Lately I’ve been craving Mexican food, maybe it’s the weather or because it’s simple to cook or it’s because it goes well with an ice cold beer? All of the above? But when I want Mexican, I crave this simple and quick Chipotle Chicken Marinade!
I use this recipe when I make chicken fajitas, quesadillas and nachos. The great thing about this recipe is that you can control the heat factor, so if you want it spicier you just add more chipotles and vice versa.
So what is chipotle in adobo??
Chipotle: is a smoked-dried jalapeno. Adobo is Spanish for sauce which is prepared by stewing the chipotles with tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, salt, and spices like ground cumin and dried oregano, but mainly it’s the peppers which gives it flavor!.
When I make this for my for my family I only use two, but if it is my husband and myself, which is rare, I add another one because we like it spicy! Just take my advice, don’t taste the adobo sauce straight up or your tongue might fall off. kidding! But it is spicy. Hopefully that doesn’t scare you, I don’t want you think the recipe I’m giving you is insanely spic because mixing the chipotles with the oil, honey and garlic plus the grilling really tones it down.
To Make This Chipotle Chicken You Will Need:
- olive oil
- honey
- chipotles in adobo
- ground cumin
- 2 garlic cloves
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
In your food processor add the olive oil. I so love my mini food processor for salad dressings and marinades!! I think you can get them for 20$!! Totally worth it!
Then add the honey…
salt and pepper…
and the cumin… Don’t turn it on just yet…
Smash and peel the two garlic cloves. I love garlic… eat it almost everyday… even for breakfast… just you wait, you’ll be eating it too!
Roughly chop the garlic, it doesn’t have to be pretty or fancy.
Throw it in with all the others.
Next open the can of chipotles in adobo {you can find these easily at your local grocery store in the ethnic food aisle}. Here is where you have the control… to make it spicy or not-so-spicy. So start with two… then work your way up the next time. For a small can it sure does hold a lot of chipotle chiles! You could save these in an airtight container and even add a few to your salsa!
Line em’ up and roughly chop.
Add them to the other ingredients, tightly lock the lid into place and let ‘er rip! {Here is where you could add in the optional ingredients listed below with the recipe!}
It should be thick…but not chunky.
Pour the marinade over top of the chicken.
Toss them around and cover with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid.
I would definitely refrigerate the chicken in the Chipotle Chicken Marinade for about an hour and a half. Then pull them out 30 minutes in advance to bring them up a bit in temperature.
Cold chicken on a hot grill is not ideal.
Over medium to medium high heat grill the chicken until it reaches around 170 degrees internally with a thermometer, or 4 to 6 minutes per-side depending on thickness.
Don’t forget to let your chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing, cover it with aluminum foil and let it chill. Then you can slice it up thin and use it for quesadillas, tacos or nachos.
Enjoy! And if you give this Chipotle Chicken Marinade recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Chipotle Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 2 whole chipotle peppers in adobo, roughly chopped
- 1 pinch kosher salt (generous)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- In a mini food processor add olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and chopped chipotles.
- Let the food processor run until the marinade is thick but not chunky.
- Pour over chicken and marinade for two hours {remove 30 minutes prior to grilling}.
- Heat your grill to medium/ medium high heat and grill the chicken 4 to 6 minutes a side or until no longer pink.
- Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
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I make a really yummy Chipotle in adobo and sweet potato soup. I'm always left with a bunch of chipotle's and don't know what to do with them. Now I have a new recipe to try with them! Thanks!
Daisie I would LOVE to have that recipe!!… if you're willing to share it!! Thanks for stopping by!
The chicken looks really juicy in the second to last photograph. Perfect grill marks too!
This sounds amazing! I love chipotles in adobo sauce, and this is so quick! 🙂 I will be bookmarking this to try for a weekday dinner.
Chipotle is a favorite in our household! I'm certain this will go into our regular rotation!! Nicely done!
I loved this recipe! I used it for the chicken in our chicken tacos tonight and it was awesome! Check it out here:
http://ducksoven.blogspot.com/2010/10/chipotle-chicken-tacos-and-mexican-rice.html
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
This recipe looks lovely. Your photos are really good – they make hungry!! I definitely will be trying this one very soon as we love love chicken around here!!
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I came upon this site by pure chance while searching for a chicken marinade. Let’s just say…I am so glad that I did! I made this tonight and it was fabulous! I tripled the marinade and used a whole can of chipotles, as I was feeding quite a few and we like things spicy. It was definitely spicy but oh so delicious. My kids, ages 7 and 10, gobbled it down and even asked for seconds. I had a few chicken breasts left over and will be using them in in my taco bake for dinner tomorrow night. Thanks again, big hit with me and my family!
I’m going to use this marinade for burritos.
I love those chipotles in abobo. I freeze the unused portion and then you can just slice them off when you want them. Much easier to handle.
Thanks for the recipe, it looks really great. It looks like the chicken could also be cut into strips or chunks or something and skewered on a shish kebab so the yummy marinade would have more surface to coat.
I’ve made this a few times for my daughter on chicken. I slice it up like fajitas and she makes a spinach wrap with it to take to school for lunch. She loves spicy things (her mother does not)! Super easy recipe! Thanks.
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This recipe is just amazing!!!!!! Easy , delicious, creative! I run through your recipes to cook weekly.
What a fabulous marinade!! We loved it and I will definitely be making it many more times!! I used 4 chipotle chillies and although they taste hot out of the can, the finished result is more smokey and tangy. Very easy to do also. Thanks!!
Wonderful marinade! I added the juice of a whole lime (would add more next time) but the rest was your recipe item for item. I only marinated for about an hour for fear of the chicken being too spicy but it could have used more time. Best grilled chicken I have ever made, thanks to you! Forget those store-bought Chipotle-Lime marinades that I used to buy! Out if curiosity, what lens are you using to take the beautiful pictures? 50mm?
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Can I marinade overnight or will it get too spicy?
I marinated overnight and it was perfect. To me it did not get spicier than if I cooked the same night.
I just had a party of 80 and marinated 15 pounds of chicken overnight and threw it on the BBQ. Came out perfect
I have used this recipe a lot since I found it. I just made, for a party, this recipe x 12 and my guests all loved it!
I was spending a lot of money on the seasoning packets and they all just had soooo much salt.
This adds flavor other than a TON of salt.
This is an amazing chicken chipotle marinade!!
I’m so glad, Ali! That’s a lot of chicken! Wow! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to make it and leave such a great review. I appreciate it!
I went to make this tonight, and was missing a couple things, but if it tasted anything like what I ended up with, it’s the most fantastic marinade EVER!
Instead of Olive oil, I used mayo, I left out the cumin because I just dont like its “taco seasoning” flavor, and since I was also missing the garlic, I instead, used a quarter of an onion. Threw it all in the processor and marinated chicken tenders for 30 min prior to grilling.
And as I never eat leftover chicken, because it tastes funny to me, I had no problem with this kind. I’ve used the leftovers in a salad, and when I ran out of lettuce, I threw cheese on top of cold chicken, along with honey mustard dressing and ate a whole plate of it.
Seriously, it is amazing! Thank you so much!