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These honey chipotle chicken bites are a little sweet, layered with easy spices, and have flavors of tang with lime juice. Using real food ingredients like chicken breast, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, cilantro, honey, spices, and fresh lime juice. 20 minutes and one pan is all you need to to get this easy weeknight recipe on the dinner table!
Around the Wholesomelicious house, we love easy chicken recipes that come together quickly with bold flavor. No boring recipes around here! A few of our staples include Buffalo Chicken and Rice Skillet or Sheet Pan Greek Chicken. But today, we’re kicking up it up a notch with a homemade honey chipotle sauce that has the right amount of sweetness, tangy, and just the right amount of spicy! After some trial and error and creating this sauce a few times, I did get just the ratios just right.
I love this dish for several reasons. It’s quick and easy using ingredients you most likely have on hand. It’s versatile and can be served bowl style with rice, as a burrito bowl, with greens as a salad, or even as tacos. As a nutritionist, I am always ensuring my recipes are healthy and don’t sacrifice flavor. This chicken dish is loaded with lean protein, and also antioxidants from spices and herbs. It is also easy to increase the fiber and healthy fats, by adding in beans or avocado. Finally, this is one of my favorite methods of cooking chicken. Browning in a skillet and covering with an amazing sauce!
How to make Honey Chipotle Chicken Bites
These are the ingredients you need for this recipe!
- Chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
- Avocado oil or olive oil
- Garlic
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Sea salt
- Lime juice
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Honey
- The first step to this recipe is to stir together the simple blend of spices. Top the chicken with the spices and let it sit while you warm up the pan. A cast iron skillet works best for this recipe! Heat the skillet to medium high heat.
- Once hot, add the avocado oil or olive oil. Then add the chicken.
- While the chicken is sauteeing, blend together the honey chipotle sauce: lime juice, honey, chipotle peppers, and garlic.
- Once chicken is seared on all sides, add the sauce and coat the chicken. Top with cilantro and serve!
Serving
There are several ways to enjoy this recipe. As mentioned above, you could do tacos or burritos and serve in tortillas. You can also enjoy in a bowl with rice, black beans, guacamole, and make more of a burrito bowl. Or you can also serve with greens!
I love this as a protein on my Mexican Slaw recipe with cilantro avocado dressing. You can also serve over my Cauliflower Spanish Rice or Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
Variations
Can you make in the slow cooker or Instant Pot? The answer is yes to the slow cooker, using the chipotle sauce. It won’t have the crispy texture that you get from the stovetop. Cook on low for 4 hours with the sauce. I would not recommend the Instant Pot because there is not enough liquid in this recipe. You can always try my Instant Pot Chicken Tinga for similar flavor!
Storing and Re-heating
These chicken bites make a delicious option for meal prep to enjoy throughout the week! You can easily warm up each day in the microwave at 60 seconds, than use 30 second intervals until hot. You can also place in the oven for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees F. Or, saute in a sauce pan for 3-5 minutes until heated through. The chicken can last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Honey Chipotle Chicken Bites
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 tsp Smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1.5 lbs Chicken breast,, cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 tbsp Olive oil or avocado oil, , divided
For the Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Fresh lime juice
- 2 – 3 Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, (+ additional 1 -2 tbsp adobo sauce)
- 3 tbsp Raw honey
- 1/4 cup Loosely chopped fresh cilantro, + more for garnish
- 2 cloves Garlic, , minced
Instructions
- Start by heating a large cast iron skillet to medium high heat. While warming up, mix together your blend of spices: paprika, cumin, and sea salt. Coat the chicken bites in the spices and set aside.
- Once the skillet is hot, heat with half of the oil, and add the chicken. Let it sear for about 3-4 minutes or until it can be easily flipped. If it's "stuck", let it continue cooking. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes on each side until chicken is ready.
- Meanwhile, make the chipotle honey sauce. In a small food processor, combine the lime juice, remaining oil, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, cilantro, and garlic. Blend until smooth.
- Once chicken is cooked, toss with the honey chipotle sauce. Garnish with additional cilantro and serve!
My kids loved this!!! So easy and very delicious.
You know a dish is gonna be good when they say an iron skillet works best, hubby and son thought it was great! Used frozen limes and frozen cilantro, served as a rice bowl with lettuce, nonfat yogurt (tastes similar to sour cream),sliced avocado and black beans. It’s a keeper
Thanks for the feedback, Joni!!