Here’s a big-time easy, favorite recipe for grilled Cilantro Chicken. This is simply marinated chicken that is grilled and topped with a sweet sauce. Watch the video showing you how to make this, then scroll to the bottom of this post to print out the complete recipe so you can make it at home.
Let me tell you a little story about cilantro. I was once a hater… a very big hater. When my husband and I were newlyweds, we used to eat at a local fish taco place once a week. I always ordered the Shrimp Burrito with NO CILANTRO.
One day my husband brought home a shrimp burrito for me. I took one bite and Pffft! What the heck?! He had forgotten to ask them to leave it out. I disliked the stuff that much. Somewhere along the way, I became okay with cilantro. I won’t eat it raw by the handful, but I definitely use it in my cooking and have found that I finally have a taste for this fresh herb.
Are you a fan of Cilantro?
Even if you ARE a hater, you’re likely still going to enjoy this recipe for Cilantro Chicken.
How to make Cilantro Chicken:
The cilantro is ground up into the marinade. It coats the chicken before grilling, and then the chicken is brushed with sweet sauce before serving. This is my new favorite chicken recipe- shared by a beach house neighbor’s friend named Joyce who was visiting for dinner this summer. Joyce was gracious enough to bring samples over for us to try. It was so delicious that I simply had to have the recipe to share with you. Here you go:
First things first: this recipe is SO easy! You’ll need chicken- I used wonderful skinless thighs with very little fat from Whole Foods Market. I find the thighs that you buy from the regular market are far too full of fat. By the time you remove the fat, there is hardly any meat left. It’s worth it to go to Whole Foods for chicken thighs. You can also use chicken breasts, but you’ll want to make sure they are evenly pounded out so they don’t dry out while grilling.
The marinade is simply made up of olive oil, garlic and cilantro.
And it’s all mixed together in the blender (or food processor) until it is thick and smooth.
I like to marinate my chicken in a large zip baggie. I put the chicken in first and then scrape the marinade into the bag too. Squeeze all of the air out of the bag, zip it closed, and then massage the marinade into every nook and cranny of the chicken. If you do this in the morning, it can marinate all day long. Busy folks can get it all ready the night before and let it marinate all night and into the next day.
It’s been so stinkin’ hot where I live that I decided to go with my stovetop grill pan instead of using the hot BBQ outside. Just a few minutes on each side.
Stack the chicken onto a platter, and give it a generous brush of Sweet Chili Sauce (sweet chili sauce can be found in your market’s Asian aisle- if you can’t find it, ask. And if you don’t have access it, make your own!)
It’s ready to serve! But wait… what will you serve it with?!
Whip up some Easy Coconut Rice (or regular steamed rice). Recipe HERE. Now you’ve got something new to make for dinner! My whole family loves this. The cilantro doesn’t seem to scare anyone- it just makes a wonderful addition to the simple marinade. And the sweet chili sauce is NOT spicy. I love using chicken thighs for grilling because they always turn out a little more tender and juicy than breasts, which have a tendency to dry out on the grill.
Thanks to beach house friend Joyce for sharing such a wonderful recipe this summer! And thank you to my tastebuds for overcoming your resentment of Cilantro 😉
Cilantro Chicken
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed & chopped
- 1 cup sweet chili sauce
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large zip baggie.
- Place the olive oil, garlic and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Process until the mixture is combined and smooth. Scoop the marinade into the bag with the chicken, press the air out of the bag and zip it closed. Knead the marinade into the chicken until it is evenly distributed. Marinate overnight or all day long.
- Preheat the grill to medium heat and coat with oil or grill spray. Remove chicken from the bag and grill 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, until good grill marks are showing. Flip and grill an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken to a platter and brush the sweet chili sauce on top.
Video
Notes
- 1/4 cup of minced garlic is quite a lot to mince yourself. I like to buy it already minced for this recipe - either fresh or jarred.
- If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, just be sure to use a brand of chili garlic sauce that is known to be GF.
- I like to serve this chicken with Easy Coconut Rice.
This is one of our family’s favorites!
I really love this recipe!!!, my family can’t get enough
First time reader here, and this chicken sounds delish! I will probably add a touch of lime to the marinade, and pair it with cilantro-lime rice! Mmmm!!!
