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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WOW. Made this last night and it was “damn delicious”. In the next batch I would prefer a thicker sauce. Wish there was more spinach. This is my favorite thing I have made.
Damn Delicious!!!!
Made this tonight, used skinless boneless thighs and wanted to drink the sauce. Heavenly! I have made many of your recipes – always delish. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve made this 3x and it keeps getting better! I use coconut milk and just eyeball the cheese. I put less thyme than the recipe and just taste while cooking. I’ve shared with so many people. It’s one of my FAVORITE recipes to cook with. I use kale and zucchini or whatever I have in the fridge. Thank you!!!
I have been making this once a week since I found it. My husband and kids (8,5,2) are completely obsessed! Not only is it an awesome dinner, but it reheats SO WELL – I love it for lunch the next day! One night I made it for a larger group – I used my electric skillet to sear the thighs, made the sauce and put it all together in two glass baking dishes in the oven. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Found this recipe on Pinterest and made it tonight. I served it with rice and corn (since I already had them both on hand). I think this would be really good with asparagus too. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight, it was soooo good! Made it with boneless skinless chicken breasts and just adjusted cooking time. I made it just how the recipe states, the only thing I will do different next time is double the sauce. This sauce would go good with fish or pork also I think. Thank you for a wonderful recipe, as some one else said it is truly restaurant quality!
Any suggestions on what to serve with this dih?
Leslie, please feel free to browse through these side dish recipes: https://damndelicious.net/recipe-index/side-dish/.
Hey just wanted to say this reicpe was a HUGE hit at my household. I truly love love love to cook been using my twitter as a food blog pretty much lol. Here is a picture of mine once it was done. Absolutely loved it and will def make it again! http://imgur.com/FJGunY4
Made last night and was delishhhhhhhhhh! I used fat free half and half for the heavy cream and used skinless and boneless chicken thighs. Came out fine. Would definitely make again.
Hi. I am serving this tomorrow night- it sounds delish. Would it be ok to cook it the night before? I also do not eat chicken with dairy products ie. cream / cheese. Would it be ok to substitute cornstarch with water to make the sauce thick? I cant wait to try it
Dani, this is really best when served immediately. As for the cornstarch – yes, this is a great substitute for a thickener.
I absolutely LOVED this recipe. However, I made some adjustments as I used what I had available:
I used boneless skinless chicken breast- as Chungah noted, adjust cooking time as needed (I wound up cooking them for about 30 minutes as they were thick cut…just take out and cut into them to make sure juices run clear)
I omitted the paprika because paprika and I do not get along…added a few dashes of cayenne instead.
I used the zest of the lemon as well because I just love all things lemon-y.
I did not have spinach so I used broccoli instead-however, broccoli should be added within about 10-15 minutes of taking out of the oven or else it will burn.
Overall I LOVED this. Even without the paprika it was so flavorful and juicy. The sauce was delicious. Everyone loved it. I will DEFINITELY be making this again. Perhaps next time I’ll serve with quinoa or rice, but it is so good that it doesn’t even need the starch. Thanks for the recipe!!
I have made this numerous times since finding the recipe and we LOVE it!! But to be honest I had to make one change…I use a whole bag of spinach. It is so easy to make and so good!
Malinda in Mississippi
I made this tonight and it was AMAZING! Probably one of my favorite dishes I ever made! I used 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts and doubled the paprika/salt/pepper rub since they were thicker cuts but did everything else exactly as the instructions stated. I will be making this often!!!
I am sitting and eating this *right now* and had to comment. I made it with legs (skin on, bone in) and breasts (skinless, boneless) because that was what I had in the fridge – it is fabulous!
Served it with the spinach over cous cous and the whole family loves it. This one is a keeper!
I’m about to go share it with my Facebook foodie friends. 🙂
Thinking about trying this tonight but using boneless chicken breasts as a substitute. That should be ok right?
Yes, many of my readers here have tried using chicken breasts with great results!
Yeah I went for it and it came out great. It very well may have been one of my favorite things I ever made. I made rice pilaf and green beans with it and it was perfect! My neighbor tried it and said that it was “restaurant quality”. Which was funny because I had told my wife that it tasted and looked like something you would get at a restaurant. Thanks again for the GREAT recipe!!!!!
I have a question about the amount of smoked paprika to use in this recipe. I used a tablespoon as the recipe instructed but it overpowered the dish. You couldn’t taste the lemon, butter or cheese and the chicken, although tender also had a very strong taste of paprika. The sauce was red and didn’t look anything like the lemony, buttery picture. I used organic smoked paprika. Would that make a difference?
Using organic shouldn’t have made too much of a difference. Although I worry that you may have used super tiny chicken thighs, resulting in too much paprika per chicken.
i made this last night, it was so good! There are only two of us so I only used four chicken thighs but followed the rest of the recipe as it was written ,I served it with baked potatoes but I think next time I will make pasta to spoon the sauce over!
Can i add shiitake mushrooms to the sauce? I recently bought a pack and they’re just lying in my fridge. I was wondering how it’d taste if i added chopped shiitake to the sauce.
Yes, that sounds like a great addition!
Made this tonight for my family and it was wonderful!!! Didn’t have any issues, made it close to how it is written, except I didn’t have any smoked paprika, so I used a little bit of cumin and a little chili powder, and I didn’t have a real lemon, so I had to use the fake stuff and it was still wonderful!!!! Had some broccoli on the side it was fabulous in the juices of the chicken!! Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Just made this tonight and my husband who is very picky has cleaned his plate! Love it! so delicious and served it with steamed broccoli