Sweet and savory, with a light crispy crunch. You will love the golden toasted coconut. Try this recipe today and see if your family loves it as much as mine! It is easy, light and refreshing.
This meal is easy because you can pre-prep your chicken early in the day and beat the dinner-time scramble. Or you can whip it up in about 20 minutes and clean your kitchen while it bakes. The hardest part is remembering to thaw your chicken ahead of time so that you can slice it into thin strips.
The Cilantro Lime Rice is a great pairing with the coconut chicken. It adds a flavorful citrus burst to the meal. I love squeezing an extra lime over my plate. But the basic recipe is mild enough for the kids to love too.
I am a huge fan of simple, versatile recipes. That’s what makes this Cilantro Lime Rice golden. The rice goes well with Mexican food, Rice bowls, Stir Fry, beans—really anything. Make it in the rice cooker, and it can’t get much easier than that!
By the way, if you hate cilantro, you can just leave it out. (But I really think you should give it another try—it makes it taste and smell so fresh!)
The Meal:
Baked coconut chicken (approx. 4 strips, or ½ breast)
Cilantro Lime Rice (1/2 cup)
Sweet Chili Sauce (1 Tbsp)
Sweet peppers (3 peppers chopped)
Sliced cucumber
Recipes Used in this meal:
Baked Coconut Chicken
Serving size: 4 strips (approx 1/2 large chicken breast)
Servings per recipe: 6
Ingredients
3 large chicken breasts
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup flour
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Cooking spray
Directions
1. Slice raw chicken breasts in half length-wise. Pound to 1/4" to 1/2" thickness
2. Cut into strips (about 4 per half breast)
3. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts
4. Prepare 3 bowels for breading--1 for flour, 1 for egg/milk, 1 for coconut/panko bread crumbs
5. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in egg, then press into coconut mixture, place on cookie sheet.
6. Repeat for all chicken strips
7. Spritz with cooking spray
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Flip at 10 minutes
Cilantro Lime Rice
Serving Size: ½ cup cooked
Servings per recipe: 6
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white rice (uncooked)
½ Tbsp olive oil
3 cups of water
2 ½ tsp chicken bouillon or soup base
1 Tbsp cilantro (fresh/chopped)
2 ½ Tbsp lime juice
Directions:
1. Saute rice in a fry pan with 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil. Watch closely, and keep it moving as it can easily burn (This step is not essential, but it does add to the final flavor)
2. Pour rice into rice cooker, add water and bouillon. Start rice cooker
3. Rinse and chop cilantro.
4. Once rice is done cooking, stir in cilantro and lime juice.
Nutrition Facts Label for Entire Meal:
Nutrition Facts Label for Baked Coconut Chicken:
Nutrition Facts Label for Cilantro Lime Rice:
