Lemon Butter Chicken
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Easy crisp-tender chicken with the creamiest lemon butter sauce ever – you’ll want to forget the chicken and drink the sauce instead!
Happy New Year! I know I should really be sharing some sort of salad or quinoa recipe with the start of the year but you know me and my chicken thigh obsession. I just can’t get enough, especially when a lemon butter cream sauce is involved.
And if you’re in the need of some clean greens for the new year diet, well, this dish has plenty of baby spinach. Good enough, right?
Plus, these chicken thighs carry quite a bit of punch with that fresh, zingy lemon flavor and that smoky goodness from the paprika. And this cream sauce is absolutely heavenly. Just be sure to have a spoon ready because you’ll want to sip on it straight from the pan!
Lemon Butter Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Season chicken thighs with paprika, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the Dutch oven. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon juice and thyme.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has wilted and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this tonight and used skinless/boneless thighs and half&half cream. The sauce was watery but the dish was good. DH said dinner “smelled good” when it was in the oven and DS2 gave it 8/10. It tasted like rotisserie chicken to me. I’d make it again.
Hi
Can I cook this without oven ?
Like, can I just cook it in my stove ?
Asking this, as I dont have an oven.
Thanks
Yes, it’s definitely possible!
My food came out burnt. lol. put it at 400 for 20 minutes too and the chicken was over 165 degrees internal also the spinach was dried up and black.
This is actually perfect for a low-carb diet! It looks delicious, and I’ll definitely be trying it! Thanks!
The autoplaying video is so annoying. Could you turn that off? I like to have a *choice* as to whether to watch a video and not have it shoved down my throat, and blasting my ears off. THANkS!
Yes, you have the “choice” to turn them off by simply clicking the “close” button.
If you’re using Firefox as your browser, you can stop the automatic playing of videos on any site with an add-on called FlashStopper. Probably available for other browsers, too. When it’s installed, the videos do not start playing until you click on the video’s “play” button.
OMG! I do not write reviews ever! But this was amazing! Both my kids ate every bite! Will definitely be making this again!
My husband and I just started Keto. This recipe was amazing! My husband LOVED it and my super picky 11 year-old really loved it too.
I did use only 4 large organic chicken thighs but the same amount of sauce it calls for. When I removed the chicken from the cast iron pan I used, I put the garlic in when it was still on medium high & it immediately burned, so if you are using cast iron, be careful, turn the heat down before you add the garlic. I ended up having to use a mesh strainer to get the burned garlic from the sauce and replaced it with a generous dash of garlic powder. Otherwise the only change I made was to use 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice (I didn’t have any fresh lemon on hand). I also added another tablespoon of butter and an additional dash of cream near the end of the summer just to thicken it up a bit and make it a little more creamy (but we are on Keto and trying to get fats in!).
Thanks for an awesome recipe! Husband is already talking about making it again for company.
Turning the temperature down will also prevent the sauce from curdling.
Made this last night for dinner and it was beautiful . Flavour spot on. I did not have spinach but served with steamed broccoli. I would go as far to say this is the best chicken recipe I have tried on Pinterest, and so easy. Many thanks
awesome, i want eat it now 😀
Hi, like your dishes. Maintain the Fantastic hard work as well as The photography is great. Given that uncovering your blog on Pinterest, I have added lots of your dishes to my collection. Thanks.
Amazing !!!
In the process of making Lemon Butter Chicken. The recipe calls for 8 chicken thighs. I browned 4 at a time then made the sauce. I ended up putting the chicken in a 9 x 13 baking pan with the sauce over the top. Couldn’t fit 8 thighs in my large skillet. Also, your video shows only 4 chicken thighs. Any insight would be helpful. My house smells Delicious!
The video is a reduced version of the full recipe. If the skillet is not large enough, searing in batches (as you did) works perfectly!
The sauce was SO good. Mine never thickened up at all, though, and was very thin (the consistency was like water). Is that correct, or should it have been thicker? I did double the recipe for the sauce because we wanted extra to put over spaghetti which I made on the side. Could that have affected how thick it got?
Yes, it should be a little bit thicker but not as thick as gravy-like consistency.
I made this tonight with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I seared them as directed and then put in microwave for about 20 minutes as they were large, thick breasts. It was absolutely delicious!
Oven not microwave, oops!
This dish was soooooo incredible! Thank you sooo much! I stumbled onto it and now I am subscribing to you and your talent! Thank you for making me look like a rockstar!!
Can’t wait to try this. No one in my family likes Thyme. Should I substitute with something else, or would it still be flavorful if I completely omit it? BTW, I love the simplicity, yet still fanciness of your recipes. There is rarely one I see posted that I don’t want to try! I also just bought your cookbook! Keep up the great work!
You can substitute with another herb to your liking. Hope that helps!
I’ve made this without- still comes out delicious.
Made this tonight for my family and it was wonderful!!! Even our picky 4-year-old loved it, and it was so easy to make. We already had everything on hand. Thanks!
I can’t wait to try one on my own now! This is way luscious!
Wow, I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow. This was absolutely delicious over rice! Thank you.
I made this Saturday just as the recipe says… Results, AMAZING….I wouldn’t make any changes.
Thank you for sharing this!