken is so, so succulently excellent: tangy, herby, and mouth-watering. The pre-cooking marinade makes it delightfully tender and seasoned, but then the post-cooking marinade introduces all the fantastic and fragile flavor component - the herbs and citrus zest and garlic - that would have burned off on the grill. Also, since you slice up the grilled chicken, you maximize the flavor-absorbing surface area. You will be a hero to your family and dinner guests. Seriously.
by Catherine Newman
What you'll need
CHICKEN AND FIRST MARINADE
- 8 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and gristle
- 1 1/2 large juicy limes, zest and juice (set all zest aside, and the juice of one lime aside; the juice of the half a lime will be used in first portion of the recipe, as follows)
- 1/2 large lime, juice only (scant 1/4 cup - if your limes are small, you'll need more of them)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce, (or tamari)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
SECOND MARINADE
- 1 large, juicy lime, zest and juice, plus the remaining zest from the half you already juiced (zest the limes before juicing them)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 handful cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and pressed through a garlic press
- fresly ground pepper
Helpful Tip:
Our chicken breasts were really quite small - around 2 pounds total. If yours are large, buy four and halve each into two skinny cutlets. There are many different ways to make this, of course: sometimes I use lemons instead of limes, and switch the herbs to lemon thyme and parsley, or else basil. Yum. Sometimes I add a bit of chopped shallot or scallion to the first marinade or a bit of chipotle puree to the second. Sometimes, I leave some of the grilled chicken out of the second marinade and serve it plain. It is still delicious, just not so zingy. As you would imagine, this chicken also makes an excellent addition to salads.
How to make it
- Stir together the lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil, and salt, then pour it over the chicken in a large dish, tossing the chicken to make sure it's all covered with the marinade.
- Cover the dish and leave the chicken in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so (too much longer than that and the acid in the lime juice can make it mushy).
- Whisk together the ingredients of the second marinade, and set aside.
- Preheat your grill or broiler, and grill or broil the chicken (drained from its first marinade, which you then discard) turning it once, until it's cooked through, around 3 or 4 minutes per side.
- Let the chicken rest for a minute, then slice it against the grain and toss it with the second marinade in a wide serving dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.
