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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So I NEVER leave reviews, but I’ve made this so often and it’s always so damn delicious that I’m beginning to feel guilty for not acknowledging it. It’s very rich, but oh man, so worth it!
This was fantastic!
Definitely needs cornstarch slurry to thicken.
Served with cheesy rice.
This dish was DELICIOUS!! I made it tonight and my husband said it’s the best meal that I’ve ever made. Only changes I made were I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs since that’s all I had in the fridge. I also added some cornstarch to thicken it a bit since many of the comments talked about how it was too runny. I also didn’t have spinach on hand so I diced fresh tomatoes and added them to the cast iron skillet when there was about 10 minutes left. I served the chicken and sauce over Angel hair pasta. It was sooo good! Next time I plan to double the sauce. Thanks for the recipe!
It was an okay dish. It like the idea but the sauce was a bit runny and lacked depth. I served it with rice. I think the smoked paprika and the lemon were good. I like Steveguys thought on adding a thickener to boost the sauce.
It’s very rich! A bit too rich for me, actually … the lemon butter sauce is delicious, but it’s heavy and fatty and has to compete with the dark thigh meat. I’m thinking of trying this again, but using breasts instead of thighs so the sauce can have a chance to truly shine.
I want to substitute the thyme with tarragon.. I’ll let you know
This has been in regular winter rotation I. Our house a a very tasty favourite. You can use any left overs for a great base for a chicken pie too! It’s just super yum!
I’ve been making this dish for about 5 years !! My tips.. double the sauce!! And thicken it to a gravy consistency.. I use a spoonful of corn starch and a little cold water mix it well and add to the sauce at the end.. I remove the chicken to make mixing easier!! If you make too much chicken and sauce it makes amazing leftovers over angelhair spaghetti..
Hi! Do you know how many calories there are per serving? Thank you so much.
A truck load!
My wife thought this dish was fabulous, as did I. We ate it three times in the same week. Don’t spare the time and add lots of spinach.
So I guess after making 10 times in the last year, I owe you a review. Fantastic recipe. I reduce the broth as it can be a bit thin depending on spinach moisture content but must say it is an absolute fantastic recipe.
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I did use chicken breasts since that is what I had, but that was the only change in the recipe. We loved it! Thank you.
Really delicious recipe, but my crispy chicken skin went into the oven pan fried and golden and came out no longer crispy. I think future iterations, I would use a boneless skinless thigh.
I spooned sauce over pasta, and it was insanely good. I could see adding some cut up artichoke and increasing volume of spinach next time as well.
This is my favorite recipe right now. The sauce is divine over pasta or mashed potatoes. I like the consistency of the sauce and wouldn’t change a thing.
Followed the directions exactly and it was fantastic. Very easy and super yummy!
This was very delicious! I followed the recipe closely with 2 exceptions: I thickened the sauce before I put it in the oven, and I didn’t add the spinach until I took it out of the oven (transferred the chicken to a warm plate) and stirred the spinach in the sauce just until it was wilted. I served the sauce with the spinach over short grain brown rice – fantastic dish!
This was awesome!! So tasty! And easy to make. Highly recommend!!
So quick, delicious, and easy. Thanks for another great recipe.
I made this for a family dinner of 12 on Sunday, (I obliviously double there recipe :). It was well loved, and everyone thought it should be part of a family dinner rotation. The sauce is so amazing, but I agree with previous reviews that it would nice to be thicker. I am not sure how to achieve that….less chicken broth, more heavy cream or a slurry of a flour mixture to the sauce at the end?
The chicken turned out awesome. I made exactly as the recipe says. Must say, I have a few grandkids who are picky eaters and they all asked for seconds. I didn’t have enough thighs to give a second helping. Next time I will double the recipe. I hope this recipe will work by transferring the thighs once browned into a 13 x 9 casserole dish and pouring the thickened sauce over the thighs. Terrific recipe!!