This Chili’s Margarita Grilled Chicken is the perfect copycat recipe topped with shredded cheese, fresh salsa and all the fixings.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Chicken breasts – you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs for a juicier cut of meat, but it will increase the calorie count.
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like avocado, grapeseed or canola oil.
- Taco seasoning – use a pre-made blend or make your own using chili powder, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
- Salsa – I prefer using the fresh kind you find in the pre-made foods section of the grocery store but you could also use the jarred variety.
- Corn – fresh, frozen or canned corn would all work here.
- Black beans – swap out for another bean of your choice like chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans or lentils.
- Shredded cheddar cheese – use your favourite shredded cheese blend like Tex-Mex, mozzarella or Monterey Jack.
- Plum tomato – regular tomatoes or any other kind of tomatoes would be good in this recipe.
- Cilantro – leave this out altogether if you don’t like cilantro.
- Avocado – use guacamole or leave this out altogether.
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How to make Chili's margarita chicken
- Season and bake the chicken.
- Top with salsa, corn, black beans and cheese.
- Bake until the cheese has melted.
- Add on your favourite toppings and dig in!
What to serve with margarita chicken
I added some sliced avocado and frozen potato wedges to this margarita grilled chicken Chili’s recipe, but it's really up to you to decide what kinds of sides you want to serve.
I find that this recipe is super filling even without a ton of sides – you’ve got some veggies and cheese on top of the chicken to begin with, so a small side salad is the perfect side dish. If you're not very hungry, you may be able to just have the chicken with no sides for lunch and find it filling enough!
Make sure that you use fresh salsa if possible. The jarred kind works great as well and you likely already have it on hand at home, but I love using the Garden Fresh Gourmet salsas for many recipes that call for salsa. It's better than the jarred stuff and tastes closer to homemade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Margarita grilled chicken is a dish from the chain restaurant Chili's – it's basically a marinated grilled chicken breast loaded with Tex Mex toppings. At the restaurant, it's served with Mexican-style rice and refried beans. My version of this recipe technically uses baked chicken instead of grilled chicken. It's made much easier in the oven, which is perfect for those of you that don't have regular access to a BBQ. That being said, you can grill it on the BBQ if you'd like – it should only need about 15 minutes on the grill.
There are 650 calories per serving in Chili's margarita grilled chicken if you order it from the restaurant. If you choose to make it at home, my copycat has just 360 calories per serving! Keep in mind that my version doesn’t include any sides – but even if you added some frozen potato wedges as pictured, the total calorie count would be about 460 calories, which is still less than the Chili’s version.
Overall, this margarita grilled chicken Chili’s recipe is a healthier meal option, even if you order it at the restaurant. It's high in protein and includes plenty of veggies, and my copycat recipe uses less cheese and a healthier seasoning. If you want to make this dish even healthier, serve it with a side salad instead of potato wedges.
Storing and reheating
You can store any leftover margarita grilled chicken in the fridge for up to 5 days. I suggest that you store the fresh toppings (tomatoes, cilantro and avocado) separately so that you can just reheat the chicken with the cheese, corn and black beans on top – since the tomatoes and avocado won’t reheat well.
Reheat the chicken in the microwave for 2 minutes or so. Make sure to sprinkle some water over top of the chicken before reheating so it doesn't dry out; from there, you can add on the fresh toppings before digging in.
Freezing this recipe
This margarita grilled chicken Chili’s recipe is definitely freezer-friendly. Freeze the chicken (minus the fresh toppings) for up to 3 months in an airtight glass container or freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Defrost it in the fridge overnight, then reheat as normal.
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Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken {Perfect Copycat!}
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup salsa (I used the fresh kind, not the jarred kind but you could use either)
- 1/2 cup Corn
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Optional side dish: frozen potato wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Rub chicken breasts with olive oil, taco seasoning and salt. Bake in the oven 15 minutes.
- Remove chicken from oven, then top with salsa, corn, black beans and cheese. Bake another 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Remove chicken from oven and top with diced tomatoes and cilantro. Add sliced avocado and lime on the side. I served frozen potato wedges with my chicken as a side dish but that's optional; you could also do sweet potato fries, a side salad, sauteed spinach or more. The choice is up to you!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Kelli says
Better than Chili’s!
June says
Thanks for your post. The recipes look great.
My question is can parsley be substituted for cilantro in your recipes?
Taylor Stinson says
Yes it definitely can! Thanks for the kind words June 🙂