Name: Recipe: Lemon Chicken Taco Dinner
Prep time: 14 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 4 h 44 min
Cuisine: Mexican-American
Ingredients: 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts; Marinade (see lemon marinade directly below); 16 oz Cheddar Cheese; Guacamole (store-bought or use the recipe directly below); Pico de Gallo; 2 Cups Rice [white/brown] (instant or you can cook your own.); 1 Cup Black Beans (cooked, you can use canned, or dried, but account for the time needed to soak and cook dried beans); 3 ½ oz Corn tortilla strips (store-bought or use the recipe below); ½ cup light-tasting olive oil; 5 Tablespoon lemon juice; 3 dashes Worcestershire; 2 Tablespoon taco seasoning; 3 ripe avocados; ¼ cup Pico de Gallo; 3 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro (chopped); ¾ teaspoon Salt; olive oil; Seasoning Salt; black pepper; six-inch Corn Tortillas

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Lemon Chicken Taco Dinner on a white ceramic plate

It’s Grilling Season! You know what that means… I have a fun new recipe to share with you! This Lemon Chicken Taco Dinner can be as easy or homemade as you want. This is a no-shell taco dinner (of course, you can easily prep it all for a taco shell and it would also be AMAZING). I have included the recipes for each element of this dinner, but if you prefer, you can buy everything pre-made (except the chicken), and just assemble it after you grill the chicken.

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I remember what it was like coming home from work and just wanting dinner done. So of course, I don’t want this to be daunting for you. If you happen to have the time to make it completely from scratch, I promise you won’t regret it. Price-wise, it is cheaper to make everything instead of buying it pre-made; but do what is best for you, your family, and your sanity.

Quick Overview

About the Ingredients

The Lemon Chicken Dinner

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts is a nice leaner meat and if done right with the marinade will not be dry. Other options: boneless skinless chicken thighs or boneless pork chops.

Lemon Taco Marinade made with 4 ingredients, its easy and quick to make.

Cheddar Cheese is perfect to go with the chicken. Other options are Pepper Jack, Jalapeno Cheddar, Colby Jack, or any other soft melty cheese.

Guacamole is completely optional, but I love it. This can be homemade (see the recipe below) or store-bought.

Pico de Gallo is always my go-to over plain old cubed tomatoes on my tacos.

White/Brown Rice is a great filler to add. We love rice in our house; in this case, it’s a great way to catch all those amazing flavors from the chicken and the pico.

Black Beans are a source of resistant starch! What does that mean to you? Well, it means that it won’t raise blood sugars! Bonus for black beans… they are blood sugar regulation powers. Plus, resistant starch helps to feed our healthy gut bacteria, maintain gut regularity, increase fullness, reduce cholesterol, and has even been tied to reduced colon cancer risk (note: I’m not a doctor, but I have talked with nutritionists and am always learning). So whether you decide to cook them from dried beans or, just open a can and heat, you should add them to this meal!

Corn tortilla strips add the crunch you would get from a taco shell. If you do a taco bar instead, skip these (Or add them anyway, I’m not here to judge).

Jenn’s Notes:

As I’ve said throughout this post, this entire Lemon Chicken Taco Dinner Recipe is meant to be super adjustable for any time.

For the Marinade: Pour over the meat of choice, seal in a food-safe bag, and marinate in the refrigerator for the allotted time to achieve the flavor strength you want. The longer it sits, the better. But a minimum of 30 minutes is necessary. If making ahead of time, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days after preparation.

The rest of the “ingredients” can be as store-bought as you want.

Assembly is simple

And of course, you don’t have to do this. You could also simply set everything up for a taco bar). But if you want the “pretty” plate I did in the image above… Follow these steps.

Slice all the chicken.
Place a scoop of rice in the middle of the plate. Push it with the back of the spoon, making a flat-ish “rice bowl”
Then a spoonful of black beans in the middle of the rice.
Place sliced chicken on top of the rice and beans.
Top with guacamole, pico, and tortilla strips.
Serve and Enjoy!

Chicken on the grill; after being flipped once.

cutting the grilled chicken breasts with melted cheese

Make a taco bar

Cut up the chicken
Set the cheese on the side instead of melting it on top of the chicken.
Get some different shells ready (crunchy, flour, corn, etc)
Have everything set up and ready for self-serve

Everything prepped and ready for platting.

Cooking with Kids

DISCLOSURE: These tips are generalized, and meant to be suggestive. Everything I’m sharing I do with my kids, and they are all different even within my own five. So please take these as suggestions or ideas and if you think your child needs more or less help, then go with what you and your child are comfortable with. Ultimately, you know your kids, do what YOU think is best.

This is fantastic for kids to help with

measuring ingredients
pouring all the ingredients into the bowl
mixing all the ingredients
Let them pour the marinade into the bag

Let me know what you thought this lemon chicken taco dinner recipe! Your star ratings with your comments are tremendously helpful! I love seeing friends and family come together over food. If you take a picture, tag me on Instagram or Facebook, @jenngiamsmith #JennGiamSmith I will always share your posts on my stories and tag you! You can also share it on this post’s Pinterest Pin! Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest for a steady stream of recipe (and other) inspiration!

It’s always wonderful to see loved ones coming together over delicious food.

Recipe: Lemon Chicken Taco Dinner

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Author: Jenn Giam Smith
Total Time: 4 hours 44 minutes
Yield: 6 people 1x

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Description

A delicious grilled chicken dinner that’s sure to impress even the pickiest of eaters. Made with a basic marinade, it’s packed with great flavor and plenty of food to fill those hungry tummies.

Instructions

Start by making the marinade

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and taco seasoning until combined well.
Pour over the chicken breasts (or other meat of choice) seal in a food-safe bag, and marinate in the refrigerator for the allotted time to achieve the flavor strength you want (up to 3 days).

When you’re ready to cook the chicken…

Preheat your grill to 400°F.
Place the marinated chicken on the grill for about 10 min or so. Flip and continue to cook. Chicken should cook until internal temp hits 160°F
Once the chicken is cooked to 160°F, take the chicken off and top each chicken with a handful of cheddar cheese, let sit with tented foil for about 5-10 min. Internal temp will hit 165°F
While the chicken is resting, if you plan on making guacamole, make that now.

Making Guacamole

***Preparation Notes: Guacamole should be served as soon as you make it. Don’t make it in advance. It doesn’t keep well. It turns brown very quickly.
Don’t chill the guacamole. It should be served at room temperature.
Add the avocados to the molcajete and grind until slightly chunky.
Add to the molcajete and incorporate. Do not grind the Pico de Gallo (I slightly smash it, but leave chunks).
Add cilantro (start with about 2 Tablespoons because the Pico de Gallo also has cilantro. You can always add more).
Add salt if necessary

For the corn tortilla Strips

***This can be made ahead of time, even a few days before***
Cut six-inch Corn Tortillas into strips (size is up to you)
Cover the strips in olive oil, seasoning salt and pepper.
Lay on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 350ºF for 5-10 minutes or until crunchy & golden brown.