I love jalapenos. While I am a self confessed heat addict, they are extremely good for you too! Jalapenos have more vitamin C than eating an orange and are packed in vitamin A! So feel good about eating this recipe. And if you don’t like heat but like the pepper flavor, take the seeds out and this marinade will have very little heat.
This is a loose interpretation of the term “pesto”. Instead of basil, I use cilantro and pair with jalapenos and lime juice to make my “triple crown” of favorite flavors. This would be equally great on grilled veggies and as a dip paired with tortilla chips.
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Jalapeno Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 3 limes- used for juice and zest
- 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
- 4 jalapenos- if you don't like heat, remove the seeds.
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tblsp olive oil
- 1 tblsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Additional ingredients:
- 6 pack of chicken legs- enough for 2–3 people
I paired the chicken with quick and easy grilled romaine and texas toast for a satisfying and easy meal. Do you have a favorite play on pesto? Please share and I'll feature them here on the blog!
Instructions
Use a food processor or emulsion blender to mix all of this together. Zest all of the limes for lovely lime goodness, then cut them in half and juice them directly into the processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix in the processor until all the ingredients are mixed uniformly.
Marinade the chicken legs for up to 4 hours. If you don't have time to marinate that long, you will still have good flavor in the chicken.
Grill the chicken on a medium/high grill, about 350 degrees, approximately 7-8 minutes each side, or until an internal temp of 170 degrees has been reached (use a meat thermometer, don't try to guess!)
Jalapeno-lime-cilantro goodness! My favorite flavors in a pesto consistency!
I paired this chicken with grilled romaine hearts and texas toast for a quick and easy “meal on the grill”.
Looks awesome can’t wait to give this one a try and toss with some grilled wings for this weekends college football kickoff!
Keep up the great work!
Chef Troy
Robyn you are a genius! I can’t wait to try this amazing looking recipe on my Labor Day Weekend!
This sounds amazing Robyn and will be tried here soon. We are both big cilantro fans and Bev has become a serious chile head – adding heat to nearly everything she eats.
Thanks Sharon! We need to get together soon!!!
Larry, you know I love heat, in fact I”m addicted. You may have to add even more jalapenos to this to make Bev happy! 🙂
Robyn – We had it the other night and loved it. Blog post teed up for 9/6, but didn’t get it hot enough since the SIL was eating with us.
This pesto is very similar to the condiment I made with flank steak last night, which was fabulous!
I’ll be trying this with some leg quarters this weekend.
This looks so super tasty.