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Grilled Honey Chipotle Lime Chicken

Grilled honey chipotle lime chicken served with grilled onions and peppers and guacamole
Tex-Mex style food is probably my most favorite style of cooking (and eating).  I have all sorts of recipes from this genre in regular rotation in my kitchen, but one of the all time bests is this recipe.  The spicy heat of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce is offset by the sweetness of honey, and a good dose of fresh lime juice and orange juice brightens up the flavor and tenderizes the chicken in a way that is impossible to achieve otherwise.  To read more, click below.
Honey chipotle lime marinade
The goodness of this whole meal is predicated on this simple marinade.  Without it, you just have grilled chicken.  And while there's nothing wrong with grilled chicken, it's just not this grilled chicken.  The difference is huge.  

I love to see the way it coats the interior of my food processor bowl.   Can you see the tiny bits of chipotle pepper and cilantro interspersed throughout the entire marinade?  It's just thick enough that everything stays suspended and doesn't settle to the bottom.

Marinating chicken
It's important to remember not to use every drop for marinating the chicken.  I usually set aside at least a half cup to be used for dipping sauce on the night it's served.

Once I've set aside what I'm reserving,  I add the raw chicken to a zip-lok bag and pour the remaining marinade over it and seal it up.  I thoroughly massage the chicken through the bag to make sure that every bit is in contact with the marinade.

Whenever you're marinating anything in a plastic bag, remember to keep it in a secondary container like this large measuring cup or a bowl in case there is a leak.  The thought of raw chicken juices all over my refrigerator is enough to give me nightmares, so it's something I never forget.  It's a good habit that's saved me more than once, too!

After grilling, you can serve the chicken breasts whole, or sliced into strips (make sure they rest for at least 10 minutes after grilling).

I like to serve this chicken with warmed tortillas, fresh guacamole, and sautéed onions and pepper strips.

If you take the time to heat the tortillas up first in a cast iron skillet you won't be sorry!  They puff up but as soon as you remove them from the heat, they get flat again.   This trick helps turn an ordinary meal into something extra special.



Honey Chipotle Lime Marinade



Ingredients
2/3 cup orange juice
juice and pulp of 1 lime
2 chipotle peppers* (from a can on chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
2 tablespoons adobo sauce* (from the can)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

 *  Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are canned.  They're available in the Spanish/Mexican aisle of the market.  These are spicy little guys.  Use fewer peppers if you're sensitive to spicy foods, or consider using only the adobo sauce instead

Directions
Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse until a thick sauce is formed.
Reserve at least a half cup for use as a dipping sauce
Pour remainder of sauce over raw chicken and allow to marinate at least one hour and up to 48 hours

Tip
You will have extra chipotle peppers and adobo sauce left over.  Consider scaling the recipe up enough to utilize the whole can and freeze the unused portion into ice cubes
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