All Purpose Chili Lime Rub

My salad greens are coming in heavy in the garden, so that means diving into my all time favorite California Pizza Kitchen's Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad!

Man, I could eat this salad Every. Single. Day.

But, what really makes this salad special is the grilled chicken marinated with this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G All Purpose Chili Lime Chicken recipe from Carlsbad Cravings.

Photo from Carlsbad Cravings

I have used this rub recipe on chicken, pork, AND beef and it's nothing short of spectacular. It can be made and used right away, but do yourself a favor and let your meat marinate with it for at good 8 hours or even overnight. Besides being so flavorful, the lime juice and olive oil really tenderize the meat.

We like to grill a whole package of chicken breasts at a time and nosh on them over the week. They are just as tender as leftovers!

All Purpose Chili Lime Rub
Recipe Source: Carlsbad Cravings

*1 lb. meat of choice (chicken breasts, pork, beef)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (optional for heat)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoke paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
Lime zest from 1 lime
Fresh-squeezed juice from 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)

*Note: I doubled this recipe to cook 1 whole package of chicken breasts (5 breasts). For faster cooking/grilling, pound chicken breasts to about 1/2 inch thick.

In a small bowl mix all of the rub ingredients. Place meat inside a gallon-sized Ziploc back and pour rub ingredients over the meat. Seal the bag, pushing out at much air as possible, and massage the bag to evenly distribute the rub over all the meat.

Place bag inside the refrigerator and allow meat to marinate up to 24 hours. After marinating, let meat come to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking/grilling. If cooking/grilling meat right away, allow meat to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.