This recipe serves 6, matching both Chili Pepper Madness's chili-lime chicken and the chicken-and-salsa dish Lovely Delites built its mango salsa recipe from (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago; Lovely Delites, last week).

Mixing the marinade takes about 5 minutes, and once the chicken hits the grate, boneless thighs need 6 to 8 minutes per side, for a total grill time of roughly 12 to 16 minutes (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).

Marinade time: 2 hours is the sweet spot several recipes converge on for flavor and texture together. The upper limit varies by source. Grill Nation BBQ caps citrus marinades at 4 hours, Chili Pepper Madness allows up to 8, and Lovely Delites recommends 3 to 6 hours or even overnight for its gentler, mango-based marinade. Three formulations, three timing rules, which is why the ceiling moves around (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago; Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago; Lovely Delites, last week). This version sticks to the tighter 2-to-4-hour window, since the marinade below is lime-forward rather than mango-based.

Target temperature: 165°F is safe, but thigh meat gets noticeably more tender around 175°F. For a pull-apart result instead of sliceable pieces, keep going toward 185 to 195°F (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago; Serious Eats, 7 months ago).

Marinade, sized for 2 pounds of boneless, skinless thighs:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

(Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago)

Three optional additions, all from the same recipe: a finely minced jalapeño for fresh heat, ½ to 1 teaspoon chipotle powder for smoke, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar for better caramelization. None of the three change the timing rules above (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).

Salsa base:

• 2 cups fresh ripe mango, diced small (about 2 mangoes)
• 1 jalapeño, halved, seeded, and minced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• juice of ½ lime

(Lovely Delites, last week)

Keep this bowl away from the marinade from the start. The salsa goes on the plate raw and fresh; it never touches the raw chicken.

1. Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl, add the chicken, and turn each piece to coat evenly (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).
2. Refrigerate for 2 hours, the sweet spot for flavor and texture together, though 30 minutes still delivers real flavor on a rushed weeknight (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago; Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).
3. Don't push much past 4 hours with this particular marinade. Citric acid keeps working on the surface the longer it sits, and texture starts to slip. Other recipes stretch the ceiling to 8 hours or overnight, but they're built on gentler, less lime-heavy formulations; this one is lime-forward enough that 4 hours is the safer stopping point (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago; Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).
4. Preheat the grill to medium-high, 400 to 450°F, and oil the grates. Lift the chicken out of the marinade and let the excess drip off before it touches the grate (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).
5. Grill 6 to 8 minutes per side. Boneless thighs vary in thickness from piece to piece, so probe each one individually rather than assuming they're all cooking at the same rate.
6. Start probing before the chicken is likely to hit its target, so a distracted minute doesn't push it past the mark. At 165°F the meat is safe, but the texture hasn't caught up; by 175°F, both Serious Eats and Grill Nation BBQ describe a real jump in tenderness. For pull-apart texture, keep going toward 185 to 195°F, though anything past 210°F turns stringy regardless of cut. Read the thermometer the moment the chicken comes off the grate, before the rest below adds a few more degrees (Serious Eats, 7 months ago; Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago).
7. Rest 5 minutes before slicing. Carryover heat pushes the interior another 5 to 10 degrees during that rest, so a thigh pulled at 175°F may land closer to 180 to 185°F by the time it's sliced, and the juices redistribute instead of spilling onto the cutting board (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago).

Bone-in, skin-on variation

For cooks with more time and a grill that runs two zones, bone-in, skin-on thighs deliver crispy skin boneless cuts can't match. Pat the skin dry with paper towels before it goes into the marinade; dry skin is what lets fat render and crisp later, so the step still matters even though the marinade will re-wet the surface (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago). That second pat-down isn't part of the sourced method, but it follows the same logic: right before the thighs hit the grates, blot the skin again. Surface moisture fights crispness, not the seasoning underneath it.

Sear skin-side down over direct heat for 6 to 8 minutes, until the skin turns golden and starts releasing on its own from the grates. Flip and move to the indirect side of a two-zone setup, hot side at 375 to 400°F and cool side at 275 to 325°F, for another 12 to 18 minutes. Expect 25 to 30 minutes total, against 10 to 15 minutes for boneless thighs on the same grill (Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago).

Pull bone-in thighs the same way as boneless: 175°F for sliceable, 185 to 195°F for pull-apart. Take the reading in the thickest part of the meat rather than close to the bone, since bone conducts heat slowly and steadily and can skew a reading taken too near it (Serious Eats, 7 months ago; Grill Nation BBQ, 5 months ago).

The base recipe above doesn't include corn. Charring corn is this article's own addition, chosen because it echoes the char already on the chicken rather than dropping a plain fruit garnish on top. The full ingredient list:

• 2 cups fresh ripe mango, diced (from the base above)
• 2 cups corn kernels, fresh or thawed
• 1 jalapeño, minced (from the base above)
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (from the base above)
• juice of ½ lime (from the base above)
• salt, to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons minced red onion (optional)

1. Char the corn in a dry skillet or directly on the grill grates, stirring occasionally, until it picks up light char marks in spots. That's general grilling technique rather than a timed step pulled from either salsa source, so watch the corn instead of a clock.
2. Toss the charred corn with the mango, jalapeño, and cilantro from the base above, along with the lime juice, then salt to taste (Lovely Delites, last week). Stir in red onion here if using it; it's this article's own suggestion for a sharper edge, not part of the salsa recipe it started from.
3. Serve grilled chicken with fresh mango corn salsa as soon as it's assembled. It's meant to be eaten fresh, not held or frozen (Lovely Delites, last week).

Sliced chili lime chicken thighs work well beyond a straight dinner plate. Chili Pepper Madness suggests using the same chicken in tacos, rice bowls, or salads (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).

Store the chicken and the salsa in separate airtight containers once cooking is done; the salsa doesn't hold up mixed in with the chicken overnight. The cooked chicken keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months (Lovely Delites, last week; Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago).

The marinade still works elsewhere. Baked at 400°F, boneless thighs need about 20 to 25 minutes depending on thickness; a hot pan gets there in 5 to 7 minutes per side; an air fryer at 375°F needs 12 to 15 minutes with a flip halfway through (Chili Pepper Madness, 4 months ago). Lovely Delites uses a similar oven approach for its own marinated chicken, 425°F for about 20 minutes (Lovely Delites, last week).

Pick boneless thighs for a weeknight dinner. The marinade window is short, the grill time stays under 20 minutes, and there's no two-zone fire to manage. Pick bone-in, skin-on thighs when crisp skin matters more than speed and a two-zone grill is already set up; the extra time on the grate buys skin boneless cuts simply can't produce.

Make the salsa while the chicken marinates rather than scrambling right before serving. It needs no cook time once the corn is charred, so it's the easiest part of this meal to get ahead on. Check each thigh individually once it's on the grill, too; a few pieces will hit their target minutes ahead of the others, especially if the grill runs any hot spots.

Get the marinade window and the pull temperature right once, and both rules carry over the next time chicken thighs land on the grate, whatever marinade flavor comes next.