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So good! Love the balance of flavors in this bright, tangy but creamy sauce. We doubled the recipe for lunch wraps today.
Maggie
The picture I’m going to paint for you today starts with grilled marinated chicken, fluffy rice, and excessive handfuls of mint and cilantro, and it finishes with a generous drizzling of creamy coconut lime sauce that is so big and so flavorful that you cannot be unchanged by it.
You know I’m not always the biggest fan of chicken but THIS. This sauce-soaked, herb-loaded wonder is exactly the kind of chicken I like.
It’s the time of year when I start to build my meal plans around getting outdoors as much as possible. I know what’s coming (WINTER) and I know how much I will be outside (HARDLY AT ALL) so I’m doing my best to really lean into those summer flavors and the kinds of meals that naturally bring you outside into the sun. And if those meals can put loads of fresh summer herbs to good use, double win.
For that reason this recipe serves two purposes:
- Getting you outside into the sun / fresh air to boost the mood a bit.
- Giving you the foundation for all good things: that zingy, salty, herb-loaded coconut lime sauce.
Coconut milk, lime juice, lime zest, fish sauce, cilantro mint garlic oh my. This. Sauce. Is. So. Good.
It’s worth mentioning that between recipe development, photos, and video, the three people working on this recipe (working out of three separate locations) each ended up with slightly different looking sauces. One thin, one medium, one thick.
The lesson: coconut milk can vary greatly from can to can and brand to brand, and how much lime sauce you add (and whether you measure or just squeeze) can also impact the final coconut lime sauce texture. I’d recommend just starting with what’s written and then adjust as needed.
At the end of the day, chicken and rice never fails, but it EXTRA never fails us when it’s serves as a blank canvas to holds all the flavors of that cool, creamy sauce.
A little char on the chicken, a fresh squeeze of lime, hot sticky rice, and a heavy dousing of puckery coconut lime sauce. It’s creamy and summery, bright and fresh, and deeply filling and satisfying.
Bring it on.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Coconut Lime Grilled Chicken:
Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
The coconut lime sauce (and the crown jewel!) of this recipe was inspired by the sauce in this Forbidden Rice salad recipe from Food52. Not one but two people on our team made it and convinced me I needed to try it! They were not wrong. The Food52 recipe was authored by Asha Loupy. You can find her website here and her Instagram here.
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Coconut Lime Grilled Chicken and Rice
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Coconut Lime Grilled Chicken Bowls! Grilled marinated chicken, fluffy rice, and excessive handfuls of mint and cilantro, finished off with a generous drizzling of big and flavorful creamy coconut lime sauce.
Ingredients
Coconut Lime Sauce
- juice and zest of 2-3 limes (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk (solid / creamy stuff in a can for a creamier sauce)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste (or fresh grated lemongrass, if you have access!)
- half a jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed
- 1 clove garlic
- small bundle of fresh cilantro
- small bundle of fresh mint
Everything Else
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 1/2 cups rice, uncooked
Instructions
- Sauce: Pulse all sauce ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
- Chicken: Pour about half of the sauce over the chicken and allow to marinade for 30 minutes. (This 30 minute wait time is a good time to make some rice!)
- Chicken: Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Cook the chicken on both sides until browned and fully cooked, about 4 minutes per side. Allow to rest for a few minutes.
- To finish: Serve grilled chicken with rice and vegetables, and drizzle with remaining sauce.
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
Sauce Consistency: The thickness and creaminess of your sauce is pretty dependent on the nature of your coconut milk. There can be so much variance between brands and even just from can to can, which you can see between our Instagram story videos, our photos, and our step by step videos. The good news is that regardless of texture, the sauce tastes *delicious.* And you can always boost the creaminess by adding more of the top / solid part of the coconut milk into the sauce.
Vegetarian / Vegan: Sub 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce for fish sauce, and serve on pan-fried tofu!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: Thai-Inspired
Keywords: grilled chicken, grilling recipe, grilled chicken thighs, coconut sauce, coconut chicken, healthy summer dinner, rice bowls
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of delicious rice recipes. Check it out!
I can’t seem to find lemongrass paste. We live in a small town. So I can sub grated ginger for the lemongrass paste-1 tbp? And soy sauce for fish sauce?
Thank you
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh ginger could be substituted. Soy sauce will also work, but it will have quite the depth of flavor that fish sauce does.
I’m always looking for new grilled chicken recipes. This one is great!
