Grilled honey lime chicken breast is bright, sweet, and smoky, and is just as delicious on its own as a main dish as it is on top of salads, tacos, or anything else!
Grilled Honey Lime Chicken Breast
There are probably a million-and-a-half ways to cook chicken breast, but y’all, I think this might be in my top three favorites of all time. With the simple ingredients of lime, honey, Worcestershire, and a little cumin, salt, and pepper, these chicken breasts come alive. Okay, maybe not alive — wrong phrase — but they are so flavorful, tangy, and bright while at the same time sweet and smoky. I mean, c’mon, just thinking and writing about them has got me feeling hungry!
Grilling up these flavors adds another element of smokiness, but these would do just fine in the oven or on the stove if you’re not much of a griller. Just cook them how you normally cook chicken breast, and make sure they have an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. to be sure they’re cooked all the way through, but not overcooked.
If you’ve never used an instant-read thermometer, I cannot recommend it enough. You can snag one for less then 10 bucks, and it ensures your meat is done based on the numbers, not just guesswork. I can’t tell you how much I used to overcook meat, “just to be safe,” but this allows you to get juicy, tender meat every single time!
How do I grill the perfect chicken breast?
You want to heat up your grill to a medium heat for about 10 minutes before turning the heat to medium-low and placing the chicken breasts on the grill grate. Close the lid, and grill the first side for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts. Flip the chicken breasts over once, and close the lid again, grilling the second side for another 5 to 8 minutes. Only flip the meat once, and make sure you keep the lid closed as you wait for it to cook.
How long does it take to grill a chicken breast?
It depends on how large the chicken breasts are, but generally you want to grill them for 5 to 8 minutes per side, and then let it sit for 5 minutes before serving it.
How do you keep chicken from sticking to the grill?
By cooking the chicken breast on a considerably lower heat, you shouldn’t experience any sticking. The higher the heat, the higher the chances it sticks!
How do you keep chicken from drying out on the grill?
Overcooking chicken is the quickest way to dry it out and make it lose its juicy tenderness. Use a heat thermometer and watch for it to get to 160 degrees F. to make sure it’s done, but not overdone and dried out!
Grilled Honey Lime Chicken Breast
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 min
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
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Grilled honey lime chicken breast is bright, sweet, and smoky, and is just as delicious on its own as a main dish as it is on top of salads, tacos, or anything else!
Ingredients
- Juice and zest from 2 limes
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 4 large or 6 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a large sealable plastic bag, close the top, and turn it over in your hands until the marinade is well-blended and all of the chicken is evenly covered.
- Lay the bag in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish, and put it in your fridge. Let the chicken marinade in the fridge for anywhere between 4 hours to overnight.
- When you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat the grill to medium for 10 minutes. Drop the temperature down to medium-low, place the chicken on grill, and cook with lid closed for 5 to 8 minutes per side, until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
- Remove from the grill, and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Tips for grilling: Keeping the grill lid shut while cooking at a lower temperature is a must, and don’t keep flipping the meat. Plan on flipping once while cooking, and leave it alone in between.
- I HIGHLY recommend using a meat thermometer, too, because numbers don’t lie. I overcook my meat a lot less when I get it up to the right temperature, and just take it off. No need to keep cooking because you want to be on the safe side when you know what’s happening inside that piece of meat!
- This chicken is great on it’s own as a main, on top of salads, and even chopped up and used in tacos.
- Category: main dish
- Method: grill
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: grilled chicken, chicken recipe, easy dinner recipe, chicken dinner, chicken breast, grilling
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Round out this meal with some of these side dishes:
- Homemade Cornbread Muffins
- Simple Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower
- Easy Roasted Chickpeas
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
- Classic Scalloped Potatoes
- The Perfect Steakhouse Baked Potato
- Easy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- How to Cook Asparagus on the Stovetop
- Easy Roasted Cauliflower Recipe
- My favorite Easy Cornbread Recipe
- Deli-Style Broccoli Salad
This post was originally published in 2012 and has been updated and rephotographed in July 2019.
This Grilled honey lime chicken recipe is so tender and juicy and flavorful — you’re going to love it for its simplicity and bright flavors alone and on top of salads or tacos!
About Melissa
Melissa is deticated to helping parents figure out the nightly questions, "What's for Dinner?!" with her no-fuss approach to cooking. Read more...
Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas
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fyi
This chicken is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I threw everything into a ziplock bag and chucked it into the freezer. The night before cooking, I transferred the frozen bag to the fridge. As it unthawed, it marinated and worked its magic. Another reason to cook at a lower temp…..the sugar from the honey burns super quick….but with a low heat…..perfecto!!!! Night one…..fresh off the grill, night two…..in a burrito….night three…forgot about it so I wrapped up the leftovers and froze them. Perfect for salad with chicken on a lazy night!! Thanks!!!
Would this freeze well (freeze and then thaw and cook)?
I sure think so! The more time to marinade sure won’t hurt if you ask me.
Is that 2 TABLESPOONS or TEASPOON WORCEST?
Tablespoons
Just making this tonight and read the whole post and decided you should not put your grill away for the winter, just grill with a coat! It’s too fun to grill to not do it for a season! 🙂
Why is it called honey lime chicken, the recipe does not call for lime at all. I considered trying this out, but I had a honey/lime combination in mind…
Jay – it calls for the juice and zest of 2 limes 🙂 Did you see that part? Hope you do try it, it’s really good!
Yummy! My husband will love this! Thanks.
I used the George Foreman grill and the marinade badly burned; had grilled for 9 mins. Chicken was edible but grill cleanup was a mess. Would not use indoor grill again for this dish.
Awesome dinner!! Tomorrow night I’m going to try the salad!
I made this for dinner last night after coming across the recipe yesterday morning. So so so good! I’m using the leftovers today on a big salad. I will make this chicken a lot, it’s definitely a keeper! Thank you!
I think all citrus go so well with chicken and honey 😀
You should try it with grapefruit it’s one of my favorites!
Best idea ever!
Have you ever added cilantro? It’s my favorite herb and the clilantro lime is always a good combo! Just wondering what you think about honey cilantro lime? 🙂
I actually served it with a cilantro lime rice the night I made it 🙂 I agree, cilantro and lime were a match made in heaven and it can only improve this chicken. I just didn’t add it this go around because I wanted the leftovers for a different dish! Let me know if you try it 🙂