Dinner · 45 min · american

Copycat Fiesta Lime Chicken (Applebee’s style)

This is the kind of American dinner you’ll make on repeat — chicken breasts and lime juice, 45 minutes, big payoff. It is weeknight cooking that still hits your targets — 44 grams of protein per serving. Naturally high-protein, it scales cleanly if you are cooking for more than one.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup Lime juice
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (2%)
• 1 tbsp Chipotle in adobo
• 1 cup Mexican cheese blend
• 4 cups Cauliflower rice
• 1 cup Pico de gallo
• 1/4 cup Cilantro

Steps

1. Marinate the chicken in lime juice, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder for at least 30 minutes — the acid does the flavor work, so 30 minutes beats overnight here.
2. Sear the chicken in a hot skillet 6 minutes per side until charred at the edges; the slight char is what reads as “fiesta,” not the sauce alone.
3. Whisk the yogurt with chipotle and a squeeze of lime for the mexi-ranch; yogurt gives the tang with half the regret of the restaurant’s mayo version.
4. Top each breast with sauce and cheese, cover the pan 2 minutes, and let the cheese melt into a blanket — broiling works too if your skillet is oven-safe.
5. Serve over quick-sautéed cauliflower rice with pico and cilantro; the cold pico against the hot cheese is the bite that makes this dish.

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