This was a hit at my house, even with one of my picky teens. Made kabobs with this sauce, chicken, peppers, and onions. Served over rice. Delicious!
Made this for dinner last night and it was so full of flavor-delicious!
Is there any reason not to use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs?
You can, they will just take longer to cook.
This is the best marinade for chicken! We’ve made this more than a dozen times in a one year period made with chicken thighs and chicken tenders. We use the marinade and serve it with the chicken and rice. Simply boil the marinade and simmer while thickening slightly with cornstarch. Thank you, this is the so good!!
Long time fan of pinch of yum. Followed the recipe to a T. Tastes awful. Not sure what went wrong but it tastes like cheese. I could barely eat it.
Made this and loved it, used my smoothie blender for the sauce which worked just fine (easier to clean). Subbed lemongrass for ginger. Now I want to try and make it with dried mint and cilantro just to make it a little more pantry friendly for myself.
SO good! The entire family loved it. Served it with snap peas.
POY is the sauce queen and this is one of my favorites! My kids were a little hesitant to try the green sauce but after they tried the chicken and loved it, they gave the sauce a try. My 5 year old went back for seconds and requested me to just “dump the sauce all over”.
Served with coconut rice and grilled jalapeño poppers!
Love this recipe; built off it this way:
1) I used lite coconut milk which had plenty of flavor and creaminess.
2) Instead of saving the second half of the marinade for a sauce on top…. I added water and COOKED THE RICE IN IT. I also added a half bag of frozen spinach at the same time as the rice to get the veggies in. This worked perfectly. Highly recommend. Of note, I left out the fresh herbs, which might become bitter if cooked with the rice.
Wonderful combination of flavors. Easy to prep. Could not locate lemongrass paste or fresh lemongrass. Doubled sauce. Well worth it. Perhaps add cooking time on each side for the grill?
Just added the grill cook time. Thanks for sharing, Susan!
Super delicious! I’ve never used mint like this, but it makes such a bright and vibrant flavored sauce. Will make again.
I had to write just to say that THIS chicken dish is a total favourite of mine and my hubby’s.. the grandchildren l♡ve it too…. I must add …the divine sauce is just as good on lamb.. thankyou for sharing…Kelly from Australia
So glad to hear it, Kelly! Thanks for the comment!
Do you think that you could freeze chicken thighs in this marinade? As school is about to get started, I am looking to have a stock of pre-maridated chicken in the freezer for quick dinners. Also, I am assuming that (white?) rice is included in the nutrition information?
Hi Lauren! Yes, I think freezing the thighs in this marinade would work well! If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back. Yes, the white rice is included in the nutrition information. Thanks for the comment!
Question for you: when I buy a can of full fat coconut milk and open it, there is that thick cream on top. Should I mix it all together with the more liquidy milk in the can first before adding to the recipe? Or are you just scooping out the creamier stuff to use in the sauce? Planning to make for a small dinner gathering in a couple weeks!
We’d recommend mixing it up!
This is one of the best chicken dishes I have tried in 40 years of cooking! It will go into our meal rotation. It’s hard to find recipes that both my husband and I like and can eat with multiple food allergies. I subbed breasts for thighs, coconut aminos for fish sauce and left out mint because I didn’t have it. So good I wanted to lick the plate!Thanks!
Glad to hear it, Cindy!
What kind of veggies did people eat with it?
Delicious!!!
I made this tonight!! followed the recipe exactly for the sauce and it was delish. I didnt realize I was supposed to marinate the chicken in it, so I accidentally marinated the chicken in italian dressing, grilled it, and then just had extra sauce…which was not a bad thing.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the comment!
This recipe is ridiculously delicious!!! I will keep this one to make it over & over again. The mix of flavors….just YUM!
Glad to hear it, Kris!
Awesome! I made this for my family tonight and we all loved how refreshing and flavorful the recipe is. I also made the zucchini pie this week, also a huge hit! Thank you for the wonderful recipes, my family and I are really enjoying them.
So happy to hear this, Nicole! 😊
this was so good. I love the fresh taste of the lime and cilantro.
My grill is broken – do you think this would work in the oven? Any suggestions for temperature/time to cook?
Wait! I just read Lia’s comment, and it answered my question! This is going on the shopping list!!
Enjoy!
Umm wow! I doubled the recipe and cooked the chicken in at oven at 400f for 40 min, then 3 min on broil. This was so delicious and easy to make, thank you for the great recipe!
Thanks for sharing, Lia!