Summer Chicken Recipe that wins every cookout—this grilled taco chicken with avocado corn salsa is next-level good.
Author’s Notes
I Could Honestly Eat This For Every Dinner Until Summer Ends!
Corn and avocado are two of my all-time favorites, and they’re even better together—creamy, crisp, sweet, and fresh. Especially when the corn is charred right off the grill and the avocados are perfectly ripe… nothing beats that!
Don’t sleep on the chicken—it’s not just a base for the salsa! The quick marinade (just a few pantry staples) makes it so juicy, tender, and flavorful. Baste it as it grills, and it turns out so good it barely makes it off the cutting board.
Can’t wait to hear what you think of this Summer Chicken Recipe!
Summer Chicken Recipe Ingredients
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here are a few quick notes:
- Chicken: This taco chicken is one of my all-time favorites—and a top recipe on the site! Use chicken breasts or thighs—whatever you prefer.
- Corn: Fresh off the grill is my fave, but frozen works too (especially if you char it a bit!).
- Avocados: Go for ripe, but firm so they hold up well in the salsa.
- Cilantro: Adds a fresh pop—skip or swap with parsley if you’re not a fan.
Chicken Marinating & Grilling Tips
Here are my top tips for making this Summer Chicken Recipe on the grill—but if you don’t have a grill, the stovetop works too!
- Slice or pound: Halve and pound chicken so it cooks evenly and soaks up more flavor.
- Oil the grill: Use oiled paper towels and tongs to keep chicken from sticking.
- Save marinade: Set some aside before adding the chicken to brush on while grilling.
- Check temp: Pull chicken at 160°F—carryover heat brings it to 165°F.
- Let it rest: Cover with foil for 5–10 minutes to keep it nice and tender.
Summer Chicken Recipe Sides
- Cilantro lime rice: Fresh and bright, goes great with the salsa.
- Tortilla chips: Perfect for scooping up extra salsa.
- Black or pinto beans: Filling and tasty!
- Simple salad: Keep it light with a cilantro-lime dressing.
- Watermelon or fruit salad: Sweet and juicy, perfect with smoky chicken.
Storage
Keep the grilled chicken and avocado salsa in separate containers. Store the chicken in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 4 days. Cover the salsa tightly and eat within 1–2 days—it’s best fresh.
Featured Comment
Oh my goodness, this recipe is restaurant quality!!! It was AMAZING and it’s my new favorite dinner! My whole family raved about it and even requested it again next week! Thank you so much!
– Jen
More Easy Grilled Chicken Recipes:
Summer Chicken Recipe
Video
Equipment
- Grill or large nonstick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 batch Taco Chicken click the link and follow directions
- Cooked rice optional, for serving
- 4 ears sweet corn or 4 cups frozen corn
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 large ripe avocados diced
- 3/4 cup finely diced red onion 1 small onion
- 1 small red bell pepper diced
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Follow the directions linked in the ingredient list to make the Taco Chicken.
- Cook the corn: Choose one of the following methods:Grilled Corn on the Cob: Brush husked corn with oil, lightly season, and grill at 400°F. Turn every 3 minutes until lightly charred, about 12 minutes. Let cool, then cut off the cob.Stovetop Corn (Frozen or Canned): Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a hot pan. Add corn and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, gently toss together the cooled corn, lime juice, avocado, red onion, red pepper, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste (I add 1/4 tsp each). Gently toss again.
- Spoon the avocado salsa over the grilled chicken. Serve with rice, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First of all, thank you for this recipe! Sounds delicious 🙂 We typically spray our grill with whatever cooking spray we have on hand. Is there a reason you recommend your method with the vegetable oil?
Thank you Emily!! I find the vegetable oil gives it a better grease; I also think it’s best to grease the grates right before adding the meat (when the grill is already heated to temp) 🙂
I have made this twice now – absolutely delicious!
I’m so glad to hear! 🙂
I love this recipe! Especially the salsa!
Thank you so much! Glad you’re enjoying this recipe!
This is amazing! My whole family loved it! I was just wondering if you can freeze the raw marinated chicken?
So happy to hear that! I haven’t ever frozen the raw marinated chicken but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Just make sure to thaw in the fridge 🙂
My friend’s mother works for Tyson and she brought me a 20 pound box of chicken because they sometimes get boxes of them for free. I went searching for chicken recipes and this was the first one I saved. I am making these for lunch meal prep and will be sharing them with my coworkers. This recipe looks absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to try it! Thank you, you have no idea how much of a help this is to me! Have a wonderful day! You are beautiful, by the way!
You are so sweet, thank you so much <3 I hope you love this chicken recipe!! Have a wonderful day as well!
This was fabulous! We loved all of the fresh veggies in it. We will definitely do this again! Thanks!
So happy you enjoyed this! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Looks yummy! I’d love to try it! Just wondering if the salsa can be made ahead? If so how far in advance, possible 24 hours? Maybe don’t add the avacodo until serving?
Yes you can make it a day in advance as long as the avocado is left out until right before serving 🙂
OMG! My new favorite food! Made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing! Can’t wait to make it again. I didn’t have red onion so I left it out. Also, a thunderstorm rolled in so I couldn’t grill. So I made it on a grill pan on the stove. Just microwaved the corn for 2 minutes to give it a head start since it didn’t seem to be cooking fast enough in the pan. So delicious! Even my picky 14 year old Loved It! Thank you!
Yay!! Love, love hearing it’s a favorite 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment Susan!
You said don’t marinade longer than 5hours. Why not let the marinade sit over night?
The lime juice will actually start to break down the chicken which will negatively affect the texture of the grilled chicken.
I am making thus for some meal preps looks delicious! How would I calculate my macros for the marinade?? Bc obviously I’m only going use a little bit of the marinade. But when I enter the ingredients on my fitness pal it’s not going to know how much Evoo I’m actually using so its making my fats a higher. Anyway! Should I just cut it in half when plugging it in for my macros or just calculate 2 tablespoons? Sorry I hope this made sense. ??
I’m sorry, I’m not sure how you’d calculate the macros on the marinade. Wish I could be of more help!