Cilantro-Lime Chicken Thighs with Mango Salsa

This recipe just tastes like summer! Since Garrett and I have been avoiding added sugar, I’ve been trying to mix up our dinner routine to keep things interesting. While wandering around the grocery store the other day, I saw a sale on mangos and thought that it would be a perfect time to transition into those spring/summery tasting meals now that we are officially in spring-time!

I obviously (based on the pictures) served mine with a brown rice-quinoa blend, but if you were paleo/whole 30, that’s a big no-no. It would be really tasty with some roasted sweet potatoes or riced cauliflower though!

If you’re going to follow me, know this– I will rarely post recipes with chicken breast. I’m not sure if it is because I ate it so much growing up and now I am sick of it, or whatever, but chicken thigh is just SO much more flavorful to me. It tends to be a bit more expensive, but I think it is so tasty!

Also, if I chopped the ingredients up a bit more finely, I would just eat this salsa straight up with chips– it’s so fresh and flavorful!

Pro-tip: this is especially helpful if you buy the chicken thighs that are bone in and skin on (which I don’t recommend because it extends the cooking time by a lot more), but if you’re cooking them in a cast-iron pan, find a brick and wrap it in foil and lay the foil brick on top of the chicken while it cooks. It increases the contact of the chicken to the pan and makes it crispier. When the chicken has the skin on and you do this, it is IRRESISTIBLE (what is not to love about crispy chicken skin?!?!)

In summary, I need to start growing cilantro so I can make this weekly.

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Cilantro-Lime Chicken Thighs with Mango Salsa

Course Main Course

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• juice of 2 limes
• handful of fresh cilantro chopped
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp dried, minced onions (or use onion powder)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

For the salsa:

• 2 mangos chopped
• 1 roma tomato chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
• 1/4 red onion chopped
• juice of 1 lime
• pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Prepare the items for the marinade and mix together in a small bowl. Pour over chicken thighs and let marinate for at least 30 minutes (but the longer the better!)

2. While the chicken is marinating, you can prepare the salsa and mix all of the ingredients together and refrigerate while you are cooking the chicken. (Note: wash the red onion before you chop it so that it is not so overpowering!)
   

3. Preheat a cast iron pan over medium heat for 5-10 minutes and then add the chicken (no need to add oil to the pan, there is enough on the chicken already from the marinade).
   

4. Cook on each side until nicely browned (about 10-12 minutes on each side) and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. 

   {Ideally, you can use a brick wrapped in foil (or something else heavy wrapped in foil) to lay on top of the chicken while it cooks to maximize its contact with the pan and get it extra crispy. But if not, it is fine!}
   

5. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before cutting it, and serve with mango salsa on top.
   

6. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

You could alternatively use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. I just think the thighs are more flavorful!

You could also alternatively grill the chicken.

I serve mine over brown rice and quinoa, but you could serve it with whatever!