So delicious! Love the spicy sweet sauce! Thank you for the recipe!
Great recipe!!
I loooove cilantro! I made this the other night and my husband and I loved it! I tasted the marinade before adding it to the bag with the chicken and thought the garlic was overpowering so I just used the entire bunch of cilantro instead of just the half. The end result was still great. Thanks so much for this easy recipe!
I use chicken breast on skewers. I only use about 3 cloves of garlic. I add a little more than 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce to the blender with the other ingredients. I don’t brush it on later. Delicious! Marinate the cut up chicken then put on skewers, so easy!
I made this for dinner tonight and was delicious. I could barely taste the cilantro, the chile sauce was dominant flavor but it all blended well. I will definitely make this again, it’s a great hot weather dinner. Thanks for the great recipe.
Ha Ha I moved to California and also took a huge dislike to Cilanthro. It tasted like soap suds to me. Been here 50 years and I love it with so many foods, Had the Cilanthro Chicken at a Chinese restaurant, a little too salty for my taste, but I knew they were on to something. Hence going to try this one. and thanks for the different tips. I’ve always preferred thighs over breasts.
Hi, Lori:
Thanks for the recipe. Will be trying this tonight. Cilantro is an amazing ingredient and I love it. Looks super delicious. I’ll let you know how it comes out. Thanks for sharing!
This wasn’t really good, I hate to say. Too many tastes was one comment but it just didn’t do anything for me atall.
Outstanding recipe. Like you, I never cared much for cilantro. This notion was squashed by this dish. Very delicious…I’m eating it now.
I just tried this recipe and it was delicious! I played around, changed it a bit by using whole cut-up chicken and Kikkoman Sweet and Sour Sauce since my husband can’t stand spicy food… Yummy! Thank you for sharing this. 🙂
I have made this twice since my daughter shared the recipe. I love it cut up on a salad thanks for the recipe!
I just started cooking and this recipe was so easy and yummy !! Thank you . Everybody love it 🙂
I made this again with the boneless thighs in my grill pan and they came out great! They cooked up much faster than thighs with the bones and they were just as juicy. My husband LOVES this recipe! It’s a keeper! Thanks so much!
I made this on my grill pan with bone-in thighs but had to cook them quite a bit longer. Maybe they were bigger than yours. They were DELICIOUS!!!! Hubby was raving about it! I wondered though if I could bake the thighs with the marinade and sauce and just keep checking to be sure the sauce doesn’t dry up. Has anyone tried this?
Is there a sauce that you would maybe substitute for the sweet chili sauce? I just really don’t like sweet flavor. Everythings else looks great!!
not sure…
Do you think it would be okay to prepare the marinade and place in bag with chicken and freeze?
Maybe… or it may lend too much cilantro flavor to the chicken!
I am so happy you reposted this recipe … love it … I love cilantro!
Excellent!!! Made it tonight! Love live it. Will surely be making this again.
This recipe is delicious beyond belief! My husband has made it twice already and we just Looooove it! In fact, I would say this is the best online recipe I have ever found. Thank you!!!
Wow, what a great endorsement! Glad you like it so much!
This was really easy and very tasty. The cilantro flavor was subtle with hints of garlic a little more pronounced. The sweet chili sauce was a great touch. Four out of five enjoyed it at our house; the youngest and pickiest eater couldn’t get past the green color of the chicken. I might try blotting the marinade a little next time before I start grilling. Thanks for the keeper!
Wow, this was excellent! The Sweet Chili Sauce really added to the flavor. We sprinkled the chicken with garlic salt as we were grilling it.
The Coconut Rice was wonderful, I just chopped up the rest of my cilantro and added it to the rice with the green onion. The Toasted Coconut really made the flavor of the rice pop!
Cilantro can definitely be overpowering. All about moderation.
I’d love to know which grill pan you are using. Are you happy with it? Thanks!
I have no idea what brand it is- it’s a reversible grill/griddle. It’s pretty hard to clean though… not sure I’d recommend it.
i’m glad you’ve accepted cilantro into your life, lori. you will be much happier now. 🙂
You knew that after lunch today I absolutely had to come check this recipe out and it sounds amazing! I can’t wait to make this with some good, fresh cilantro! 😉
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed dinner with you tonight, glad we finally got some time together!
