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
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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In place of the cream, I will make a simple bechamel out of milk + roux. Roux = equal parts butter and flour. About 2 T for 2 c of milk.
I made this last night for my boyfriend, and it was a hit! I was nervous because I typically undercook chicken when I cook it in the oven and have to throw it back in. The wonderful thing about chicken thighs is I feel like you can cook it forever and it will still be juicy. My pan was not big enough to hold 8 thighs (not sure if I had monster thighs or what…the pan is big) so I did four and cut the recipe in half. The wonderful thing is I feel like I can make this without a recipe after just making it once. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
I don’t have an oven safe skillet . Can I cook this on the stove top then transfer it to an oven safe dish? Bi have all the ingredients! Dying to try…
Yes, absolutely.
I’ve made this dish probably 20 times now and have never had the cream curdle. I think those that do may not be using heavy whipping cream. A light cream or even milk may curdle, but not the heavy whipping cream. I’ve also made this dish several times using fish – bass and catfish. I did add cornstarch after cooking the garlic before adding the liquids. I also added some capers. It was FABULOUS! Again – drink the juice!
First of all- I have had nothing but yummy success with all your recipes, keep em coming!! Not sure if anyone asked this in previous comments but if I were using 4 chicken thighs as opposed to 8- do I just divide all ingredients in half? (including the lemon and seasoning???? And would doing so produce enough sauce for that much chicken
Yes, if 4 chicken thighs are used, it is best to halve all of the ingredients as needed.
That sauce…. oh my goodness. I poured it all over the potatoes and green beans I made with it. I actually used half and half bc I forgot to get the heavy cream. Worked fine. Thank you for such a great recipe. LOVE!!!
Lemon Butter Chicken, family loved it. Grilled whole butterflied chicken on rack over baking dish ( after having brined it and seasoning it with garlic and onion powder, pepper and smoked paprika and thyme). I then deglazed the drippings using 1 cup of water and then defatted the broth after simmering for a few minutes. Then added 4 oz of the cream, 1 tbs of butter, juice of a lemon and 1/4 cup of parmesan. Simmered and thickened slightly with corn starch, Cut up the chicken and put it on a serving platter and poured the sauce over the top. Your ideas, my creative adjustments, Great Dish ! No salt added or needed. Thanks for the recipe
Pop
Trying this recipe as I write this and its going wrong, wrong wrong as I go along.
First, I must of added waaaaay to much lemon juice. I added about 4-5 tbls. Dear sweet baby duck it is ridiculously overpowered with lemon.
Secondly ( and again this is MY mistake), I realized I do not own any oven safe skillets so I transferred everything to a baking dish. I’m worried because the sauce was so thin that it’ll burn right up. ***I’m running back and forth to check it.
My main concern at this point is the lemon flavor. We’ll see. I won’t publish this until I’ve tasted the final product.
*****Final Product***
Yeah, no…way to much lemon. While the family and I do enjoy it on some level I’ve decided that I’m going to try the recipe again next week with less lemon. Definitely a recipe I want to work at until I get it right.
We try out new recipes on a regular basis but yours was amazing. Best regards.
Very delicious . Recommended. Eat healthy!
Try with great confidence. It is extraordinarily good
Sorry not sure if someone asked this question or not, tried to read through but so many. Can you make this with chicken breast or boneless chicken breast? Thank you
Yes, absolutely, but cooking time may need to be adjusted.
This was really good. I loved the flavor.
I wish the lemon cream sauce wasn’t as runny, but I’m going to try again with rice or quinoa. I would use arborio rice, but I think it might take too long to cook.
I needed to avoid dairy and nightshades in this recipe to make it AIP. I just left out paprika and black pepper, used duck fat instead of butter, used coconut milk and have also used coconut cream. I’ve made it three times now and it’s lick the plate good. I’ve made it with thigh fillets but I like it much better with the thigh cutlets. Reheats and freezes great. Thank you for the recipe.
This sounds like a wonderful recipe, but I wonder if you can tell me how critical the garlic is to the flavor? A member of our family has developed a severe allergy to garlic, therefore we have had to learn how to cook all over again… without benefit of garlic. Any suggestions regarding the Lemon Butter Chicken recipe? Thanks!
Liz, you can definitely omit the garlic as needed without compromising taste.
Wow this recipe was delicious and so easy! I used boneless skinless chicken tenders and they came out incredibly moist. I doubled the spinach and added a bunch of sliced mushrooms, served with jasmine rice…amazing! My boyfriend straight up inhaled this dish and requested I make it again. This one is now in my regular rotation!
Oh, my, this is way better than anyone has posted. I had pork chops, and I thought why not!! I followed the recipe exactly to your instructions, and everything turned out awesome just like l
Was the best cook in my state. I had no trouble with the sauce, just kept stirring and pouring the lemon juice in slowly. Yes, the sauce was magnificent. I had garlic noodles,from trader joes, and a new slaw recipe. Boy, was I brave serving new recipes when having company. Everyone raved about the entire meal. See..you made me a hero. My theory is, let the company suffer also if the recipe is not good. I do not want to eat a failure all by myself. All of the other comments posted about what kind of chicken to use..any kind of meat would work. Just try
Okay this recipe is ridiculously amazing! I made it for my boyfriend and I tonight and he is eating himself into a food coma at this very moment! I made a side of faux potatoes and a salad. I topped my potatoes with the sauce and it was delicious!
WOW! We made this with 4 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts. I did not drain the fat after removing the chicken, our family eats LCHF (low-carb high-fat). Was perfect amount of sauce for 4 portions 🙂 I would definitely double up the sauce if I was to serve it to more than 8 people. My 9 yr son asked if I could make it every day! Going into our weekly rotation!! Thanks 🙂
So amazing. Whole family loved it!