Chili’s Margarita Grilled Chicken is wonderfully flavored. It’s the perfect weeknight dinner: Marinated chicken breast served with fresh pico de gallo. This super easy copycat recipe can be served on top of Spanish rice or black beans. Make a delicious dinner with this easy chicken recipe in no time.
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Why you will love Chilis marinated and grilled chicken breast
Are you looking for a new way to prepare chicken? This recipe has simple ingredients: margarita mix, salt, pepper, and fresh lime juice. The marinade and lime give boneless skinless chicken breast tangy flavors you will love. You can make this recipe in an iron skillet or your outside grill.
Margarita mix is the perfect chicken marinade, adding the perfect citrus flavor. Everyone will love this perfectly seasoned chicken.
Chilis Margarita Chicken is perfect for grilling
Are you looking for the perfect way to prepare chicken on the grill? Marinating this chicken in your favorite Margarita mix is the ideal solution for flavoring chicken.
What makes Chilis Margarita Grilled Chicken so good?
Once you try this margarita chicken recipe that Chili’s customers love, you can say goodbye to bland chicken dinners forever. It is a low-fat meal yet so full of bright, citrusy flavors that you won’t feel like you’re eating something healthy.
Whether you serve margarita chicken with rice and black beans like they do at Chili’s or get a bit more creative, like slicing it to make a Margarita Chicken Burrito, your family will love the taste, and you will love how easy it is to make.
Why This Is the Best Copycat Chilis Margarita Grilled Chicken Recipe?
Few recipes deliver this much flavor with such little prep work. When you make this delicious four-ingredient meal, your family will think you spent all day cooking. The flexibility and simplicity make this version of the recipe the best.
You can find recipes for this dish online with garlic, cumin, taco spices, orange juice, and even cheddar cheese, but who wants to deal with all that? You don’t need to when you use a good quality margarita mix and allow enough marinating time.
Margarita Grilled Chicken Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- Margarita mix
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Lime – (optional)
How to Make Margarita Grilled Chicken (Chilis) Recipe
- Pour the margarita mix over the chicken breasts in a shallow dish (or a plastic bag), cover, and refrigerate the container.
- Marinate for 2 hours.
- Remove chicken from marinade and season with salt and pepper. Discard marinade.
- Grill or pan-fry over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes, flip the chicken over, and grill until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees,
- Serve the chicken on a bed of cooked Mexican rice or black beans and top with homemade pico de gallo or chopped tomatoes.
Perfect Sides for Margarita Chicken (Chilis Copycat)
Serve this with Chili’s black beans, Mexican rice, and pico de gallo. For a lighter meal, steam or air-fry broccoli. You can enjoy this with a Chili’s Presidente Margarita. You can also serve your favorite Mexican rice or other beans with this dish.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Chili’s Margarita Chicken
While chilis margarita chicken is easy to make, it needs marinating. Plan by precooking the chicken and keeping it in the fridge for up to three days. For any longer than three days, try freezing.
To freeze:
- Cool the chicken to room temperature as quickly as possible.
- Lay the chicken on a parchment-lined baking tray and put it in the freezer uncovered until frozen about two to three hours.
- Transfer the chicken to freezer bags. Putting one serving of chicken in each bag is a good idea to prevent the need to defrost more than one portion later.
- Store each bagged portion in a larger container for up to three months.
To reheat:
- Defrost the chicken overnight in the freezer.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- You can cut each chicken breast into three pieces to speed up reheating time and help prevent the chicken from drying out.
- Place the chicken on a wire rack over a rimmed baking tray. Pour a few tablespoons of water onto the baking tray.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes for whole chicken breasts over medium heat and 6 to 8 minutes for cut chicken breasts.
- Garnish with a lime wedge. I love to squeeze the lime juice over the chicken just before taking a bite!
Love Chilis? Try these copycat recipes!
Popular Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Francese
- Chicken Madeira
- Crusted Chicken Romano
- Cracker Barrel Southern Fried Chicken
- King Ranch Chicken
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Longhorn Parmesan Chicken
- Peruvian Chicken
Check out more easy chicken dinner recipes and the best copycat restaurant recipes here on CopyKat.com!
Chilis Margarita Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup margarita mix
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Pour the margarita mix over the chicken breasts and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- When ready to prepare, drain and season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Discard the marinade.
- Heat a grill to 450°F (medium-high).
- Grill the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Turn the chicken halfway through grilling.
- If you do not have a grill, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When it reaches temperature, spray the skillet with oil. Cook the chicken breast on each side until the internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 5 to 7 minutes on each side.
- To serve margarita grilled chicken like Chili’s, place the grilled chicken breast on top of black beans, Mexican rice, and tortilla strips, and top with pico de gallo.
Video
Notes
- Do not marinate the chicken for more than 2 hours, the protein will begin to break down.
- Discard all extra marinade. It can not be used again.
- If the chicken breasts are huge, consider slicing horizontally to reduce the portion size.
- Serve chicken with a serving of your favorite Mexican rice or on top of a salad.
Nutrition
Chilis Margarita Chicken FAQs
Does Chilis Margarita Chicken Have Alcohol in It?
No. Chili’s Margarita Chicken does not contain alcohol but uses margarita mix as a marinade.
For the best flavor, use a store-bought margarita mix with orange flavoring in the ingredient list. Most brands advertise something like, “Just add tequila” on the label.
How Many Calories Are in a Margarita Chicken from Chili’s?
According to a nutritional menu, the Margarita Grilled Chicken Chilis has 650 calories, with 150 calories coming from fat.
How Many Carbs Are in Chili’s Margarita Chicken?
Based on a nutritional menu, Chili’s version of Margarita Grilled Chicken contains 68 grams of carbs when served with the standard pico de gallo, crunchy tortilla strips, Mexican-style rice, and black beans.
I love this chicken, my husband and I always get this at Chili’s
I keep looking for the rice that they serve with this and other meals at Chili’s. It’s my favorite! I can’t find that recipe anywhere! Sure wish someone would try copy-catting that one! I’ve tried but can’t figure it out. Would appreciate it greatly! Thanks!
I just had this dish today, and this recipe doesn’t seem to describe the Margarita sauce they served with my food. Loved it! Not spicy, a hint of sweet, a rather light taste. Yum! I’ll keep looking for the recipe. I don’t think this is it.
Thanks Janet. This recipe is about 10 or more years old. It can be that this recipe was changed over time. I’ll put this recipe under review. Good luck in your search.
okay, thank you! I found a copycat at another site that pretty much has it right, I think.
Can you share the neeer recipe you found?
How do you make the sauce that goes on top?
Love this dish
All of those who thinks this has no flavor are correct because the recipe is lacking an important ingredient…1/4 cup of tequila in the marinade mix. Try it…it makes a huge difference!
I want to know how to make the black beans and rice that they serve with this dish???? Any help there????
According to the Copycat Cookbook it is prepared as follows: 2 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Combine all this in a saucepan and stir well. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Makes 8 servings.
Shouldn’t it be Pico De gallo? Piccadillo is a meat dish.
Thanks 😉 Sometimes spell check isn’t always your friend.
do you drain and rinse the blacvk beans or just pour them right out of the can?
I would drain them first.
Right out of the can. to give it the flavor put 1/4 cup salsa in the beans when they’re cooking!