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Citrus-Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken BreastsThis is a great marinade.  It is rather naturally Latin by ingredients and works great with chicken breasts.  It marries frozen orange juice concentrate, lime juice, with some garlic, herbs and spices.  But, there’s a secret ingredient….  Citrus-Lime MarinadeMayonnaise!  That’s right…who would have thought?  But, it helps keep lean chicken breasts moist.  It is incredibly good with pork, too.  I’ve also used this as a marinade for fish, particularly swordfish, but the fish can’t be lolling around, doing backstrokes in the marinade, for more than 30 minutes or it will get somewhat mushy.  Mushy fish isn’t good…no, no, no.  We don’t want that.

Citrus-Lime Marinade

  • Servings: Makes about 1 cup
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

  • 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (FOJC)
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise (you my use low-fat mayo)
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 6-10 cloves garlic, finely minced or put through a press
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, crushed between your fingers
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a container large enough to hold 4-6 large chicken breasts, whisk together all the ingredients.  Dredge the chicken breasts (on both sides) in the marinade and submerge them, if possible.  (The same is true with pork or fish.)  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.  Pork can go for 48 hours, but fish should bathe longer than about 30 minutes.

Grill, roast or pan-fry the meat until done.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve the meat with Peruvian Red Onion Salad.

Citrus-Lime Marinade Recipe©Marcia Lahens 2015.  All rights reserved.

Citrus-Lime Marinade and Chicken BreastsYou want to submerge the chicken into the marinade as much as you can.  This is a rather thick marinade, as marinades go, so it will cling nicely.

Peruvian Red Onion Salad with Grilled Chicken and Black BeansWe grilled the chicken breasts.  Look how juicy they are!  You can roast them or pan-fry them, as well.  Just as a rule of thumb, the average 4-6 ounce boneless chicken breast takes about 12-15 minutes in a 400°F oven and perhaps a bit less time if pan-fried. The breast should reach an internal temperature of 165°F, so if you haven’t already done so, get yourself an instant read thermometer.  They are about $10 and you can purchase them almost anywhere.  Also, don’t forget the rest period.  That rest period of 10-25 minutes, allows the juices to redistribute, which helps to keep the meat moist.  People tend to over-cook chicken breasts and they dry out and are turned to drift wood…not good.

We served them with an Avocado-Yellow Tomato Salsa, Cuban Black Beans and rice with a garnish of Peruvian Red Onion Salad.  The leftovers might even have been better and the leftover chicken also makes an incredible chicken salad.