Thai food is one of the genres of food I really love and that always feels like comfort food to me! It used to be my go-to before I started eating Paleo, and it’s our favorite date night when we decide to eat out these days. I have to admit though, this Paleo and Whole30 friendly coconut lime chicken really takes me back to a trip to Thailand several years ago. It’s so flavorful, fresh and satisfying!
Back In Time
Many years ago I traveled to Thailand – it was the most spontaneous thing I’d ever done in my life. I purchased my airfare the week before I left and then packed up, hopped on a plane and met a couple of friends in Seoul, Korea where we boarded another plane to Bangkok. I’m not spontaneous or a risk-taker (at least I wasn’t then, but I’ll get into that more later). And then out of nowhere, this trip was the most soul-lifting experience, a much-needed rest and recovery, and it was also so much fun! The first time we made this Paleo and Whole30 coconut lime chicken, I was taken right back to my time in Thailand. Isn’t it funny and cool how scents and tastes can transcend time and put you right back into a memory?! If you’ve ever been to Thailand or had authentic Thai food like Tom Kha soup, you will get what I’m talking about when you taste this coconut lime chicken. You’ll feel like you just sat down to table full of all the tasty family style dishes.
Maybe The Beginning Of My Healing Journey
I believe the food in Thailand can vary a bit depending where you are located in the country, but some of my favorite dishes came from the street food on the coast of Krabi – these women and their daughters would cook you up the most delicious meals right there at their little street carts, and it was so fresh and authentic. I had no idea until then that butter and egg yolks were naturally more of an orange color than the dull yellow many of us are accustomed to in the United States. But the flavors, the textures, the smells, all of it was so amazing. And every time we make this coconut lime chicken I am reminded of how fondly I look back on this trip. And it was not too long after my visit to Thailand that I started looking into my diet and lifestyle more. I came home feeling so happy, relaxed and nourished, and I really started to wonder why. I started to take a more honest look at my life and what I was doing, where and how I was spending my energy and what was and was not serving me.
Hindsight Is 20/20
I didn’t figure it out quickly and really these were the just the beginnings of building blocks – and let’s be fully transparent here – I still don’t have it all figured out. But what I do know looking back is that I probably felt so good when I got home because so many of the daily stresses and worries were removed from my life for almost two full weeks. I ate real food in its most natural state, and spent time in nature. I had no idea that all these things have such a huge impact at the time, but slowly from this trip forward I started making changes. I gave up a more high-profile, super stressful job and moved to a less stressful and less time-consuming role. I began teaching barre classes more and spending more time mentoring others (a passion of mine). I can see now that all these pieces were starting to fall into place, little by little like building blocks.
Taking Risks + Living Out Loud
Like I said at the beginning of this post – I’m not super spontaneous or much of a risk taker (or at least I wasn’t and neither was Justin). I would say I’m still not overly spontaneous, but I’ve gotten more comfortable taking risks, and what I’m learning is that all the magic is there when you step outside of your comfort zone. Tip your toes in the water right outside your comfort zone. Just see how it feels. Does it excite you? Does it scare you? Does it make your soul shine? The answers are probably yes to all of the above.
And for reals, Justin and I both decided to take the biggest risk of our lives to date just about two years ago – we quit our stressful, corporate jobs, sold our houses and moved to a smaller town. We set up shop in our in-home office and started working on this blog full-time, creating delicious yet easy and approachable Paleo and Whole30 recipes, like this coconut lime chicken.
We decided for maybe the first time in our lives to follow our passion and our hearts. It was crazy! Our families thought we were insane! They thought we just needed a break from real life for a little while. But here’s the thing – we realized that “real life” is whatever you make it to be, and we decided we wanted to live life on our own terms. To create the kind of life we love waking up to every day, to help people and develop deeper, more meaningful connections with one another and others.
Some Other Thai + Asian Inspired Recipes To Try
- SWEET POTATO CHICKEN PAD THAI
- PALEO POTSTICKER NOODLE BOWLS
- CHOPPED THAI SHRIMP SALAD
- SPICY PINEAPPLE CAULI FRIED RICE
- PALEO ASIAN MEATBALLS NOODLE BOWL
Your Turn To Try Our Coconut Lime Chicken
Quick, easy and full of flavor – you’ll love this coconut lime chicken! Make some, and then turn it into a bowl by adding some greens and rice or cauliflower rice. You know…bowls are life! Let us know it goes by leaving a comment below. Also, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @realsimplegood, so we can check it out! Already follow us on Instagram?! Great! If not, make sure to give us a follow, so we can stay connected!
