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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This dish sounds wonderful to prepare for a church event. I have read your comments about preparing and serving immediately. I will be cooking for 75 folks so I need to pre cook and finish up in the oven prior to serving. Do you think it would compromise the crispy skin?
If you are finishing it off in the oven right before serving, it should be fine.
Loved it…didn’t change a thing I did add asparagus and some red potatoes. ..will try again
It was delish over whole wheat pasta! I saved some of the butter/fat drippings from the initial searing to smother over the pasta.
About how many pounds of chicken do you use?
Chicken thighs can range in size, but for typical grocery store brands, about four bone-in, skin-on thighs will weigh about 1.5 pounds.
I used 7 and they fit perfectly in my cast iron skillet. 8 might have crowded it too much.
I cannot have cheese or heavy cream is it ok to omit this from the recipe?
You can certainly try omitting the heavy cream and Parmesan but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Omitting the ingredients can also result in a mediocre outcome, but if substitutions must be made, please use your best judgment.
This is delicious, I made it tonight, definitely a company dish!! Thank you!
Oh man! I made this last night and just wanted to say, it was fantastic and so easy. This is the kind of dish to make if you’re a guy trying to impress a girl with your cooking skills. Definitely a keeper. Discovered your site by accident on Yummly and have added it as a favorite now. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Made this for dinner and loved it. Even my daughter who is picky about everything, and checks all ingredients I use loved it. Amazing! 🙂 can’t wait to make it again.
I strongly dislike chicken thighs ( I know… ) would this still taste good if I used breast? I’m not much of a cook , so any info on how long the breasts should cook would be greatly appreciated ! 😀
Yes, chicken breasts should work just fine, preferably with the skin on. As for cooking time, please use your best judgment as chicken breasts vary quite a bit in size.
Thanks for the prompt reply! This looks so delicious can’t wait to try it
Hi! I just wanted to thank you for posting so many recepies for all of us to use! You’re literary taught me how to cook. Now I know how to mix and match the flavors for their best potential! Thanks again!
I made this the other night for my unusually picky husband and it was an immediate hit. I did thicken the sauce just a touch and he asked to use it as a gravy for the potatoes along side the chicken. He also tried to scoop some for the roasted vegetables! I will absolutely make this again. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful meal!
i’m sitting here at my computer after having finished a third plate of this recipe… please, my friend, no more recipes that i can’t resist!
Hi –
OMG! It was a perfect recipe; however, I believe the cooking time in the oven should be shorter to prevent the chicken from drying out. The sauce was delicious. For those whose sauce curdled, make sure your lemon yields at least 3 to 4 tbsp. of lemon – this does make a huge difference to the sauce. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I made this tonight, all I can say is, like the name of your blog, ‘Damn Delicious!’
Made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I did drain the fat off after searing the chicken so that was a big help. I also pulled the skin back on the chicken and seasoned the meat directly, then put the skin back in place and seared as directed. The sauce cooked off quite a bit so it seemed more like creamed spinach, which was fine as I love creamed spinach. I added a bit of chicken broth and it ended up perfect. I served it over white rice. My husband was full but couldn’t stop eating it. A keeper of a recipe for sure!
amazing 🙂
Can you make this ahead of time and cook it later?
This is really best when prepped, cooked and served immediately.
I am not a fan of Parmesan. Can I leave it out. thanks
The Parmesan helps thick the sauce a bit so it would be best to find a suitable replacement (perhaps Pecorino Romano) to compensate.
I was just curious as to what would you recommend to with the chicken? I’ve been dying to make this dish but I was struggling to come up with a good side! All recommendations are welcome =)
You can really serve this with anything but we loved it with these garlic parmesan roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables.
Let me start by saying that this dish was very good! However (oh, come on, you knew it was coming! Sorry!), I had a few issues that could have been totally my fault.
1 – The chicken rendered a LOT of fat (which I should have known it would do, since I cook with chicken thighs on an obscenely regular basis). Part of me KNEW I should pour some of it off, but I didn’t. I should have. The fat floated on top of the sauce (the sauce! dear Lord!) and I spent quite a bit of time trying to skim it off to no avail.
2 – The sauce didn’t thicken the way it should have. I believe it was due to the exorbitant amount of fat that I so ridiculously allowed to hang out past its bedtime. In any case, the flavors of the sauce were spectacular!
3 – The spinach ended up wilting far too much. Once again, I think this was me trying to show off my knife skills (of which I have very little, if any). Instead of a chop, I ended up with a fat, wonky “chiffonade”. Next time I think I will let the leaves go unharmed.
All in all, I think this was a really, REALLY good dish. It’s definitely going to get a second chance – this time with me using my common sense a little more! Thanks for posting! Also, sorry for the novel-length reply.