Golden brown chicken coated in a lemony pan sauce, all made in one skillet! Chicken Breasts in Lemon Sauce is easy enough for a weeknight family meal and impressive enough to entertain. It’s the perfect meal whenever you have lemons on hand.
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I am convinced that fresh lemon is one of the fastest, easiest ways to make your food absolutely delicious with minimal effort. It’s tangy, bright, and has a way of enhancing the flavors it’s paired with. So when my neighbors asked if we wanted lemons from their tree, I’m sure you can imagine my reply: Uh yes, we’ll take them all, please!
Chicken Breasts in Lemon Sauce is one of the first recipes to come to mind when I have lemons. It’s paired with subtle hints of garlic and white wine that give it a sophisticated profile, and yet it’s simple enough for kiddos to enjoy too. The recipe goes way back to the good ol' days when you would get recipe cards in the mail instead of finding them on food blogs. My aunt gave it a try first, loved it, and passed it along to us. We’ve now been making it for over 20 years, so I’d say it’s a real winner.
🍋 Ingredients
Chicken breasts: Boneless, skinless, and cut in half horizontally.
Flour: This creates the beautiful golden color and gives the sauce something to stick to.
Kosher salt and pepper: Don’t be too sparse - the chicken gets a lot of flavor from the salt especially.
Butter: As the chicken cooks, the butter will brown and add an extra layer of flavor to the sauce.
Garlic: As always, I prefer to use pre-minced garlic for the sake of ease and time.
Dry white wine: If you don’t have this on hand or prefer not to use alcohol, you can substitute chicken broth.
Lemon juice: Use the freshest, lemony-est lemons you can for the best flavor.
🔪 Instructions
My favorite way to make this chicken is in the electric skillet (this one is great) because it fits enough to feed the whole family. But it works just as well in a skillet on the stove. Start by mixing the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish and lightly coat each piece of chicken in the mixture. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat and cook the first side of the chicken for 3-4 minutes (it may need longer if your chicken is thick). Once each piece is deeply golden brown, add the garlic and flip, cooking the second side for another 3-4 minutes.
Now it’s time for the lemon sauce! Add the white wine and lemon juice, scraping up the garlic and flavorful brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes or until it thickens and starts to coat the chicken. Halfway through, make sure to flip the chicken breasts - you want each side covered in sauce. YUM!
👨👩👧👦 For a crowd
This meal works well when serving a crowd of 6-12, but I don't recommend it for larger groups. The reason is that it is best served fresh, and to serve more people than 12 you will have to do 3+ rounds of cooking (or use lots of skillets).
🙋 Questions & Answers
This chicken pairs well with practically any potato or vegetable dish. And you can't go wrong by adding fresh bread or biscuits! Here are some of our favorite combos for inspiration:
• Fluffy Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes (our absolute favorite side for this chicken)
• Green Beans Almondine
• Roasted broccoli or Brussels sprouts
• Green salad (make your own or buy it bagged)
• Buttery Dinner Rolls or Easy Cream Biscuits
This chicken is best served fresh, in my opinion. If you need to make it ahead, keep it in the sauce and keep warm until serving.
Any dry white wine will work well in this recipe. The wine adds significant flavor to the sauce, but if you do not like wine you can substitute chicken broth.
📖 More weeknight dinner recipes
- 25 Minute Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Fast and easy pasta made with broccoli, fresh lemon, and garlic.
- Crazy Good Pepper Steak - Tender strips of steak and colorful veggies covered in a thick asian-sauce, all served over rice.
- Easy Chicken Tinga Tacos - Rotisserie chicken shredded and coated in a smoky tinga sauce, then made into delicious tacos.
- Easy Chicken Piccata Pasta - A spin on a tasty Italian classic made with frozen chicken piccata and bow tie pasta.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Coat the chicken very lightly in the flour to create an evenly golden layer that the sauce can stick to. Too much flour causes a clumpy, soggy coating.
- Keep your skillet to medium heat. If the pan gets too hot, the butter will burn before the chicken is finished.
- Add the garlic after the first side of the chicken is finished to prevent burning.
📋 Recipe
Chicken Breasts in Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in ½ horizontally
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup butter or ½ stick
- 1 tbsp garlic minced (about 4 cloves)
- 1 cup dry white wine may substitute chicken broth
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 medium lemons)
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, salt, and pepper. Lightly coat each chicken breast in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet on the stove or an electric skillet. Once melted, cook first side of chicken until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes (may need longer if chicken is very thick).
- Flip the chicken and add garlic. Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Add wine and lemon juice, stirring well to incorporate the garlic and browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, or until it thickens and coats the chicken. Flip chicken halfway through to ensure sauce coats every side.
Notes
- Coat the chicken very lightly in the flour to create an evenly golden layer that the sauce can stick to. Too much flour causes a clumpy, soggy coating.
- Keep your skillet to medium heat. If the pan gets too hot, the butter will burn before the chicken is finished.
- Add the garlic after the first side of the chicken is finished to prevent burning.
Kimberly Jones says
Misty! This looks delightful!
Misty says
Thanks, Kim! One of my favorites 🙂
Theresa says
My kids and I made this tonight for dinner. It is so good! We served it with brown rice and it was perfect to soak up some sauce. I don't have a large skillet and had to cook the chicken in two batches but it came out perfectly. We will definitely be putting this in our regular rotation of meals. Thank you Misty!
Misty says
Two batches in a skillet is a great option!
Rachel says
I made this chicken tonight, and let me tell yah, when the wine and lemon juice hit the pan, I smiled from ear to ear. I tend to love big, strong flavors, so next time I would actually up the amount of lemon juice. Over all, delicious, tender, juicy, and beautiful flavors.
Danielle says
Yay! So happy to hear how much you enjoyed it.
Martha says
Hi. I am currently without an oven or stovetop. Long story. I have only cooked stovetop with a gas range.
However, have an new electric skillet. You indicated you liked to prepare this with an electric skillet but instructions didn’t mention it. Mine is still in the box. 😂. What temperature qualifies as medium heat, or medium low or medium high? What setting do you recommend?
Thanks.
Danielle says
So sorry to hear you are without an oven or stovetop! I did that for a season during a kitchen renovation. It was slow cooker and electric skillet everyday.
In line 2 in the recipe card it says to melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet on the stove or an electric skillet. It isn't more specific because each electric skillet is a little different. For my electric skillet I usually put it at 350° at first. If that seems a bit hot I will turn it down to in between 300° and 350°. I will add those notes to the recipe card. Hopefully the maiden voyage of your electric skillet goes well!😃 Please feel free to ask any more questions if they come up.
Martha says
Thank you for your kind reply. It’s a long road to replacing appliances with the COVID-19 pandemic. The struggle is real. 😂
Danielle says
Wow! That's an area I didn't think about being affected. Hopefully it will resolve it self soon. Enjoy your weekend!