Like this Recipe?
SHARE IT NOW OR PIN IT FOR LATER!
30-Minute Creamy Coconut Lime Chicken (Breasts or Thighs)
Ingredients
- 1 shallot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated on a microplane
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, (plus more for topping)
- 1/3 cup lime juice, (about 2 limes)
- 4 chicken breasts, see notes
- 2 tbsp avocado oil, (or coconut oil)
- 1.5 cups coconut milk, see notes
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- Salt and pepper
- Lime slices for topping, (optional)
Instructions
- Prep shallot, garlic, ginger and cilantro as noted. Juice limes and set aside.
- Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of parchment paper and pound them down to make them even in thickness. Sprinkle each side of the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add avocado oil.
- Once hot, add the chicken to the pan (you may have to cook the chicken in 2 batches depending on the size of your pan). Cook, without disturbing for 3-4 minutes, until a nice brown crust has formed. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on the other side, until the chicken is mostly cooked through.
- Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside. Lower the heat to medium.
- Add more oil if needed and add the garlic and shallot to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, ginger and cilantro to the pan. Stir to mix, scraping up any browned bits remaining in the pan from when you cooked your chicken.
- Add the chicken breasts back to the skillet with the sauce. Cover and turn heat down to low. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.
- Serve with vegetables, potatoes, rice or cauli rice. Spoon some sauce over everything for serving. Sprinkle with cilantro and garnish with lime slices (optional).
Notes
- You can use chicken thighs instead of breasts for this recipe. You should not have to pound the thighs (step 2). Adjust cooking time if needed to ensure the chicken is fully cooked.
- We use Aroy-D brand full-fat coconut milk. This is the thickest, creamiest coconut milk we have found. If you use a canned brand like Thai Kitchen or Native Forest, the milk might not be as thick and you can omit the chicken broth.
Soooo gooood! It honestly tastes like Thai carry out! Simple to make, yet so full of flavor! The lime and cilantro give this such a fresh flavor!
Love this recipe and have made several times the flavors are amazing!
This recipe is so good!!! Instant favorite in my house. Comforting, bright, easy to make. I’ve substituted in cod for the chicken with great success as well.
Yum!
I can’t wait to cook this!
Made it: Loved it! Been eating almost completely Paleo since my furlough at the end of March. Nice to be losing weight when most of my friends say they are gaining during this time. Only change I made was used riced cauliflower and added mushrooms and diced onion. BTW I printed this one and added it to my recipe book. Thanks!
Great job on sticking to a good diet and losing some weight during this time! So glad to hear that you’re adding this one into the rotation :).
Does this recipe freeze well? Prepping meals for my husband and I in preparation for the arrival of our first baby.
Yes this one is freezer friendly. The sauce might separate a little when cooled but will mix back together just fine when re-heated. Best of luck with the new baby! We prepped a bunch of meals before Nora arrived and we’re sure glad we did. We went through our freezer stash pretty fast :).
This was SOOO yummy & delicious! I made this for dinner tonight and I always love recipes that are easy! This will for sure be something I make over and over again!
Delicious !!! I ate it over some riced cauliflower. We’ve had it twice in the past 2 weeks.
Thanks Carol!
I love this recipe. I am Whole30ing. I served mine over a baked sweet potato. Delicious! It freezes great, so I make a huge batch and freeze as individual meals. Much better than a frozen dinner from the store.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it! And that’s a great idea to make and freeze! Thanks for trying our recipe!
The recipe list says chicken broth, but instruction #7 says chicken stock. Which should I use?
Either will work, broth or stock. We’ve update the recipe now for consistency.
Followed the recipe completely and the lime was so overpowering! I do like lime but it completely overpowered all the other flavors. Maybe link the brand of coconut milk you use in the instructions if it makes that much of a difference (for those of us who don’t normally have time to read recipe comments).