My husband made this last night. I cannot overemphasize how incredibly delicious this was!!!! I’m eating leftovers for lunch today and its still incredible. This is an absolute keeper!!! THANK YOU!!!!
My cilantro intake increases all the time. I love it. And this recipe looks like one that I and my whole cilantro-loving family would enjoy!
Hi! Thanks for the great recipe! I made this for dinner tonight (but had to tweak the recipe… of course, I can’t just make a recipe as is… I always have to mess with it LOL!) anyway, was wonderful. …. I added ginger and lime to the marinade… YUM!
I looooooooove cilantro. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
I’m not much of a cilantro person but this dish here is seriously changing my mind about that!
I am a HUGE cilantro lover so this chicken looks absolutely perfect to me! Thanks for sharing Lori.
😮 How could you not like cilantro? it’s the BEST herb!
My husband absolutely hates cilantro! Maybe I will just have to sneak this recipe in and see if he notices 😉 It looks super yummy!
Lori this one is a keeper, I love cilantro and the pesto looks so good, I’m thinking that would be wonderful on a pizza!!…m
This looks so awesome! I wonder if Mae Ploy would work? It’s a spicy sweet chili sauce that I’m totally addicted to.
Love the recipe! I haven’t seen a chicken dish like yours! Ohh, I can’t wait to try it!!
I heart cilantro!! Love this, sharing. I know some people have an aversion to the flavor. I never understood it, it’s one of my favorite herbs.
Cumin and lemon juice added to the marinade would make it kick arse. I make something similar. You can also add the chilli sauce in with marinade to save stuffing around at the end. OR for the brave – ignore sweet chilli sauce and add fresh chillies and a little brown sugar to marinade
It’s funny how we can go from a cilantro hater to a cilantro lover seemingly overnight. I certainly did. This chicken dish would put a huge smile on my face.
I had such high hopes, but this just tasted like grass with sweet chili sauce on it. I wouldn’t say it was inedible, because the chicken was tender, but the flavor was just not that pleasant. The cilantro was really overpowering. Plus, serving it with broccoli made everything on the plate even more “green” (in color and taste), so that was not an ideal combo. Sorry.
Hmmm- that’s a bummer that it didn’t turn out for you. With my chicken, you could barely taste the cilantro because the garlic overpowers. Wonder if you used too much cilantro?
I am an absolute cilantro lover! This is my kind of chicken dish!
This looks fantastic! Love the brilliant green color. I don’t mind cilantro but I can see how people can hate it – it’s very sharp and distinctive.
I looooove cilantro…and after 15 years of marriage, my husband announced that he doesn’t like it and never has. Poor guy…I’ve been feeding it to him all this time. Wonder if he’d notice? Maybe I’ll call it Parsley Chicken. 😉
Oooh, I love all the flavors in this recipe, it sounds amazing! I used to hate Cilantro too, but definitely learned to like it…funny how that happens.
I’ve made grilled cilantro chicken before, but never glazed it with sweet chili sauce…can’t wait to give that a try!!
I’m marinating the WF thighs as I write! Can’t wait for dinner! I’ll be making the coconut rice too!
What a gorgeous summer dish Lori! The cilantro marinade paired with the sweet chili sauce sounds perfect with the coconut rice!
My husband is a cilantro disliker (he doesn’t hate it and will eat it, just doesn’t prefer it…) It just sounds too good to NOT make ;). I’m sure if I pair it with coconut rice he’d love it (he loves coconut rice)!
This looks amazing. Pinning!
Wow, looks good, Lori!! I have never used cilantro as a marinade before!
This seriously looks so good. I am a cilantro lover, so I know I’d love this!!
I knew I would love it, and I do!
I love cilantro so I know I would love this. I, too, love chicken thighs from whole foods. Little fat and so much more flavorful than breasts. A perfect grilling recipe I can’t wait to try!
I looooove cilantro, so this is awesome! Yum!
I used to hate cilantro also but have grown to really like it now. This looks delicious and easy. Can’t wait to make it.
My husband is a cilantro hater too, but this looks absolutely delicious!! I’m sure I’d have no problem getting him to stuff his face with it.
ANd that rice?? Holy cow. Yum.
Lori this looks sooooo good! I would love it with some of your coconut rice. Great combo!!!