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Grilled chicken breast slices with sauce, rice and fresh limes on gray plate.

Grilled Lime Coconut Chicken with Coconut Rice

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken and Marinade/Sauce:

  • 1 cup canned coconut milk, light or regular
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • Zest and juice of 2 limes
  • ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 4 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

Coconut Rice:

  • 1 ½ cups long grain white or jasmine rice
  • 1 ½ cups canned coconut milk
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Garnish:

  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Fresh limes, cut into wedges

Instructions 

  • For the marinade, in a large liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the oil, lime zest, lime juice, cumin, coriander, soy sauce, salt, sugar, curry powder, coconut milk, and cayenne pepper.
  • Pour half the marinade into a bowl or container. Cover and refrigerate for later.
  • Place the chicken in a large ziploc bag or shallow dish, and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken. Seal the bag or cover the dish, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
  • For the rice, bring the rice, coconut milk, water and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 16 minutes until the liquid is mostly evaporated (don't lift the lid!). Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff lightly before serving.
  • For the chicken, preheat a grill to medium-high heat. I use a pellet grill and set the temperature to 375 degrees F.
  • Grill the chicken for 6-7 minutes per side (actual time will depend on the thickness of the chicken) until an instant-read thermometer inserted at the thickest part registers 165 degrees F.
  • While the chicken cooks, heat the reserved marinade on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm (don't cook at too high a temperature or it can separate).
  • Drizzle warm sauce over the grilled chicken, serving extra sauce on the side. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the chicken. Serve chicken and sauce over cooked rice with fresh lime wedges on the side.

Notes

Curry: the flavor of curry powder really varies depending on brand. My two top favorite brands are the sweet curry powder from Penzey's Spices and the curry powder from Spice Islands (the yellow powder not the red).
Chicken: if the chicken breasts are really thick, I like to cut them in half (like a hamburger bun) to form two thinner chicken cutlets before marinating. This ensures a more flavorful chicken piece. 
Update: the original recipe called for simmering the marinade to use as a sauce, but this often caused the marinade to curdle and separate (and a lot of people didn't like the idea of using the same sauce that had been used to marinade the chicken). I updated the recipe to include a better method for marinating AND having sauce that didn't separate. If you still want to use that original recipe/method, halve the marinade ingredients and use all of it to marinate the chicken. Pour off the marinade into a saucepan and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and drizzle over the chicken. 
I also increased the rice recipe to better fit with the serving size of the chicken. The original rice recipe was 1 cup rice + 1 cup coconut milk + 1 cup water + 1/2 teaspoon salt.