Sorry you found the lime overpowering. The coconut milk we prefer is linked in the recipe card :).
Really delish – and super simple to make! I was impressed with how the recipe flowed and how easy it was to follow. The dish was flavorful and something I would definitely remake!
Thanks for the great review Kelly, glad you enjoyed the recipe :).
I read all the comments before trying this and decided to try it with coconut cream instead of coconut milk. I assume this helped because it was SO creamy, not watery, and did not separate. Loved it!
Glad you loved it Nicole! Thanks for reporting back that the coconut cream worked well 🙂
Does this have a strong coconut taste?
It is definitely coconut and lime flavored. If you can imagine a traditional Tom Kha type of soup…that is sort of how the sauce tastes.
Absolutely delicious. I added a bit of spinach and left-over roasted cauliflower. This is going to be a regular in our house. Can’t wait to eat leftovers at work tomorrow!!
Love the idea of adding roasted cauliflower – enjoy those leftovers 🙂
This is the 3rd time I’ve made this dish, and honestly, every time I make it, I forget how delicious it is! It is simply scrumptious! And super easy too! Thanks for this recipe!
You’re very welcome, glad you like it 🙂
made this last night , loved it . I added fresh sliced jalapeños to give it a little spice ! I was wondering if adding a coconut yogurt would help thicken up the sauce ? ( allergic to dairy )
Thank you .
Hi there – adding coconut yogurt might work, but we haven’t tried it. We use full fat coconut milk from Aroy-D that isn’t watery at all, that helps.
This chicken was amazing. Thank you so much. We had it with cauliflower rice and everyone loved it. Only problem was , we ate too much. Becca
So glad you liked it!
Delicious!! My husband and I made this with cauliflower rice for ourselves and two teenage siblings who happened to be over. We all loved it! I disagree with a couple of previous reviews, it was deliciously, perfectly lime-y! Next time I might serve it with a more substantial veggie side dish, I think with just the cauliflower it wasn’t filling enough for us. But, perfect recipe, and this will probably end up in our regular rotation!
Thanks for the review! We agree that it’s perfectly lime-y 🙂
This was delicious! Next time I make it, I’ll reduce the lime, but I do like the taste of lime so it didn’t bother me. I love onion, so I will add another shallot, as well. I also thought the sauce could have been thicker so I reduced it quite a bit.
I paired it with cauli-rice cooked with lime and coconut milk. Yum! I can’t wait to try it with shrimp!
So happy you enjoyed it and made it work for you! I bet it will be extra tasty with shrimp! We’ll have to try it, too! 🙂
All these comments with people not liking the lime in Coconut Lime chicken makes me wonder what they thought it would taste llke? I LOVE lime, so I thought this was delicious! I, too, found it too watery the first time, but I tried one commentor’s suggestion and only used the coconut cream and skipped the chicken broth for a thicker sauce. It was definitely more tailored to our tastes,and the flavor is amazing!
Haha! We’re glad you get it, and that you were able to get the sauce to a consistency you like! You’ll have to try our Creamy Tuscan Chicken if you haven’t yet! I have a feeling you’ll like it!
This dish had a potential to be awesome. I was sorely disappointed when I had all ingredients incorporated to a “T”, and I go to taste it and all I can taste is lime juice. I had add almost another entire can of coconut milk and a cup and a half of chicken stock, butter, garlic powder, onion powder and was a lot better but still pretty limey.
Next time I’ll start with a tablespoon of lime juice and use lime zest to get the lime flavor.
Sorry you didn’t like the recipe as written. Hopefully you can modify it to suit your taste.
I havent made this yet, but want to meal prep it for lunches the first half of this week. Is this something that could reheat or does it need to be consumed immediately?
It’s something you could reheat. We’ve had it for leftovers and it’s good!
I just made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! We served it over cauliflower rice and I personally liked the sauce being runny so I could spoon it over the cauli-rice and let it soak up. It is very strong lime flavor – which is amazing! Lime and more lime please! I just printed the recipe to add to our rotation of meals and shared the link to it on our neighborhood recipe swap so more people can enjoy. As mentioned above, my sauce ended up being lighter in color as well, but I didn’t use a cast iron pan and I used a different brand of coconut milk because it’s what I had on hand.
