We love this quick grilled chicken! A quick marinade made of easy to find ingredients served along side grilled red onions. So simple but the flavor is so big!
Mojo chicken baby! An orange, a lime or two, some cumin and garlic, so simple. Give your chicky a quick 20 minute bath in that stuff and you got a tasty, fast, super easy dinner thats darn healthy too!
I am learning to grill this year. I have a fear of gas BBQ’s as well as anything electrical or plumbing related, (yes, I flush, but I kinda close my eyes like you do at a scary movie). I’m a work in progress. Do you know how many things can go wrong when dealing with a gas BBQ? There are flames and all those clicking noises when you hit the button. Disaster is just around the corner, I am sure of it….
But hey, look what I did! I conquered my fears and grilled us up some really tasty chicken. All by myself! Next week, fish…maybe some burgers. Wow, a whole new world is opening up. Out of the kitchen and into the light! (Unless there is electricity in the light…then I am not going into it…or plumbing….definitely not going if there is plumbing).
Look closely. Thats a plastic orange in the background and a fake lime. I used the real ones for the marinade. You would think, I would have the foresight to buy extra oranges and limes for garnish. Nope, still flying by the seat of my pants around here. Good thing I keep plastic fruit on hand for just such an emergency!
The meat is real, kinda proud of that…. Blogggeerrrr of the yearrrrr!
Tips To make this Grilled Mojo Chicken
- Chicken thighs, breasts or even drumsticks will work great for this recipe. I used thighs because they stay so moist in the marinade and on the grill.
- Love the red onions but peppers would be nice too. If you don’t have them, no worries. Make it without.
- I add all my marinade ingredients to a ziploc baggie and toss in the chicken. ( Along with fear of bbq’s I also have a fear of chicken germs so putting raw chicken in a glass bowl? I’d have to throw out the bowl. More about my fears in another post…bet you can’t wait).
- Save a quarter cup of marinade BEFORE YOU PUT THE CHICKEN IN IT. To baste while cooking.
- Heat the grill to high until good and hot. Reduce to medium high and don’t turn that chicken for 5-6 minutes if you want some pretty grill marks. Same with the red onions.
Serve with Crunchy Mediterranean Couscous Salad for a super fast and fresh dinner!
Here’s to conquering your fears!
Clink!
Kathi
Mojo Grilled Chicken with Charred Red Onion
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts
- 1 red onion peeled and thickly sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Marinade
- 1 orange - zested and juiced
- 2 limes - zested and juiced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock . I used wine...duh
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients into a large ziploc type baggie.
- Reserve quarter cup to baste chicken as it grills.
- Add chicken to remaining marinade and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.
- Rub olive oil on red onion slices and keep on separate platter.
- Heat grill to high and place chicken and onions on the grill.
- Reduce heat to medium high..
- Cook for about t 5-6 minutes on each side, basting with reserved marinade.
- Chicken is done with internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
Nutrition
Lucia says
I believe the chicken broth works better than the white wine… But it came out good anyway! I added some chopped up jalapeños to the marinade and baked it in the oven with chicken thighs and legs
Cheryl Ganley says
Made this and served it with a mango sauce (mango, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, onion and jalapeno blended together) over cilantro lime rice… delicious
Dave F says
This was a great recipe! I will make this again many times only addition was cilNtro in the marinade. Grilled red onions were grearpt too.
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Hi Dave! I’m one of those people where cilantro tastes like soap to me! But yes, the recipe certainly would be more authentic with it! Glad you liked it and thanks for the nice note!
Dave F says
And thank you for the recipe! Totally understand on the cilantro it was great though and good today as well! I will make it many more times god willing
Also, sorry about the spelling errors the text is very light when I write the review
Dave says
Fantastic! Using Bell and Evans boneless chicken thighs for this recipe tomorrow can’t wait to taste this!
JP says
What would you consider serving with this dish? I’m doing the Whole30 thing, so tortillas are out… but we’ll definitely need more than the chicken and onions to fill us up! Any ideas?
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Hi JP! The first thing that comes to mind is sweet potatoes! I think they would pair really well with this. Second thought is cauliflower rice. Whole30 allows regular white potatoes too (a real treat!). Maybe roast some red ones in the oven with additional onions and lotsa garlic. Hope that helped. Good luck!
Megan says
Would this mojo chicken be good in chicken enchiladas by any chance???
Tamara says
We’d have never known the fruit was plastic 😉 Lol. I do that all the time; I may need to borrow that trick! How cool that you’re conquering your fear of the gas grill… They’re such a great tool in your food arsenal. Keep up the good work! This recipe is a keeper for sure!
Kathi Kirk says
Thanks Tamara! Clink to conquering our fears! :).
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
What a great simple dish, but still with so much flavour. My husband would love this too.
Kathi Kirk says
Thank you Dannii! Hoping you get a chance to try it!
Lucy says
Yum! I love anything with cumin, and all the citrus flavors sound delicious. Can’t wait to grill this up!
Kathi Kirk says
Thanks Lucy!
Beth @ Binky's Culinary Carnival says
Love this! Anything with cumin has to be good! Keep a jug of water near the grill for flare-ups, lol! The plastic fruit is great, I din’t even notice until you pointedit out!
Kathi Kirk says
I’m actually manned with a fire extinguisher…LOL!
Elaine @ Flavour and Savour says
Welcome to the wonderful world of grilling! This citrusy chicken looks fabulous. I had a good laugh over the plastic fruit. Whatever works, right?
Kathi Kirk says
Hi Elaine! Oh the secrets us food bloggers have huh?