Coconut lime chicken thighs are bursting with flavors. Of course, you’ll have coconut from coconut milk and lime, juice, and lime zest, but there are so many other flavors in this recipe as well.

Once you have all the ingredients, this dish is so easy to put together!

The end result is a skillet full of perfectly crisp, chicken tenders simmering in a scrumptious coconut lime sauce.

These coconut lime chicken thighs are excellent served on Coconut Milk Rice!

Ingredients for Coconut Lime Chicken Thighs

There are quite a few ingredients for this coconut, lime chicken recipe, but once you have them on hand, making this recipe is a cinch.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken thighs (4-6 pieces)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
• 1 onion (yellow or white)
• 2 – 3 green onions
• 3 – 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• 3 mini red peppers or jalapenos

Flour Coating for Chicken Thighs

• ⅓ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Looking for other recipes with amazing flavor? Try:

• Honey Lime Salmon
• Steak Oscar
• Chicken Tenders Marsala

Prepping for Coconut Lime Thighs

First, you want to take a few steps to prepare to cook the chicken and other ingredients,

Get two medium-size, mixing bowls ready: one for dry ingredients to dredge the chicken and one for the simmering sauce.

In one medium size bowl, combine the flour coating ingredients for the chicken thighs: flour, ground ginger, garlic, turmeric, salt and pepper.

Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Dredge each chicken thigh in the flour coating so that they are well covered. Then, set them on a plate near the stove top.

In a second medium size mixing bowl, make the coconut lime sauce for the chicken by combining: coconut milk, lime juice, honey, fish sauce, chicken stock, and corn starch. Set it aside.

You may find that your coconut milk has separated into a thickened solid at the top with the coconut water at the bottom. This is very common and normal. Once you heat the coconut milk as you simmer the chicken things, it will merge back together to result in a smooth sauce. The bottom line is, don’t worry about your coconut milk looking chunky out of the can.

Adding the corn starch is not essential, but it will help thicken the sauce. If you want an even thicker sauce, you can exclude the chicken stock from this recipe.

Continue prepping by chopping a yellow or a white onion and finely chopping a few the garlic cloves. Grate fresh ginger until you have about 2 teaspoons. Chop 2 -3 green onions and mini red peppers or jalapeños into ringlets. Zest and juice one lime.

How to Make Chicken Thighs in Coconut Lime Sauce

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium high and then add the butter and olive oil. Using both olive oil and butter will give you the great flavor of butter without it browning or burning too quickly.

Cook the chicken thighs for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until they are a nice golden brown color. Use a meat thermometer to ensure they are cooked to 165° inside.

Then, use tongs to transfer the cooked chicken to a plate lined with a paper towel so they can drain.

Wipe most of the chicken grease out of the skillet and add a little drizzle of olive oil.

Saute the chopped onions until they are clear. Add garlic, the white part of the green onion, and ginger. Saute another minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the chopped mini red peppers and coconut lime sauce and simmer on low until thickened, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes). Add chicken thighs and simmer another 2 – 3 minutes. Garnish with the green portion of the chopped green onions and lime zest.

The mini peppers add both a pop of color and a pop of heat to the dish.

Serve immediately either straight from the cast iron skillet or from a serving dish. (Consider serving with rice.)

How to Serve Coconut Lime Chicken Thighs

You can serve coconut lime chicken straight from the cast iron skillet, which makes a beautiful serving platter that will keep it warm. You can also transfer the chicken thighs and coconut lime sauce to a serving tray.

Consider serving this creamy coconut lime chicken on a bed of rice, which can soak up some of the flavorful sauce.

For another incredible dinner dish, try: Hoisin Chicken Rice Bowl!