Sounds great, happy to hear the recipe will be on rotation in your kitchen.
Absolutely loved this! Just got done eating and had to leave a review. The sauce is so so so good. Said good-bye to portion control just to have more sauce. I didn’t make any substitutions. Even my picky husband loved it. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome! Thanks for the kind review :).
My husband and 5 kids thought it was delicious as is. But to anyone who doesn’t want to worry about your coconut milk seperating, just refrigerate it overnight. It will automatically separate the cream from the water. Use the cream only and your good to go. That’s also how we make our paleo sour cream.
Thanks for the tip! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
This was really good! I was worried about it being watery but it was a perfect consistency, especially if you’re using the sauce to pour over rice and veggies. I did add some coconut aminos and a little fish sauce because it needed salt. I had it with leftover grilled veggies and cauli rice and the hubs and kid had it with white rice, we all loved it. Siracha made it even better 🙂 Thank you!
Thanks so much for trying our recipe and coming back to share! We’re so glad it worked out well for you guys! 🙂
maybe reduce the lemon juice, 1/3 cup of lime is it’s a little too much. I followed the exact recipe and the dish was way too sour.
Feel free to adjust it next time. We like lots of lime flavor!
I did not make this yet but I feel like from listening to your amazing story it will be delicious. I wanted to say that i hardly ever read the blogs that go with the recipes but i really enjoyed yours! Thanks for sharing your experiences, it’s very inspriring!
Aaaw. Thank you so much for taking the time to read the post and reply. It means a lot, and we hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
The sauce didn’t look anything like the photos. It’s very thin and I also don’t think the recipe should have you put cilantro in to simmer. It wilts..I don’t see the wilted cilantro in the photos either? Sauce itself was tasty but chicken rather bland
I’m beginning to think that people think we doctored the photos for this post :). It’s really what the sauce looked like it when we made it. The sauce will turn out thin if you use a watered down coconut milk that is not 100% full fat coconut milk – we use Aroy-d brand. If you watch the video for the recipe you can see what it looks like with canned coconut milk vs. the full fat brand we used for the photos.
Really disappointed on this one. Very little dimension. Maybe I’ll try it agian with basil and some fish sauce.
Sorry to hear you were disappointed. We hope you have better luck next time with your modifications.
Was amazing! We used chicken breast tenders. What would be a foot weight for chicken for this recipe?
The weight would be around 1.5 to 2 lbs.
Any idea how long this would take if I just put it all in the slow cooker? Thanks!!
Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, you could try cooking for 3-4 hours on low. If you pound out the chicken as noted in the recipe you could cut the cooking time down to about 2 hours.
This was a hit in our house tonight! I love lime and cilantro, so the flavor was excellent IMO. I did allow the sauce to reduce down a bit & thicken before adding the chicken back & it came out with a nice consistency. I followed the recipe and used all the original ingredients and also added fresh ground coriander & a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. We served it over seasoned basmati rice with a side of sautéed fresh veggies. Will definitely make this again & will also try it with shrimp. Thanks!
Sounds excellent, glad you all enjoyed the recipe!
Everything tasted like lime. I would try just a table spoon next time.
We love lime so we used a lot of juice in this recipe. Also, the recipe is called coconut LIME chicken 🙂
Not a hit with my family. The sauce separated and didn’t ever thicken up! Followed the recip to a T. Not sure what went wrong 🙁
Hi there – the sauce might have separated because of the coconut milk you use. Coconut cream and milk tend to separate, we’ve found the brand Aroy-d full fat coconut milk to work best. Also, if you read the recipe it never says the sauce will thicken up, it just remains the consistency of full fat coconut milk. Sorry to hear that this didn’t work out for you.
Do you think this would go ok with Spaghetti squash?
We haven’t tried it, but sure why not! You’ll have to report back and let us know if it’s a good combo! 🙂
I made this and it was delicious, but the sauce was very watery, What did I do wrong or what could I add to thicken it up?
