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Grilled California Avocado Chicken is tender chicken marinated in an amazing honey garlic balsamic sauce and is grilled to perfection! Topped with a thick slice of mozzarella cheese and avocados, tomatoes, and basil, this chicken is INCREDIBLE!!
The combination of chicken and avocado is one of my favorites! If you love California chicken and don’t have a grill try this delicious California avocado skillet chicken, Chicken Enchiladas with Avocado Cream, or Avocado Chicken Salad.
Grilled California Avocado Chicken
I could not wait to share with you this grilled California avocado chicken! Cue all of the heart eye emojis for the avocado, tomato, and basil combination! My mouth was watering making this avocado salad of sorts to top off the chicken. It provides a fresh and delicious element on top of the moist, flavorful chicken. It also makes for a vibrant, colorful, and delicious presentation. So pretty! In spite of looking too great to eat, this grilled California avocado chicken was quickly devoured by my family!
Usually, when something looks and tastes this good, I know I am going to have to put in lots of ingredients and lots of time to make it. However, this avocado chicken comes together so quickly and easily I was shocked! I am telling you, this was one of the best things that I have ever thrown on the grill. I already can’t wait to make it again. The flavors came together so well and I know that this will become a family favorite at your house as well!
Avocado Chicken Ingredients
First of all, this chicken marinates in a honey garlic balsamic sauce. It marinates to perfection and honestly grills up tender and juicy! The flavor is absolutely unreal in this chicken.
- Balsamic vinegar: This is the acidic ingredient in the marinade that will act as a tenderizer.
- Honey: Part of the marinade that adds flavor and keeps the chicken super juicy.
- Garlic: Cloves, minced
- Olive oil: The oil in your marinade will penetrate the meat, and bring the other flavors of the marinade along with it.
- Italian seasoning: The perfect blend of flavors for most things, but especially this avocado chicken!
- Salt and pepper: To taste.
- Chicken: Boneless skinless breasts will grill best.
- Mozzarella: I love how fresh sliced mozzarella pairs with the tomato and basil, but any good melting cheese will work to smother the chicken.
- Avocados: Diced to bite size perfection.
- Roma tomatoes: Any tomato will work, just be sure to cut into bite sized pieces.
- Basil: Fresh chopped basil is perfect on this chicken.
- Optional: Balsamic vinegar for drizzling
How to Grill California Chicken
And just when you think that it can’t get any better, top it with a thick slice of mozzarella cheese when it comes off of the grill. It gets so melty and ooey-gooey. Then, JUST when you think it can’t possibly get any better with the ooey-gooey cheese on top comes the avocado, tomato, and basil. Mind blown!
- Marinate chicken: In a medium sized bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, olive oil, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts and coat. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Mix avocado topping: Meanwhile, in a small bowl add the avocado, tomato, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Grill: Heat the grill to medium high heat. Grill the chicken on each side about 6 minutes or until cooked throughout and no longer pink.
- Dress chicken and serve: Top with mozzarella cheese and avocado, tomato basil mixture. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.
Grilling the Perfect Grilled California Avocado Chicken
Chicken can be tricky to grill without drying it out, but I’ve got all the tips to keep it moist and tender.
- Make sure your grill is clean before you begin and rub some oil on the grates to prevent the chicken from sticking.
- Thinly sliced chicken breasts won’t take as long to reach temperature. If your chicken breasts are really thick, pound them to thin them out. It will reduce cooking time and help it to cook more evenly.
- Basic rule is 3-5 minutes per side on medium to high heat, but will vary depending on the thickness of your meat.
- You are aiming for a medium, indirect heat while grilling so that the outside of the chicken does not burn while you get the inside up to temperature.
- Keep the grill closed while cooking. This will keep the heat in and allow the chicken to cook quicker and more evenly.
- The chicken is done the temperature reaches 165 degrees or the juices run clear.
- The chicken will continue to cook slightly even after removed from the grill.
Variations for Grilled Chicken
It may not be possible to improve on this amazing recipe, but we tried.
- Marinate: Marinate in a combination of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro and garlic. (The longer it marinates the more flavor you will get, so if you have more time, let it sit in the juices for up to 24 hours.)
- Add more flavor! If you want even more spice and flavor: Add garlic seasoning on the chicken and use pepper jack cheese instead of mozzarella.
- Toppings: To change it up, you could even add black olives or bacon on top. Because let’s be honest. Everything is better with bacon!
- What to serve with it? Serve with rice, a fresh salad, or seasoned fingerling potatoes.
- Bake instead of grilling: Cover the chicken with foil and cook chicken only at 350 for approximately 45 minutes depending on thickness of the chicken. Then, uncover and add cheese and basil and place back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. Finally, top with the fresh avocado mixture immediately before serving.
