Grilled chicken a la plancha with avocado salsa {Pollo a la plancha}
This Latin style grilled chicken or pollo a la plancha is served with avocado salsa. The chicken breasts are marinated with a mix of orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, oregano, oil, salt/pepper.
Course Main dish
Cuisine Ecuadorian inspired, International, Latin, Latin fusion
Keyword A la plancha, Avocado salsa, Grilled chicken, Pollo a la plancha
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 4people
Ingredients
For the citrus garlic oregano marinade:
2small orangesjuiced
1limejuiced
4-5garlic clovescrushed
1tbsoregano
1tspsalt
1tsppepper
2tbsolive oil or avocado oil
1tspcumin
For the chicken a la plancha:
2lbsboneless chicken breasts4 breasts, cut butterfly style and lightly pounded until thin or you can also buy thinly sliced chicken cutlets
1-2limescut in halves or quarters
Freshly chopped cilantro
For the avocado salsa:
1ripe but firm avocadocut in slices or diced
½small red onionsliced or diced
1red Fresno chili pepper or your choice of hot pepperseeded and deveined, finely diced – adjust to taste, can also use mini sweet peppers for a non-spicy option
To prepare the chicken marinade combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Pour the marinade over the chicken breasts and let marinate for at least an hour, overnight is ideal, you can marinate the meat in a glass/ceramic container or you can also place them in a resealable bag (and then place the bag in a container to avoid any leaks.
To butterfly the chicken breasts, use a sharp knife to made horizontal cuts on the inner half of each chicken breast, then open it like a book or butter fly. On the same cutting board, cover the butterflied breasts with a piece of wax paper and gently pound the breasts with a meat mallet or your choice of heavy object to help tenderize and thin out the meat.
Avocado salsa preparation:
For the avocado salsa, rinse the red onion slices or diced pieces in cold water with a sprinkle of salt – this will help remove their bite. The mix all the ingredients - diced avocado, diced red chili pepper, onions, lime juice, cilantro, oil, and salt to taste – in a bowl. You can prepare the avocado salsa right before cooking the chicken or a few hours before – it can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
To cook the chicken a la plancha style:
Heat the plancha, grill, griddle or pan that you will be using to a high temperature. You can lightly grease with a drizzle of oil it if it’s prone to sticking.
Grill the chicken breast fillets for about 5 minutes on each side or until fully cooked – the exact time will vary based on the thickness of the chicken filets as well as the temperature of the griddle.
Remove the chicken from the griddle, drizzle with lime juice and sprinkle with freshly chopped cilantro.
Serve immediate with chunky avocado salsa on the top or on the side, and your choice of additional side dishes.
Notes
If you want to use the leftover marinade you can put it in a small pan and bring it to a boil, let it reduce by half, then add some sliced red onions and continue cooking until they are tender. You can use this mojo style sauce as an additional topping sauce for grilled chicken or as an alternative to the avocado salsa.