It isn’t meant to be a super thick sauce, but make sure you use full fat coconut milk to make it creamier, and then if you wanted to thicken it up you could try using arrowroot starch. Add it to the cooked shallot and garlic and mix it into them. Then, add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the pan, mix continuously to get any clumps out and follow along with the rest of the instructions. We haven’t tried making the sauce thicker, but that’s what we’d try if we did. Hope that helps! Thanks so much for trying our recipe! 🙂
This recipe looks amazing. I’m following the whole 30 diet. Was wondering if I could use my crock pot to cook this meal?
We haven’t tried it so I’m not sure how it would turn out. I can’t recommend instructions for cooking it in the crockpot.
I made this today but omitted the cilantro and shallot – I just didn’t have it in the house. I was still very happy with the results. Served with rice and veggies.
Glad you liked it!
Hi! Do you think this could be done in a crock pot?
Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, you could try cooking for 3-4 hours on low. If you pound out the chicken as noted in the recipe you could cut the cooking time down to about 2 hours. We haven’t tried this, so I’m not sure how it would work out.
We made this tonight and really enjoyed it. It had a very strong lime/acid flavor so I was wondering if anyone added something to cut the acidity? We’ll definitely make it again but will try to add something to calm it a little rather than just reducing the lime.
You could try adding more oil to neutralize the acid a bit.
Hi, I’m allergic to cilantro, do you think I côuld substitute basil?
Yes, basil would work just fine!
What is the brand of coconut milk you use? Can you take a picture of it? I made this tonight and it was delicious, but mine was a little watery and more of a white color sauce. What makes it that tint of orange?
We use the brand Aroy D most often. It’s pretty creamy and full fat. Just the combination of cooking everything in one pan ends up in the sauce looking that color for us. Hope that helps!
I too would like to know what gives it the orange color? Nothing in the ingredients would do that.
I’m not exactly sure, I think it was just from the browning of the chicken. You can watch the video of the recipe, the sauce turns out more of a brownish color. Maybe it was just the lighting the day we took the photos :).
Hi there! So excited to try this recipe…any chance we could use low fat coconut milk instead? Would it make it too watery?
We prefer full fat because it makes it creamy and delicious and it’s full of healthy fats. We haven’t tried low fat coconut milk, so we can’t say how it turns out consistency wise, but you could definitely give it a try. Report back and let us know if you do!
I have made this recipe several times and it’s never thick like the pictures !
Are you using full fat coconut milk? If the coconut milk is watery it won’t turn out as thick as the pictures.
Just made this for dinner, and it was incredibly tasty! I couldn’t resist adding a bit of fish sauce for some extra umami flavor (the red boat brand contains no sugar).
Will definitely make it again
That’s great! We’re so happy to hear you loved it, and I bet the fish sauce was the perfect addition! Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try and for taking the time to come back and share! 🙂
Served with a cauliflower rice/red pepper/shredded carrot/cilantro lime zest side. Very tasty!!!
Sounds delicious! That side sounds amazing, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi! Do you think this dish doable baking instead of stovetop? Thanks 🙂
Yes, you could bake the chicken separately and start at step 6 with the skillet, adding the chicken back in at the end.
Perfect! Thank you! 🙂
If you left a comment about substituting shrimp for chicken in this recipe, (the original comment was accidentally deleted) here is our response: You could use shrimp, but you wouldn’t need to cook the shrimp in the beginning like the chicken. So, you could skip all the way down and start at step #6. In step #8, add the shrimp in and it should cook in the sauce while simmering in 5-6 minutes. Just check it and cook longer if needed but the shrimp should cook quickly. Come back and let us know how it goes if you try it!
Thanks! I tried it with shrimp and it was so good! It paired perfectly with cauliflower rice!
So glad it worked with shrimp! Thanks for coming back and letting us know. 🙂
Made this for lunch yesterday. So. Good.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and share! We appreciate it so much! 🙂
I’m kind of late to the party, but I made this tonight and I think it may be the best dish I’ve ever made!!! So full of flavor!!! I served it with cauliflower rice.
Wow, thanks Randy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Do you know if this recipe will freeze well. Im prepping some meals for a friend who’s having surgery but not sure if it would work out to freeze for a week or so.
Robyn – Sorry, but we haven’t personally frozen this one to test it. However, we have used it for leftovers and it worked fine.
Robyn, I freeze stuff with coconut milk base all the time! Good for up to 6 months frozen. Also, this dish was seriously delicious and will be a new staple in my home!