Easy 20-Minute Chicken Dinner with Garlic Butter and Lime

This easy 20-minute chicken dinner is the kind of weeknight move that makes you feel like you actually have your life together. Thin-cut chicken breasts hit a hot pan with garlic, butter, and a squeeze of lime — simple ingredients doing big things. It's the recipe Miami home cooks have been running on forever, and once you make it, you'll understand why.

Ingredients

• 4 thin-cut boneless skinless chicken breasts (or pound regular ones to about 1/2 inch)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lime, juiced (plus extra wedges for serving)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped (optional but worth it)

Instructions

1. 1Pat your chicken dry with paper towels — this is not optional, this is the secret. Dry chicken browns. Wet chicken steams. In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Season both sides of each chicken breast generously with the spice mix.
2. 2Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. You want it hot enough that a drop of water flicks and sizzles immediately. Add the chicken in a single layer — don't crowd the pan or you'll lose your sear. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes on the first side without moving it. Seriously, leave it alone and let it build that golden crust.
3. 3Flip the chicken and cook another 4 to 5 minutes on the second side until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. If your pieces are thicker, give them an extra minute. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside on a plate — tent it loosely with foil to keep it warm.
4. 4Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the butter to the same pan and let it melt, scraping up all those golden bits from the bottom — that's flavor, don't waste it. Add the minced garlic and cook for 60 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Pour in the lime juice and stir everything together into a quick pan sauce.
5. 5Add the chicken back to the pan and spoon that garlic butter lime sauce all over each piece. Let everything hang out together for one final minute so the chicken soaks up the sauce. Plate it up, hit it with fresh cilantro or parsley, and serve with extra lime wedges on the side. Rice, beans, a simple salad — whatever you've got — this chicken goes with everything.