These Southwest Chicken Foil Packets with Veggies are a tasty BBQ idea. Throw everything in a foil packet and say goodbye to dirty dishes!
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How to make this recipe
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Preheat BBQ to med-high heat.
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Marinade chicken for 10 minutes
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. Meanwhile, toss veggies and potatoes with olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder and seasoning salt.
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Create four foil packets and add veggies and chicken to each, spooning a bit of marinade over the chicken.
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Cook chicken on the BBQ for 20-25 minutes until chicken is fully cooked.
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Add cheese and place the cover back for four minutes nearing the end of the cooktime.
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Serve with chopped cilantro, salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – any neutral oil can be used in place of olive oil. Some neutral oils to replace olive oil are grapeseed oil, canola oil or avocado oil.
- Chili powder – cayenne pepper, chili flakes, or paprika can be used in place of chili powder.
- Garlic powder – use fresh or jarred minced garlic in place of garlic powder. Garlic salt is also a great option. If you use garlic salt be weary of how much added salt you add as it may get too salty.
- Seasoning salt (to taste)
- Baby potatoes – use any variation of baby potatoes or fingerlings that you like.
- Red, yellow and green pepper – use all three or only one colour depending on your preferences. You can also add in orange peppers if that is favourite.
- Shredded cheddar cheese – use any shredded cheese blend of your choice. Cheddar is the one I use but marble, mozzarella or Tex Mex blends will also work well.
- Cilantro – if cilantro isn’t your herb of choice, feel free to use parsley or fresh basil instead.
- Salsa – jarred salsa or pico de gallo will both work.
- Sour cream – plain greek yogurt is a low-fat alternative to sour cream.
Chicken marinade
- Chicken breasts – chicken thighs or legs can also be marinaded and used for these foil packets.
- Olive oil – see substitutions above for olive oil.
- Lime juice – use fresh or bottled lime juice. If you’re in a pinch use lemon juice.
- Taco seasoning – use store-bought taco seasoning or make your own blend with spices you have at home.
- Salt (to taste)
Why you should wrap your chicken in foil
Wrapping chicken in foil in preparation for cooking has so many benefits! Firstly, wrapping the chicken in foil reduces the cleaning time that comes with cooking chicken breasts. It's important to be careful when cooking raw chicken. Anything that touches raw chicken needs to be cleaned and wiped down immediately to reduce the chance of salmonella or any other bacteria. By having the chicken wrapped in foil, you're limiting what the chicken comes in contact to and all you have to do is toss the foil packets once you're done!
Another reason why you should wrap your chicken in foil is because it ensures the chicken breast you're cooking remains juicy and tender. Using foil seals in the natural juices that are released from chicken breasts when they've been cooked. This allows that stereotypically “dry” chicken to stay juicy, tender and moist. (Sorry if you hate that word!)
Storing and reheating
This chicken foil packet recipe will last in the fridge up to 4 days. Store them in glass meal prep containers in individual servings to make them easy to microwave straight out of the fridge.
To reheat, simply sprinkle some water overtop so the chicken doesn't dry out, then microwave for 2-3 minutes. A quick tip: I prefer to slice the chicken and sprinkle with 1-2 tsp of water so that the chicken reheats more evenly.
Freezing the chicken
I don't recommend freezing this meal with the veggies and potatoes because the peppers will get really soggy while reheating. However, you can freeze the chicken once it's been cooked if you want to make this dish at a later date!
To freeze the chicken, transfer the chicken to a glass container or freezer bag once it has cooled. You can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months and then defrost in a 350 F oven for 20-30 minutes until warm inside. I recommend adding a bit of water overtop so that the chicken stays moist!
More chicken recipes
Meal prep tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into your weekly lunches
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through
Southwest Foil Chicken Packets
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp seasoning salt
- 1 package baby potatoes, sliced in half
- 1/2 each red, yellow and green pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro, salsa and sour cream to serve
Chicken marinade
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat BBQ to med-high heat. Mix together ingredients for chicken and let marinate for 10 min. Meanwhile, toss veggies and potatoes with olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder and seasoning salt.
- Create four foil packets and add veggies and chicken to each, spooning a bit of marinade over the chicken. Create foil covers for each foil packet, then cook on BBQ for 20-25 minutes until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from heat and remove foil cover, then top chicken with cheese. Place cover back on gently and let sit for 3-4 min until cheese is melted. Serve with chopped cilantro, salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Kathryn says
The southwest foil chicken looks yummy, id love to make that
Britt says
I can not find the passion fruit condiment anywhere. What else would you recommend as substitution?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Britt – you can substitute lime juice for the marinade. Hope that helps 🙂