Forty minutes, of which fifteen are actual cooking. Two things are made in parallel and only meet on the plate: a marinated grilled breast and a raw salsa.
A tablespoon of honey in the marinade is what encourages the char. Sugar on the surface of the meat colours faster than the meat alone would over medium-high heat.
Why This Recipe Works
- Oil, lime juice and honey together carry the cumin and garlic onto the meat and help the surface colour.
- Twenty to sixty minutes is enough marinating for breast meat; longer is not needed and lime is acidic.
- Medium-high direct heat for five to seven minutes a side chars the outside while the inside reaches temperature.
- Five minutes of rest keeps the juices in the breast rather than on the plate under the salsa.
- Dressing the salsa with its own tablespoon of lime and quarter teaspoon of salt seasons it independently of the chicken.
Ingredient Notes
- Lime juice, in two places
- Two tablespoons in the marinade and one more in the salsa. Measured separately because they season two different things.
- Honey
- One tablespoon in the marinade only. It is there for the char as much as for sweetness.
- Large mango
- One, diced raw for the salsa. It is never cooked.
- Salt, twice
- A teaspoon in the marinade and a quarter teaspoon in the salsa. Both are listed; neither stands in for the other.
How to Make It
Marinate the breasts
Whisk olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice, honey, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Coat chicken and marinate 20 to 60 minutes.
Make the salsa cold
Combine mango, red pepper, red onion, cilantro, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; keep chilled.
Grill to charred and 165F
Heat a grill to medium-high. Grill chicken 5 to 7 minutes per side until well charred and 165 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part.
Rest five minutes
Rest chicken 5 minutes.
Salsa over the top
Spoon the raw fresh mango salsa generously over the grilled breasts.
Serve straight away
Serve immediately with lime wedges.
One Hot Track, One Cold
Two components that never share a pan, a heat source or a temperature. The marinating window on one side is exactly the time the other side needs to sit in the fridge.
The grill - hot, direct, uncovered
- 20 to 60 minutes before
1 1/2 lb of breasts coated in 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp honey, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. The honey is doing double duty - sweetness, and sugar on the surface to help it char.
- 5 to 7 minutes per side
Medium-high, direct heat, until well charred AND 165F in the thickest part. Both, not either: the char is what the finished plate shows and the temperature is what makes it safe.
- 5 minutes
Rested off the heat before anything is spooned over it, so the juices stay in the meat rather than running out under the salsa.
The fridge - raw, cold, untouched by heat
- While the chicken marinates
1 large mango diced, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/4 small red onion finely diced and 1/3 cup chopped cilantro.
- Dressed on its own
1 tbsp of lime juice and 1/4 tsp of salt - its own seasoning, separate from the marinade's. This is why lime and salt each appear twice in the ingredient list.
- Until serving
Kept chilled. Nothing here is cooked, warmed, or added to the grill at any point.
Cold onto hot, at the last moment
The raw salsa is spooned generously over the rested, charred breasts and served immediately with lime wedges. The contrast is the dish: hot charred meat under cold raw fruit. Combine them any earlier and the salsa warms through and loses exactly what it was kept cold for.
Success Tips
- Leave the breasts alone on the grill so the char can form.
- Make the salsa first and keep it in the fridge — it is better cold against hot chicken.
- Spoon the salsa on after the rest, not before, so the chicken keeps its juices.
Serving Ideas
Four servings on white plates, each charred grilled breast under a generous spoonful of the bright raw mango, red pepper, red onion and cilantro salsa, with lime wedges at the edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cook this in a pan of sauce instead?
The char is part of the dish. It needs direct heat on a grill; a braise would cook the chicken through but leave it pale.
Is the salsa cooked at all?
No. It is assembled raw in step 2, kept chilled, and spooned over at the end.
Can I marinate it overnight?
The marinating window is twenty to sixty minutes. It is an acidic marinade and breast meat does not need longer.
