Creamy chicken with lemon and garlic

Lemon chicken recipe

The combination of tart, zingy lemon and mellow, juicy chicken is one that’s found in many cuisines. There’s Italian-American piccata (chicken cooked in a buttery lemon sauce spiked with capers), and fragrant Moroccan tagines made with preserved lemon. Then there’s the sweet-and-sour lemon chicken that’s a mainstay on any self-respecting Chinese-Australian restaurant menu. And then there’s the irresistibly creamy version we have here.

This easy lemon chicken recipe takes ingredients you probably have on hand – cream, butter, lemon juice, garlic – and layers them into a rich, flavourful sauce. Add perfectly pan-fried chicken cutlets and dinner’s cooked in 20 minutes flat. Its depth of flavour belies its simplicity – this is a recipe you can pull out for dinner parties, romantic meals for two or to liven up the weeknight rotation.

How to prep your lemon chicken breasts

Start by preparing your chicken breast fillets. Using a sharp knife, use a sawing motion to carefully cut each chicken breast fillet horizontally through the middle (you’ll end up with four pieces). It’s important that each piece is roughly the same size and thickness so they cook evenly and you don’t end up with over- or undercooked chook. We’ve used chicken breast here, but you could substitute four chicken thigh fillets if you prefer.

Next, dust each piece of chicken in plain flour, pressing to coat, and gently shake off the excess. It’s possible to skip this step if gluten doesn’t agree with you, but the starch in flour helps the outside of the chicken become deliciously caramelised and crisp quickly without overcooking the meat, and it also helps to thicken the sauce.

Top tips for cooking creamy lemon chicken

You’ll need a large frying pan for this recipe. Choose one with a heavy base – this helps distribute the heat around the pan, ensuring your chicken cooks evenly. 

Add the oil and half the butter over a medium-high heat. If you’re wondering if it’s necessary to use both olive oil and butter, there’s method to the madness. Butter has the flavour we want here but it has a rather low smoking point, meaning it’ll burn in the pan before you’ve finished cooking. Adding olive oil allows you to cook at a higher temperature without the risk of burnt butter.

Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes before turning and cooking on the other side for about the same amount of time. You want each piece of chicken to be deeply golden. Don’t worry if any little bits get stuck to the bottom of the pan – they’ll be lifted off when you add the liquids and they’ll add extra flavour to the sauce.

The next step is to cook the lemon slices in the remaining butter. Let them sizzle away until they’re fragrant and just beginning to brown around the outside. This is caramelisation, and these lemon slices will provide a bright flavour-bomb and also make this dish look rather restaurant-quality.

Now it’s time to add the onion, garlic and capers. Keep the pan hot enough to gently cook the onion and garlic but not so hot the garlic burns. Medium heat should work, but just keep an eye on things and lower the temperature if the onions are beginning to brown. When the onions are soft and translucent and the scent is heavenly, add the lemon juice. It’ll bubble and sizzle and reduce quickly. After about a minute, add the cream and the stock and bring the mixture up to the boil. Lower the temperature, add the chicken and the lemon slices and return to a simmer. Cook for a couple of minutes – you want the chicken to be just cooked through and the sauce to be velvety. Stir through those fresh herbs and taste the sauce – is it perfection? Thanks to the big flavours here – garlic! Lemon! Capers! – it probably doesn’t need any help from salt or pepper, but give this lemon chicken recipe a taste and season if you like.

The best sides for creamy lemon chicken

Tender baby potatoes and squeaky-fresh beans are an excellent accompaniment to this chicken dish, but it lends itself to all manner of sides. The most important thing is to serve it with something starchy to mop up all that garlicky, lemony goodness. The creamy sauce is perfect for coating a pile of al dente pasta (consider a gentle hail of fresh parmesan, too). A leaf salad dressed in a simple vinaigrette will perfectly offset the richness of the cream and hunks of rustic bread serve to soak up every last smear of that sauce.

Now get cooking

Once you’ve mastered the technique in this recipe, you’ll be able to experiment with some of your own variations. Adding a slosh of white wine along with the lemon juice, or try the lemony sauce with some firm white fish instead of chicken. For a variation on the theme, here’s an Italian-style Lemon Chicken, with tomato, olives and crumbled feta. If you’d like more one-pan chicken dinners, try a simplified satay with One-pan Peanut Butter Chicken; an Easy Skillet French-style Chicken that’s full of bacon, mushrooms and leek; or casually knock up a delicious One-pan Butter Chicken with Baby Broccoli in less than half an hour.

Find more quick tasty dinner ideas head to our What’s for Dinner recipe collection. If it’s chicken dishes you’re after, check out our Chicken Recipes collection for all the winning dinners you’ll need.