Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet

Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet is a healthy weeknight cast iron skillet dinner recipe with chicken breast, tomatillos, red onion, poblanos, lime, cilantro, cumin, and coriander. 

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Would you believe me if I told you this was originally supposed to be a soup recipe? Yup. I had all of the ingredients to try posole for the first time except for one: hominy. And it wasn't just a, "Oh I happen to have everything except one ingredient that I can go pick up," sort of moment. It was more like a, "WAIT. I just went to TWO grocery stores and hauled tons of groceries up five flights of stairs and forgot the single most important ingredient?!?" type of moment. It's really okay. It happens.

But then I got to thinking... maybe I could still make posole without hominy. *Glimmer of hope*. And then Google told me, more or less, that posole without hominy is not, in fact, posole. So there was that.

BUT. The outcome was not a bad one, because it gave us this salsa verde chicken skillet, which is completely delicious and reminiscent of posole flavors. It's basically the result of me deciding to put all of the ingredients in a skillet and see what happens. Good things, friends. Good things happened.

For one, I used tomatillos for the first time ever, and they. are. AWESOME. They're similar to ground cherries, if you've ever tried those (papery lantern and all), and one of my new favorite foods. And while I can be dramatic sometimes, there is no exaggeration going on here. Tomatillos = new kitchen staple.

For two, and a lesson we can all learn here, everything is better with coriander. EVERYTHING.

Okay, maybe not like, Italian foods. Or pie. But coriander makes A LOT of things better, and in general it just makes a lot of dishes. You know this healthy white enchilada sauce from my mom's famous enchilada recipe? She and I agreed that the coriander makes the dish. So here I am, just trying to incorporate coriander more into my weekly cooking... and yours :).

So, a in a few words, this salsa verde chicken skillet recipe is:

• Easy
• Healthy
• High protein
• Flavorful
• Weeknight-perfect

It's also a great example of how you can combine whole foods into something delicious, filling, and unprocessed.

Serve with plenty of avocado, a scoop of sour cream, and all the fresh cilantro. Oh, plus a few tortilla chips crushed over the top for some added crunch and that distinct corn tortilla flavor. YUM.

If you try this recipe, don't forget to comment below! Also snap a picture and tag me @rootnradishes so I can see what you make :).

Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet

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Salsa verde chicken skillet is an easy weeknight recipe inspired by posole, which chicken breast, tomatillos, poblanos, red onions, cilantro, lime, cumin, and coriander. Serve with avocado, sour cream, and more cilantro!

• Author: Tera
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 35
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stove top to oven

Ingredients

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• 1 lb. chicken breast
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, cut in half
• 3 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp coriander
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 5 tomatillos
• handful of fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. In a small dish, combine cumin, coriander, and salt. Drizzle chicken breasts with a bit of olive oil, a squeeze of lime, and sprinkle evenly with half of the spice mixture. Set aside.
3. Place chopped red onion and poblano peppers in skillet with a pinch of salt and sauté until softened, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, remove papery lanterns from tomatillos and cut each into about eight large pieces (fewer if your tomatillos are smaller).
5. Add tomatillos to skillet with a squeeze of other half of fresh lime and remaining spice mixture, and cook for a few more minutes. Stir it up a bit to get the spices evenly distributed.
6. Make a couple of wells in the sautéed veggies and place a chicken breast in each one. Toss in cilantro and squeeze any remaining lime juice over chicken and veggies. (It's okay if the chicken is on top of some of the veggies.)
7. Cook on stove top for a few more minutes before moving skillet to oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro, avocado, lime, and sour cream.