Creamy Coconut Lime Chicken: A Quick and Flavorful Weeknight Dinner

There is one dish that always gathers everyone to the table if it’s a creamy chicken delight. When I make chicken breasts covered in a creamy sauce, it disappears within a second. In addition, using either rice or noodles as the side dish to grab hold of that delicious sauce is practically a heavenly gift.

In my quest for creating and serving meals with such deliciousness, I have come to realize that I cannot handle too much heavy cream. At some moment, my stomach snaps out of its blissful state, saying, “No more,” and things take a lot of cases. I gave myself a palate-satisfying alternative to creamy chicken and opted for coconut cream (because of the heaviness). It is now, in fact, my weeknight savior.

Coconut cream has almost everybody knew taste, so therefore I have decided to mix in the ingredients (garlic, ginger, lime). A treat among the main course is that all the ingredients, including chicken, sauce, and green beans, can be cooked off only in 1 pan, and the whole meal takes just 30 minutes to be cooked. No doubt about it, this is definitely one to have on a weeknight!

Easy Recipe Adjustments

Would you rather eat chicken thighs? It is conscripted. Slash them up into 1-inch bits, and then the skin should go off as well as the bones. Assure the meat reaches the required internal temperature, which is over 165°F for a good texture.

Want to feel warm? During the process of cooking the garlic, you’ll want to add thinly sliced chilies for some heat.

Don’t like green beans? Change it to sliced bell peppers, cauliflower, or broccoli florets.

Moreover, coconut lime chicken with rice is great anyway, or alternatively, I like to have it with noodles that are just cooked.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 to 6

Tip: Shake the can of coconut cream well before opening, as the contents tend to separate.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. of coconut oil (properly refined) or olive oil.

4 pieces of the chicken breast (without skin and bone; weight between 1 1/2 and 2 lbs)

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste

2 big pieces of shallots which have to be peeled first, then sliced.

12 oz of fresh Green Beans, cut into halves

3 cloves of garlic, relatively minced

1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger grated or finely minced and fresh

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

A can of coconut cream which is 13.5 ounces in size, must be shaken well.

1 rounded teaspoon of the recently grated lime zest, hailing from about 2 limes.

1 tbsp Lime juice (from 1 to 2 limes) or more – as well to taste

Fresh cilantro, for garnish, optional

Lime wedges and toasted coconut, for serving, optional

Freshly steamed rice, for serving, optional

Method

Sear the Chicken:

Bring 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil to dance over the flames of a large (11-inch or larger), deep skillet on medium-high heat. Sauce the chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Shimmer the oil over the bottom of the pan and then lay the chicken breasts in a single layer. If you’ve got a splatter guard, go ahead and use it. Cook the chicken until it’s ready to be served on the plate, releasing the meat from the pan, over a golden brown color after 4 to 6 minutes spent in the hot. Turn the chicken over and fry until brown on the other side, after another 4 minutes. Move the chicken to a plate and cover it with foil while it finishes cooking. Reduce the heat to medium, the skillet does not have to be clean.

Cook the Vegetables:

Poor the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of the oil into the pan, scrambled the shallots, and about 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the pan. Fry up the shallots over medium heat for about 1to2 minutes until they become clear. Sautee green beans and garlic until they both give the fragrant smell for about 1 minute. Get it to the ginger, then add the broth, and scratch the bottom by using a spoon if it is still slightly burnt.

Add the Coconut Cream and Finish Cooking the Chicken:

Shaped a mass of coconut cream to be added to coconut sauce and stirred quickly combined. Heat the chicken back in the pan, arranging it with the green beans so that it is submersed in the sauce. Set the heat to medium and let it simmer by turning the chicken and stirring the sauce from time to time until the chicken is cooked through at 165 °F about 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the Lime and Serve:

Switch off the heat and toss in the lime zest and lime juice. Add more lime juice or salt if the preparations need it. Top with the fresh cilantro and serve with slices of lime and toasted coconut, if you like, together with rice.

Storage:
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition Facts (per serving):
Calories: 508
Fat: 20g
Carbs: 43g
Protein: 41g