Dinner just doesn’t get any easier! One skillet (or one pan) dinners are my absolute favorite to make. They require minimal prep and clean-up so you don’t end you stressing about dirty pots and pans later!
This creamy cilantro lime chicken is extremely easy to make and has become a weekly part of our dinner routine. The chicken is tender and flavorful and the creamy sauce is just out of this world. The chicken can be served with a side of veggies, rice, or even pasta.
For the creamy texture, heavy cream or half and half works great but if you’re on a diet, we like to use sour-cream or greek yogurt instead. You end up with the same flavor and texture and skip out on some of the added calories.
Easy One Skillet Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon oil of choice
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
- 1 cup chicken broth, water can also be used
- Juice of 1 lime, or 2 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half, or sour-cream or greek yogurt
Instructions
- In a large heavy-duty skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper then add the chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes, turning once or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and cover with foil on a separate plate, set aside.
- Add onions to the same skillet (without washing it) and cook onion for 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for just 30 seconds. Add chicken broth, lime juice, cilantro, red peppers flaked, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a gentle boil for 8-10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by 1/4 cup.
- Whisk in cream during the last minute. Turn off heat and return chicken to the sauce. Garnish with more cilantro. Serve with aside of steamed veggies or rice. Enjoy!
nutritional facts per serving with heavy cream:
nutritional Facts per serving with greek yogurt: 
I used sour cream (because that’s what I had on hand and it was recommended as a substitute for sour cream). It tasted like vomit tbh. My husband was so mad, and I’m embarrassed that I cooked it for him.
Sounds like your husband needs to take a step back and reflect if your hard work, despite it being a failure, creates such madness. There’s no need to be embarrassed that it did not turn out to your liking, that’s the beauty of cooking… we learn and adapt as we cook.
Maybe take a cooking class and drop your husband off at a therapist.
your husband sounds like a loser
Two stars from me. Very uneventful, boring meal. This is a poor way to cook meat. It comes out tough. Not sure where all the rave reviews are coming from
Delish, but recommend halving the lime and adding a LOT more cilantro (for double the recipe I used an entire Trader Joe’s bag, leaves and stems chopped in a blender) as well as adding cornstarch to the cream (I used half and half) before whisking it in at the end.
This was very good! The one thing I did different was to add 2 and a half cups water extra and a cup of rice. After cooking the chicken I let it simmer with the rice and water until the rice was cooked. It made the rice taste incredible!
Made this tonight for the first time and leaving a review so I have my own feedback for next time, because there *will* be a next time!
I’d recommend using thin sliced chicken breast or chicken breast tenders to cut down on cooking time. Also, for ease I added the chicken broth, lime juice (1 1/2 limes), crushed red (will cut that back to 1/4 tsp next time bc it was a little hot for my kids) & chopped cilantro together while waiting for my kinda big chicken to cook (took more like 12 minutes each). Was planning to double the garlic and cut the onion since onion bothers my stomach, but in my excitement that the chicken was finally done I forgot about the next saute step and dumped the broth mixture straight in so rather than sauted garlic I added garlic powder, salt and pepper while it was simmering. Followed the advice of others to remove from heat before adding 1/2 c sour cream & splach of whole milk. Came out great, my husband and kids said it was as good as the local Mexican restauran catus cream sauce chicken dish we all love. Will for sure be adding this one into the rotation regularly!
This is DELICIOUS! I couldn’t wait for dinner so I made it a few hours before dinner and am making it again for my family. This would be excellent with fettuccini noodles! I used a purple onion and it was great in it because that’s what I had on hand. You will NOT be disappointed!
Could I substitute Lemon for the Lime?
Yes, that will work!
My wife and I made this last night and it was delicious!!! In our dish we added the ready made pepper blend from the fresh prep in the produce section and added Jalapeno pepper also and sautéed them and then followed the recipe and we used sour cream. We plated it over a bed of Mexican yellow rice.
This recipe is definitely a keeper in our recipe book!!!
I do have a question, what about adding some basil or swapping cilantro for the basil to make it more Italian?
You can certainly swap out the cilantro for basil or parsley for an Italian twist. I have a few other creamy chicken dishes that are more Italian-inspired! Try a search for creamy garlic chicken on the search bar 🙂
Don’t think Basil would be my choice. Love it but not here.
Love this. Always looking for new chicken recipes
I made this as is and we loved it. But I’m wondering if anyone can think of how to adapt it to crock pot or instant pot?
I have this in the crock pot right now. Brown chicken breasts in butter, add to crock pot. Add garlic and onions (I left the onions out due to allergy) add chicken broth to deglaze pan, pour it all in slow cooker. Use less broth because you won”t be reducing liquid in the skillet. Add lime juice and red pepper flakes to slow cooker. I plan to add the half and half and cilantro about 30 minutes before the chicken is done because dairy and fresh herbs should go in near the end. I will add a cornstarch slurry if needed or I will take the chicken out when done and cook for a few minutes on high with the lid off to thicken the sauce. Slow cookers don’t require much liquid for chicken breasts in my experience. I will let you know how it turns out!
Oh my goodness, so delicious 😋 I only used 1 T. Of Lime Juice, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 3 cloves chopped garlic & did not have to thicken the sauce with anything. I made sure the sauce was simmered until it was about 1/4 cup. Took off heat & gradually whisked in heavy whipping cream. I only used 1 chicken breast split in half so I would double, triple the sauce because it it so good if using more than 1 chicken breast. Served over White Rice. Can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!
Made it as-is but lowered red pepper to 1/4 tsp for my wimpy kids. It was still pretty spicy! I loved it but just as a heads up for those with weak tolerance to heat, even 1/4 tsp was hot for wimps!
