Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

My only regret in making this dish is I wish I would have taken more time to get a really nice shot of this delicious chicken! These boneless, skinless chicken breasts are marinated in a tequila-lime-orange-cilantro mix, grilled to perfection then topped with melted low-fat Mexican blend cheese and freshly made pico de gallo and they were a hit the other night for dinner.

The marinate was a combination of Pioneer Woman's blend and Ina Garten's blend.  I LOVED the added sweetness of the orange juice! I used my Magic Bullet to make the marinade quickly and easily with little clean up.  The bright green color is from cilantro.   If you aren't a fan of cilantro, you can leave it out...but ME....I LOVE the stuff! 

The directions for both recipes I used say you can marinade over night.  I mixed the marinade in the early afternoon, and then grilled that evening.  I really don't think I would marinade over night.  There is quite a bit of acid from the orange and lime juices, and I could already see the chicken had actually begun to cook.  ( Chicken ceviche anyone?, um....no thanks! )  Marinating for about 6 hours was sufficient to impart the chicken with plenty of flavor. 

For the pico, I just used my mini chopper to make quick work of it.  It was a simple meal to put on the table for the weeknight, with a little time planning for the marinade. 

Try it while we still have a few weeks left to enjoy foods cooked outdoor on the grill!

Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

adapted from Pioneer Woman and Ina Garten

Printable Recipe

Servings - 6   Serving size - 1- 4 oz. chicken breast w/cheese and 2 TBS Pico   Points Plus -  5 Points+*

Calories - 202.5,   Total Fat - 6.8g,   Carb. - 5.9g,   Protein - 30.9g,   Fiber - 1.6g
*(I did not account for any of the nutritional info for the marinade, as I ended up with just about the same amount I started with after it marinaded)

For the Marinade:
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup orange juice
5 cloves of garlic
1 whole jalapeno, seeds and veins removed for less heat
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup oil ( canola, olive, rice bran)
small handful of cilantro ( optional)

For the Pico de Gallo:
3 ripe, plum tomatoes (they have less juice than other varieties), small diced
1 small onion, small diced
1 small jalapeno, veins and seeds removed, small diced
1 clove garlic, minced ( I use my microplane)
small handful of cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

6 - 4oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thin cut)
1 1/2 cups shredded Reduced Fat Mexican Blend Cheese


1.  To make marinade:  Combine all marinade ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  ( I used my handy magic bullet).  Place chicken breasts in a zipper plastic bag and pour marinade over chicken, coating all pieces.  Place in refrigerator and allow to marinade for at least 4 hours up to 6 hours. 

2.  While chicken is marinating, make the pico de gallo.  Mix all ingredients. I used my mini chopper to make quick work of it.  Place in fridge and allow flavors to meld.

3.  When chicken is done marinading, heat grill to med-hot.  Remove chicken from marinade and discard leftover marinade.  Grill chicken until done.  Place grilled chicken on flat sheet pan and top each piece with 1/4 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese.  Place under broiler for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Top the cheese with 2 TBS Pico de gallo. 

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As I said, this was delicious.  My hubby wasn't thrilled with it, but then again, he isn't a huge fan of cilantro.  The marinade really does give the chicken so much flavor and makes it very tender.  I will definitely be making this again ( maybe I will leave the cilantro out of the marinade to please my husband next time.)  We'll see.  Youngest son and I adore the stuff, so he is outnumbered.  lol 

I found myself with a miserable cold/sinus thing going on yesterday...still here today.  At first I thought it might be allergies ( mine have been awful this September) but no, it's more than that.  It's a crappy time to feel crappy, as the weather has just been spectacular the last few days.  From your comments on my last post, I see fall is many people's favorite time of year!  

I have started to organize some of my recipe categories on PINTEREST for those of you who use it.  I hope to finish them all up within the month.  It really is kind of a nice place to go to see pictures of all the recipes in one spot.  I will probably add a Pinterest Index tab at the top when I am done.  Right now it is kind of a mess of all sorts of different things as I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go when I joined a while back...but I have seen other bloggers use it as an index and I like it.    Do you use pinterest?