Chili Lime Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa & Avocado Crema

This is one of my all time favorite meals! There is so much flavor going on in these tacos and they are so perfect for spring or summer! I found the recipe a couple of years ago on Carlsbad Cravings (one of my favorite foodie blogs!!) and I am never disappointed when I make it! You can find the recipe HERE.

The chicken needs to marinate for marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, but I typically prep the chicken the night before and leave it to marinate in the fridge overnight!

Prep the marinade in a container large enough to hold the chicken by adding 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.

Add the zest from one lime and the juice from one lime. Juicing one lime should leave you with about 2 tablespoons of lime juice.

Mix the marinade together. Then, cut 1 pound of chicken breasts into bite size pieces and add it to the marinade. I marinade the chicken in a container so that I can seal the lid of the container and shake it to mix the chicken into the marinade. Once my chicken is coated in marinade, I leave it sealed in the fridge overnight to marinate.

The chicken can be marinated overnight, but you could also just leave it to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

So I prep my chicken the night before and then the next day, I start on the Pineapple Salsa and the Avocado Crema. All of the fruits and veggies used in this salsa ideally get grilled on the barbeque. I don't know the first thing about grilling, so I cook the fruits and vegetables on the stove top in a frying pan.If you are grilling the fruits and veggies, I recommend going to the original recipe to read more details about that! You can find the original recipe HERE.

Slice up half of a pineapple and place it in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. I cook the pineapple over medium heat until it is soft enough that a rubber spatula can pierce through it. Once it's cooked, I transfer it to a plate to cool.

Then, I cut up 1 bell pepper (I usually use red but this time, I used orange and it was just as good!) and half of a small red onion. I cut all of the fruits and veggies into pieces that are big enough to handle easily when cooking, you'll see later that they eventually get chopped up to be smaller.

Cook the pepper and the onion until a rubber spatula can easily pierce through the flesh of the vegetable. Then, set them aside on the plate with the pineapple.

My onions were done a little before my orange pepper, so I took them out of the frying pan and added a cut up jalapeño pepper.

When the pineapple, bell pepper, red onion and jalapeño are removed from the frying pan, set them on a plate to cool and chop up some cilantro...

I have shared this trick before, but it is too good not to share again! I chop up fresh herbs by putting them in a mug and using scissors to cut them up. You'll need a 1/2 cup of loosely packed cilantro for the salsa.

This is what goes into the salsa - half of a pineapple, 1 bell pepper, 1 jalapeño pepper, half of a small red onion and 1/2 cup of loosely packed cilantro.

Chop up the pineapple and add it to a medium sized mixing bowl.

Chop up the bell pepper, red onion and jalapeño and add them to the mixing bowl.

Add in the cilantro, 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin and a little salt & pepper to taste. Toss the ingredients together with a fork and then it's good to go!

Set aside the salsa and get started on the avocado crema...

Mash up 1 medium avocado in a small mixing bowl. I used two small avocados because they were so small and this crema goes fast in my house!

Mix in 1/2 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Mix in 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.

I transfer the salsa and the pineapple salsa to a dish that I put on the table when we eat. Usually at this point, my family starts hanging around the kitchen eating the pineapple salsa and avocado crema with chips.

Once the pineapple salsa and the avocado crema are ready to go, I cook the chicken until it is cooked through. I cook the chicken in a large frying pan over medium heat.

When the chicken is cooked, I put it in a dish on the table with the salsa and the crema and dinner is ready to go!

I pile everything together on a tortilla and I add a little grated cheese, because cheese makes everything better right?

CHILI LIME CHICKEN TACOS WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA AND AVOCADO CREMA
serves 4-6 people

Chili Lime Marinated Chicken ingredients
1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
fresh squeeze lime juice from 1 lime
lime zest from 1 lime

directions
1. Add the olive oil, chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, brown sugar, lime juice and lime zest to a container large enough to fit the chicken. Mix the marinade together before adding the chicken.
2. Cut 1 pound of chicken into bite size pieces and add it to the container.
3. Seal the container and shake it to coat the chicken in marinade.
4. leave the chicken to marinade o at room temperature for 30 minutes or put it in the fridge to marinate for 8 hours [I marinate mine overnight].
5. Cook the chicken in a frying pan over medium heat until it is cooked through.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa ingredients
half of a pineapple, sliced
1 bell red pepper, seeded and quartered (I used orange pepper this time)
half of a small red onion, peeled and cut
1 jalapeño, seeded and quartered
1/2 cup of loosely packed fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil

directions
*** The fruits and veggies are supposed to be grilled, but I cook them on the stove top. if you want grilling instructions, see the original recipe HERE.
2. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
1. Cook the pineapple, bell pepper, red onion and jalapeño in a large frying pan over medium heat until it can be pierced with a rubber spatula. Once cooked transfer the fruits and veggies to a plate to cool.
2. Chop up the pineapple, bell pepper, red onion and jalapeno and add them to a medium sized mixing bowl. Chop up the cilantro and add it to the mixing bowl.
3. Add in the lime juice, ground ginger, ground cumin and salt and pepper.
4. Toss the salsa with a fork and transfer it to a serving dish.

Avocado Crema ingredients
1 medium avocado, mashed
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

directions
1. Mash the avocado in a small mixing bowl. Mix in the sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, salt, garlic powder and ground cumin.
2. Transfer the crema to a serving dish.

When I build my taco, I lay a tortilla on my plate, add some chicken, a little pineapple salsa, some avocado crema and a little cheddar cheese.

Let me know if you have questions!