This Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken is a copycat recipe of one of your restaurant favourites! Topped with cheese, corn, black beans and salsa, you'll be craving these delicious loaded chicken breasts every night!
Ingredients in margarita grilled chicken
I love dressing up chicken breasts with a bunch of toppings and cheese. It's one of my favourite ways to spice up a chicken dinner. Here's what you need for this delicious recipe, it's a pretty simple list:
- chicken breasts
- taco seasoning
- salsa
- corn
- black beans
- cheddar cheese
- tomato, diced
- cilantro
- avocado
What is chicken margarita?
Margarita Grilled Chicken is a dish from the chain restaurant Chili's – it's basically a marinated grilled chicken breast loaded with Tex Mex toppings. At the restaurant, it's served with Mexican style rice and refried beans.
My version of this recipe is technically not grilled chicken.
It's made much easier in the oven, which is perfect for those of you that don't have regular access to a BBQ. However, you can indeed grill it on the BBQ if you'd like – you should only need 15 minutes on the grill.
You really don't need to bbq this chicken to get the amazing flavour though, and it's all actually WAY less messy than trying to do it on the BBQ, mainly because of the toppings.
How to make Chili's margarita chicken
Here's how to make this easy chicken recipe:
- Rub chicken breasts with olive oil, taco seasoning and salt, then bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, get your toppings ready.
- Once the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, then top with the salsa, corn, black beans and cheese. Bake another 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Remove chicken from the oven again, and top with diced tomatoes, cilantro and sliced avocado. Serve and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken?
There are 650 calories in 1 serving of Chili's Margarita Chicken if you order it from the restaurant. However, my version is just 360 calories! Keep in mind, this does not include sides on my end but even if you added some frozen potato wedges as pictured, you'd arrive at a total of about 460 calories.
Is Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken healthy?
Overall, this dish is a healthier restaurant meal, even if you order it at the restaurant. It's high in protein and includes plenty of veggies. My version uses less cheese and a healthier seasoning. If you want to make the dish even healthier, serve with a side salad instead of potato wedges.
What to serve with margarita chicken
I added some sliced avocado and potato wedges to this Margarita Grilled Chicken recipe, but it's really up to you to decide what kinds of sides you wanna serve.
I feel like even a small side salad would be enough because you've got some veggies and cheese on top of the chicken to begin with so I find that this recipe is super filling even without a ton of sides. I actually ate one breast with no sides for lunch one day and found it was more than enough food.
What salsa to use
Make sure that you use fresh salsa if possible. The jarred kind works great as well and you likely already have it on hand at home, but I love using the Garden Fresh Gourmet salsas for many recipes that call for salsa. It's better than the jarred stuff and tastes closer to homemade. By the way this isn't sponsored haha, I just love the stuff.
Storing and reheating
You can store the leftover chicken in the fridge up to 5 days. I suggest that you store the fresh toppings (tomatoes, cilantro and avocado) separately so that you can just reheat the chicken with cheese, corn and black beans on top.
You can reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or so. Make sure to sprinkle the chicken with some water before reheating so it doesn't dry out; from there, you can add the fresh toppings before enjoying.
Can you freeze this chicken?
Yes you can! Freeze the chicken, again minus the fresh toppings, and defrost in the fridge overnight before following the same reheating instructions as above. The frozen chicken will last for 3 months in the freezer.
More tasty chicken recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into your weekly lunches
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through
Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken Copycat
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup salsa (I used the fresh kind, not the jarred kind but you could use either)
- 1/2 cup Corn
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Optional side dish: frozen potato wedges
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400 F. Rub chicken breasts with olive oil, taco seasoning and salt. Bake in the oven 15 minutes.
-
Remove chicken from oven, then top with salsa, corn, black beans and cheese. Bake another 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
-
Remove chicken from oven and top with diced tomatoes and cilantro. Add sliced avocado and lime on the side. I served frozen potato wedges with my chicken as a side dish but that's optional; you could also do sweet potato fries, a side salad, sauteed spinach or more. The choice is up to you!
Video
Nutrition
The post Chili’s Margarita Grilled Chicken (Copycat Recipe) appeared first on The Girl on Bloor.
Leave a comment