Storing Grilled Chicken
I am not sure you will have any leftovers with this delicious chicken but it is easy to store just in case. Here are a few steps to help keep your grilled chicken fresh.
- Allow to cool after cooking no more than 2 hours before refrigerating or freezing.
- Store in a shallow airtight container.
- Grilled California Avocado Chicken will be good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 4 months.
- To avoid freezer burn be sure to pack your chicken tightly with airtight heavy-duty foil, plastic wrap or freezer paper or putting it in a freezer bag.
More Chicken Recipes To Love
Grilled California Avocado Chicken
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese
- 2 avocados diced
- 3 roma tomatoes diced (any tomato will work)
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
- salt and pepper
- balsamic vinegar for drizzling optional
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl whisk the balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts and coat. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl add the avocado, tomato, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Heat the grill to medium high heat. Grill the chicken on each side about 6 minutes or until cooked throughout and no longer pink. Top with mozzarella cheese and avocado, tomato basil mixture. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Serves: 4
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
A Reader’s Review
Ok recipe but the cheese adds no value except to make increase risk of heart attack. Cajun spice or peri peri with avo salsa would be better.
So leave off the cheese if it offends you.
LOL,cheese is life
How do I enter California grilled chicken avocado recipe in My fitness pal app?
Made this last night…..it was Aaaaamazing.! Thank you for sharing.
We made the chicken for dinner last night. Let me just say that my niece’s husband wanted to lick his plate.
This is so delicious and so easy. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve made this time and time again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes
What is a good side with this? Making tonight and wondering what to cook with. Thank you!
The nice thing about this recipe is it does have a great variety on the chicken and you wouldn’t need a lot of sides for it. A salad would be great. A type of fruit salad would be great or rice. It does make it tricky because of the flavorful ingredients. Hope you enjoy it! XOXO
This dish is delicious I served it with sautéed corn with diced red bell peppers and a small side of rice.
That sounds delicious! I have my chicken marinating now. I’m going to roast a spaghetti squash while it hangs out in the fridge and serve it over that. I’m going to saute the spaghetti squash once its shredded with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and basil!
I also added fresh minced garlic to the tomato/avocado mix!
Do you have Nutritional information per serving?
My 14 year old son and husband ask for this weekly!
So glad I found this website. We have tried many recipes and they are all keepers.
I cant wait to try this! The balsamic you added at the end looks thickened….what kind is it? Thanks!
I’m not sure if she did this per say but If you saute balsamic vinegar, it will cook the vinegar out and create a almost no calorie delicious sweetened sauce and its the same sauce you would use to top a caprease pizza if you know what that is.
That didn’t look like Balsamic Vinegar. That was Balsamic Glaze. It’s too thick to be vinegar and tastes different too. You don’t want to use vinegar on cooked chicken.
The marinade that the chicken was in can you put it in a pan and cook it down for a glaze….my husband wants me to make this for dinner….thanks
MMM! That sounds like a great idea! Let me know how it turns out! XOXO
Absolutely delicious! Will make again!
Anyone try making this with boneless thighs?
Hope you are enjoying time with your sweet baby! My friend posted this recipe and I was wondering what place avocado had in a “Caprese” recipe. I made this tonight and found out! It adds a wonderful, creamy texture that goes well with the mozzarella. I added twice the garlic and basil… it was delicious! I frequently make recipes I see on Facebook, but this is one I’ll make over and over!!
SO glad that you enjoyed it and loved it! Thank you so much for following along with me! I really appreciate it! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
For some reason, I can’t seem to pin this in Pinterest. Is it just me? This is where I keep all of my recipes.
This was simple and AMAZING. My 14 year old said it was the best thing I have ever made 🙂
I made this grilled California avocado chicken last night. I don’t have a grill pan, so I used a large cast iron pan instead. While the recipe was tasty, it all but ruined the pan. I will not be making this again!
This looks great but balsamic vinegar gives me a migraine. Anything i can substitute?
You can use 1 tablespoon cider or red wine vinegar plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar to substitute for 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.
I made this tonight for dinner and everyone loved it. I loved the flavor of the balsamic with the avocado. My new favorite chicken dish.
That is great to hear! I am so glad that it was loved by all! Thank you so much for sharing! XOXO
I just moved from California to North Carolina. This was my 1st summer dish prepared and grilled for my wife and friends It was an awesome meal. 4 thumbs up!
That is great to hear! That is a huge move! I am so glad that one of my recipes could comfort you all and make a great evening! XOXO
The drizzle in the video isn’t just straight balsamic vinegar so is it a mix of what the chicken was marinated in?
Can’t wait to try this though!! ??
It is a balsamic glaze I used with it. Hope that helps! XOXO