Hellmann’s Crunchy Chipotle Lime Chicken Recipe
This Chipotle Lime Chicken is crunchy, delicious and full of flavor.
Baking with mayo keeps the chicken super moist and the tortilla chip crust crispy and golden. It’s a perfect quick dinner idea with your favorite Mexican-inspired flavors.

A delicious chicken dinner idea
Chipotle Lime Chicken is so delicious that I can tolerate using mayonnaise, an ingredient I generally avoid at all costs.
The smell of mayo turns my stomach. And the consistency can trigger my gag reflex like nothing else. We’re off to a good start here, aren’t we?
But turns out it helps to keep chicken super moist when baked.
And I know that mayo is a great substitute when you don’t have eggs and can be used in baking (Mayo Cookies, anyone? Or maybe you’ll like Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes better).
The chicken breast recipe takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook which is pretty fast for baked chicken! The secret is a high temperature for speedy cooking and the mayo for keeping it moist and keeping the tortilla crusted chicken extra crunchy.
The payoff of the texture and flavor of this tortilla chip-crusted chipotle lime chicken is worth it! And your family is going to want you to make this dinner again and again.
*This post was originally sponsored by Hellman’s and was published in October of 2012. I’ve updated the images and steps to make it more user-friendly. I also used different mayo since Hellman’s isn’t sold on my side of the country.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the end of the post for a printable recipe card with full measurements and more detailed instructions.
- Mayonnaise
- Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese: I used shredded Pepper Jack cheese and it was also delish! It would probably also work with cheddar but that would change the flavor quite a bit.
- Lime juice
- Ground chipotle chile pepper
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- Crushed plain tortilla chips
If you can’t find chipotle pepper, just use chili powder. You will lose a little bit of the smokiness but it will still taste amazing.
How to make Tortilla Crusted Chicken with Mayo
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Step 1: Combine the mayo, jack cheese, lime juice and chipotle in a medium bowl.
Step 2: Put your chicken breasts on a baking sheet. I like to cover mine with foil to help with clean up. Because the mayo has oil in it and, there is also cheese, it will have a little bit of a baked-on delicious mess.
Step 3: Evenly top each breast with the mayo mixture.
Step 4: Then sprinkle on the crushed tortilla chips. I pressed them down a little bit so they would stick well.
Step 5: Then bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
I would recommend doubling the number of chips you use for this part. It provided a nice crunch on the finished baked chicken breasts with mayo and I could have used more of it. More is always better, right?
It really was quick to put together, although I found that I needed a little bit more cook time.
This was a perfect weeknight dinner recipe. It was such a nice change of pace. And while I did plug my nose while slathering the chicken breasts in mayonnaise, it’s really a fantastic way to add moisture and flavor to chicken, and would work with all kinds of different flavor combinations.
Check out the recipe for Parmesan Crusted chicken. It’s another great chicken baked in mayonnaise recipe.
The chipotle pepper added a little kick to the dish and the smokiness of the spice coupled with the creaminess of the jack cheese created a delicious ranch-like taste.
While I just made some quick rice for this photo, I usually serve this chicken baked in mayonnaise with this black bean salad.
They’d also pair well with mini key lime pie bites.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- 20 Super Easy Dinner Ideas That Hardly Count as Cooking
- Sweet and Sour Pork Chops
- Easy Teriyaki Ground Turkey Stir Fry
- Tuna and Noodles
Chipotle Lime Chicken with Tortilla Chips
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup crushed plain tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Combine mayonnaise, cheese, lime juice and ground chipotle in a medium bowl.
- Arrange chicken on a baking sheet.
- Evenly top with mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips.
- Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
I used this recipe but used panco bread crumbs instead of tortilla chips and it was FABULOUS !!!!! Thanks for the new recipe. So most and juicy. Will be cooking this again and again.
omg you are the CUTEST!!! awesome video editing skills, i’m super impressed. and your boys are adorable.
AWESOME! You did amazing! YAY! Why haven’t you done more of these?
GREAT video! i’m such a geek though:) thanks for dinner. what are you making next week?
Sharon! I love this post you did such a great job and the VIDEO is terrific – time lapse is rad. I have to say though, my favorite part of the whole thing is Lauren’s commentary on the chicken (lol). Thanks again for the tasty dinner last week!