The chicken in this recipe is flavored with a spicy seasoning blend then topped with a light, creamy sauce made with fresh lime juice, cilantro, and cream.

Boneless chicken breasts on a white plate topped with a creamy sauce with chopped cilantro, and lime wedges.

This easy chicken recipe is a tasty combination of boneless chicken breasts, pan-fried, and topped with a creamy cilantro sauce flavored with freshly squeezed lime juice. For a quick and flavorful meal, serve it with steamed rice and an easy-to-make green vegetable like sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli.

Notes From the MGC Kitchen

Making simple pan sauces that can take on varied flavor profiles is one of our favorite ways to keep everyday meals interesting. This creamy cilantro sauce recipe is a perfect way to illustrate that technique. Ingredients like cilantro, lime, and cumin give this sauce a Mexican-inspired flavor profile, but when you make simple swaps with options like lemon juice, orange juice, basil, and rosemary, you have a whole new dish. Easy variations are listed below.

Key Ingredients

This is an overview of the key ingredients for this recipe. Please see the printable recipe card below for the complete listing, including quantities.

CHICKEN: We recommend boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe and we always pound them to an even thickness to ensure they cook properly. You could use chicken tenderloins as well.
SEASONINGS: The chicken breasts are dredged in a seasoned flour mix flavored with salt and pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper.
FRESH LIMES: Freshly squeezed lime juice provides a bright, citrus flavor to the sauce that pairs perfectly with the cilantro.
SCALLIONS: Chopped scallions, added near the end of cooking bring a sweet onion flavor and bright pop of color to this dish.
CILANTRO: The herbaceous flavor of cilantro is really the star of this dish, however, we realize that not everyone has a taste for this herb. You might want to consider one of the recipe variations listed below, or you can substitute parsley. If you opt for the parsley, know that the dish will not be as vibrantly flavored.
CREAM: We call for a small amount of heavy cream in our cilantro sauce. You could substitute half and half if you wanted to.

How To Make Chicken With Creamy Cilantro Sauce

This is an overview of how this recipe is prepared. Please see the printable recipe card below for detailed step-by-step instructions.

MAKE THE SEASONING: Prepare the seasoning blend by combining the salt, paprika, garlic powder, ground cumin, onion powder, cayenne, and a few grinds of black pepper.

PREPARE THE CHICKEN: In a shallow dish combine the flour with the seasoning blend, reserving a little to finish the sauce. Pound the chicken breasts to a uniform thickness, then dredge each in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.

COOK THE CHICKEN: Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with vegetable oil and place over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until lightly browned and cooked through (see notes for tips). Transfer to a serving plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

MAKE THE CREAMY CILANTRO SAUCE: Deglaze the pan with the chicken broth and stir in a little sugar. Add the lime juice, scallions, and the reserved seasoning blend. Continue cooking for about a minute, just until the scallions soften slightly. Whisk in the cream until blended, then stir in the cilantro.

SERVE: To serve, spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with lime slices if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

HOW TO COOK MOIST, TENDER CHICKEN BREASTS

Chicken breasts should reach an internal temperature of 165°F and no longer be pink in the center before serving. However, it’s important to remember that the internal temperature of food continues to rise even after it’s removed from the heat source.

To ensure you don’t end up with dry, overcooked chicken, remove the breasts from the pan when they reach a temperature of 155 to 160°F and cover them with foil. They will come up to a safe temperature as they rest.

Recipe Variations

Here are two ways you can easily switch up the flavors of this dish.

CREAMY LEMON-BASIL SAUCE: To give this chicken dish a Mediterranean flair, omit the paprika, cumin, and cayenne from the flour seasoning and add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning instead. Then replace the lime juice with lemon juice and the cilantro with chiffonade of fresh basil. Serve this version of this dish with a side of angel hair pasta tossed in olive oil and garlic and a salad.

CREAMY ORANGE-ROSEMARY SAUCE: This fall-inspired flavor combo is easy to make. Omit the paprika, cumin, and cayenne from the flour seasoning. Omit the sugar from the sauce ingredients, replace the lime juice with orange juice, and the cilantro with 1 teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary. Rosemary has a far more pungent flavor than cilantro, so the quantity is significantly reduced. If you have fresh oranges on hand, we recommend adding a little orange zest too. Serve this version with oven-roasted potatoes and green beans.