It was awesome. I’m making this one again!
Very yummy!! I like that it’s so easy and only uses 1 skillet. I also love that I can get it all cooked in 30 minutes and it looks and tastes like it took much longer. As a busy mom of 3 this is super important!
I have made this dish probably about 10 times now. I use extra cilantro and only half a lime. I found using the full lime to be a bit to much for my taste. I also highly recommend cooking extra. This is one dish that the leftovers are even better because all the flavors have had time to rest and really come out.
My version. I cubed the chicken, fried it with the onion and then added 1/2 bag frozen peppers, the remaining ingredients (minus cream), and let it simmer for 10 min. After I added 1c sour cream and 2 tbs of cream with 1 tbs of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Over rice it was amazing. Fabulous flavor! Total keeper.
Delicious! I had some cilantro to use up and I was sick of cilantro and lime marinade so I thought I would try this. I started cooking When realized that I didn’t have any lime but I did have lemon and that worked out just fine. I had Greek yogurt for the dairy and I took the others advice and removed it from the heat as I quickly whisked it in and I avoided it curdling. I will definitely make this again, it was easy and very flavorful.
I was really excited to make this because we LOVE cilantro but I found the lime to overpower the cilantro and I had added extra cilantro so if I ever make it again I would cut the lime in to half.
Delicious. My fussy daughter loved this dish. It is a regular meal in our household now. I serve it with roasted potatoes and broccoli.
This was delicious but my sauce didn’t thicken, any suggestions?
Make a quick cornstarch slurry and whisk it in. It should thicken it up 🙂
This a high end restaurant quality recipe. Made it tonight for dinner and it was scrumptious. I added a bit more garlic, lime juice and cilantro because I love them so much. Served it with a salad of lettuce, green onions and grape tomatoes. Didn’t even need a salad dressing because of that yummy sauce.
And for people who find the sauce too thin, just add an 1/8 tsp of Xanthum gum and cook it for a few minutes longer.
This is a keeper for me. Thank you so much for posting this lovely dish.
What are some good sides items that go with this dish . I need a few ideas !! 🙂
white rice for sure!
Cilantro Black beans and corn season the beans with salsa
Honestly I thought it was bland. I had to more than doubled the seasonings and the lime.
3 stars because was fairly quick and easy to make.
OMG! Super delish! I used chicken broth, doubled the garlic, added a pat of butter with the onions, and used light sour cream. My son (who hates cilantro) said I could make it every night. Served over long grain and wild rice with toasted baby carrots.
This recipe is amazing! My husband literally licks his plate!
I make it as stolen only doubled.
This recipe is probably awesome as written. I used low-fat greek yogurt because it’s all I had and I baked my chicken to save myself having to clean oil splatters from pan frying chicken breasts. I think these two deviations greatly affected the outcome of this dish. Next time, I’m going to follow the directions to a T. The flavor is definitely there. Like others mentioned, the sauce needs corn starch to thicken it up a little.
This came out delicious! Thank you! I used chicken drumsticks because that’s what I had on hand. I browned them and removed from the pan. I used a couple more cloves of garlic simply because I like garlic and used the juice of two limes instead of one. Once the liquids minus the heavy cream were simmering for a few minutes I added back the drumsticks, put the lid on and let it simmer on low/medium for about 10 minutes. Removed the chicken and stirred in the cream at the end and added back the chicken. Very flavorful and relatively quick!
This was excellent, thank you!
Low carb, low calories and it was very delicious! I put this with cauliflower rice and green beans and this was a hit! Definitely a do again meal.
Amazing! Tastes a bit like chicken piccata. I added 1/2 cup Bella mushrooms and added cream with the chicken broth instead of at the end. Stirred often. Also used fresh lime juice about 2 -2 1/2 ounces.
Could not taste the lime at all. Needs double the amount of lime. Very good. Needs a little tweaking with the constancy. Maybe add corn starch or flour.
QUESTION: I’m a beginner. I used half-and-half at the end and it looks like it curdled as soon as I poured it in. What did I do wrong? It still tasted good but I was hoping for a great photo too!
Mine curdled too! I used the recommended Greek yogurt alternative and it curdled 🙁 not sure what I did wrong
Whenever you add acid (lime) to anything not full cream it will curdle…. higher the fat content the chances are less to curdle.. if you are going to add it especially to half n half … take it off the heat and whisk quickly before it curdles. Hope this helps.
I think it also helps if it’s not cold when you add it. Let it sit out at room temperature for about 10-15 mins. I’m going to try this tonight with heavy cream. It looks delicious!
Obsessed! This recipe is AMAZING and low cal. I’m in heaven! This will definitely become a staple in my house.
Any time you add cold dairy to hot liquid it will curdle unless you temper it. You need to take a small amount of hot stirred into cold, then add more to bring the temps closer before adding the cold into the hot.
Whenever adding cream, turn the heat off, wait a minute for it to settle down, and then whisk the cream in – the constant whisking is key to preventing it from curdling.
I hear my cream slowly until hot before I quickly mix it into a base they has acidity (tomato, lemon or lime juice infused, vinegary sauces etc)
Thanks a lot.
It looks delicious 😋.
1/How much the weight of chicken in gram per one serving approximately ?
2/ How much the calories of half a cup of heavy cream because I expected the total calories of serving will reach 300 calories.
Thanks and sorry for my questions
Np Alaa! A standard serving size of chicken breast is about 4 oz. There are about 215 calories in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Hope that helps!
I cook A LOT for my s/o and he said this is his favorite meal I’ve ever made. Thanks for the recipe! Made it as written but added a bit of cayenne for a kick. Will definitely make it again (and again!)
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I love this recipe. I make it so often that I have it memorized lol.