Spicy Honey Garlic Lime Chicken

I'll admit, I threw together a delicious chicken marinade the other night, and honestly, it's probably one of my favorites that I've ever made - especially on a whim, without much inspiration from somebody else. Here are the ingredients for the marinade:


Juice of 2 limes (after squeezing, I let the squished lime halves sit with the remainder of the mix)
~1/2 to 3/4c of a lime based beverage (I used Budlight's Lime-arita, but you could really use anything that you wanted to to add some liquid volume to your marinade)
1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic (the fresh kind, not powder)
~1/4 c. honey
a few pinches of your favorite seasoning


That last bit is where you can get creative. I prefer to use a house seasoning mix that I created a few years ago. I'll share that combination in a later post, but for now, just get a little crazy. Chili powder, spicy pepper, seasoning salt - all of those are great additions to this marinade. After all, when you're only using a few pinches, it's really just to give your marinade some saltiness and kick. If you want to play it safe, stick with just plain ol' salt and pepper.

I chose to marinade some chicken breast tenderloins because they thaw quickly.

After grilling, I served with white rice (big fan of the 5-minute, instant variety myself) and this Southwestern Black Bean Medley:

1 can black beans (drain ~1/2 the liquid off)
1 can diced tomatoes (drain ~1/2 the liquid off as well)
2 large zucchini sliced
1 med-large onion (chunky diced)
small spoonful of minced garlic
few pinches of southwestern seasoning (I used the Tastefully Simple brand for this one)

Toss all this stuff in a pot and simmer on medium (covered) while you cook your chicken. Stir often to prevent the beans from sticking.


This combination of dishes also makes a spectacular burrito. Throw in some mango salsa, shredded cheese, & sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt) and enjoy!


Once your chicken has marinaded for about an hour, this meal only takes about 20 minutes to cook. Basically the order of operations for the most efficient cooking time = prep marinade while chicken is thawing. While chicken is marinading, cut up veggies. While cooking chicken, cook rice & bean medley.

For an even more efficient cooking experience, toss the marinade and the frozen chicken in a bag so it marinades while it thaws. This can be done ahead of time. In fact, you can freeze the marinade with the chicken.