Cuban Mojo Chicken - LGCM Dev

Cuban Mojo Chicken

Not many of us have been able to travel to Cuba, but luckily we can still enjoy the bright, tangy flavors of their food in recipes like this Cuban Mojo Chicken Breast. If you don’t have much experience with Cuban food, that’s okay, this is an easy recipe to make to give you a taste of some of the flavors you can expect to find in Cuban cuisine. Mojo is a common marinade that is used to marinate pork (very popular in Cuban cuisine), seafood, and, in this dish, chicken. The marinade has a bit of sweetness along with tanginess from the garlic and onions used in the recipe.

For this Cuban Mojo chicken dish, we are using chicken breast. At Lake Geneva Country Meats, we have very large chicken breasts, so we filleted them into cutlets before marinating and grilling to help them cook faster and more evenly. To see a guide on how to do this, visit this page from Serious Eats. If you prefer, you could use chicken thighs for this recipe. The little bit extra fat and flavor in the thighs plays nicely with the bright flavors of the marinade, and chicken thighs are great on the grill. We particularly like bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe!

We served this dish with black beans and rice, traditional sides that go perfectly with our Cuban Mojo Chicken. Other fun ideas for Cuban side dishes include mashed yuca or sweet potatoes, or fried plantains! We garnished the dish with fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. These little additions go a long way to bringing freshness to the dish, and we highly recommend them – especially the lime juice!

If you have extra mojo left over that you didn’t use to marinate the chicken, you can use it to marinate and grill pork chops or pork tenderloin. We really love Cuban mojo and even worked it into a taco recipe. Our Chipotle Mojo Pork Taco recipe is a combination of flavors from Cuba and Mexico that is a great recipe for you to try if you enjoyed this Cuban Mojo chicken and want to spice it up a bit.

What did you think of this recipe? Leave us a comment and rating below to let us know if you tweaked the recipe or have any feedback. We love hearing from you!

Cuban Mojo Chicken

Not many of us have been able to travel to Cuba, but luckily we can still enjoy the bright, tangy flavors of their food in recipes like this Cuban Mojo Chicken Breast. If you don’t have much experience with Cuban food, that’s okay, this is an easy recipe to make to give you a taste of some of the flavors you can expect to find in Cuban cuisine. Mojo is a common marinade that is used to marinate pork (very popular in Cuban cuisine), seafood, and, in this dish, chicken. The marinade has a bit of sweetness along with tanginess from the garlic and onions used in the recipe.

Author
Lake Geneva Country Meats
Prep Time
20 minutes
Servings
8

Ingredients

  • 10 clove Garlic
  • 1/2 Yellow Onion (cut into chunks)
  • 1 cup Orange Juice
  • 1 Lime (juiced)
  • 1/2 cup Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 lb(s) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (around half pound each, either small breasts or cut into fillets)
  • 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
  • 2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tsp Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1 tsp Dried Oregano

Directions

  1. Make your mojo marinade by adding the garlic, half an onion, orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, 2 tsp. Kosher Salt, 1 tsp. Cumin, 1 tsp, Dried Oregano, and 1 tsp. Black Pepper into a blender and blending together until smooth.
  2. Place the chicken breast into a sealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over top. Seal and toss the chicken breast in the marinade to make sure it’s covered. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes, or in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. When you are ready to cook, set up your grill for direct heat cooking and preheat it to medium-high heat (400ºF). Take the chicken out of the marinade and shake any excess marinade off the chicken. Place on the grill and cook for about 10-12 minutes per side until the chicken reaches 160ºF internal temperature.
  4. While the chicken is grilling, add the remaining ingredients to a small bowl and mix together to make a spice rub. Remove the chicken from the grill, and season to your taste with the mix. Let rest for five minutes, then slice and serve on white rice with black beans. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Enjoy!
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