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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Made this last night using skinless boneless chicken thighs. Dusted them in brown rice flour before browning giving them a crispy coating. Didn’t have half n half so used whole milk. Baked for 20 minutes and it turned out perfectly. I’m so loving your recipes and so does my family. Simple, elegant and delicious. Mongolian Beef was to die for!!!!!!! Every day I’m trying new dishes. Thank you. I appreciate you so much !
OMG!!!! I just cooked this for my family of four. I made 10 pieces of chicken thighs instead of 8. It was DELICIOUS!!! I couldn’t believe how good this turned out and for everyone who is saying that there’s didn’t come out right, did not follow the directions thoroughly. I love love love this recipe. I give it 100 stars. And by the way there is only 1 chicken thigh left in the pan!!!! Lol, thank you for this Fantabulous recipe!!! ☆☆☆☆☆
Made a couple of small changes..
We didn’t have Thyme on hand.
We didn’t have spinach. (if I did, I wouldn’t bake it, there is no need. It melts under the sauce in 3 mins or less anyways)
I zested the lemon that I juiced. It’s simple and adds a lot more flavor.
I used more cream and chicken broth. I separated the sauce from the chicken and blended it up before transferring. It made it very smooth. I have kids so if they get a piece of garlic, they aren’t thrilled.
It was served over a bed of Jasmine rice. The flavor is incredibly rich.
We loved it.
I made a healthier twist on this last night, the aromas when cooking were amazing!! We are trying to eat healthier this year, so I ommited the olive oil for coconut oil, used skinless thigh cutlets, and, I replaced the double cream with natural yoghurt!! Deeeeevine! And you still wanted to drink the juices! I am so stoked I stumbled over your web page, everything here is, DAMNDELICIOUS,
Was wondering if anyone had tried this as a vegetarian dish? I’m thinking about using cauliflower steaks, vegetable broth, and a dash of poultry seasoning to make up for the chicken-ish flavor. Input or suggestions would be much appreciated!
You could use a firm tofu! It would be yummy, I might give that a go next time
Hey there!
I just wanted to let you know I made this chicken last week and it came out so good! It was a hit with my husband and 4 year old as well! Thanks so much for sharing and I hope you’re having a great weekend!
OMG what can I say? The best chicken dish I’ve EVER made. Thanks for sharing!
I only have chicken breasts, can I use them in this recipe? thank you in advance..
You can certainly use chicken breasts in this recipe but without further recipe testing, I cannot advise on various changes that are needed to accommodate this substitution. Please use your best judgment to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
I may try this in the crockpIt but cook sauce beforehand. Let you know.
Chanel
I follow a gluten free low carb lifestyle and I am so excited to try this recipe. I may have to incorporate this into our family Valentines Day festivities! Thanks for sharing and for posting nutritional info!
This is awesome. Just had lemon butter chicken for first time.
Adding to my blog.
Thanks.
Great! hugry now, I have to try this this week. Thank you for sharing!
Made this tonight following the recipe on the most part. Thighs weren’t available so I used drumsticks. Followed spices as written and also added garam masala which REALLY goes well with roasted chicken. Added that pop to this recipe.
I’m pretty hard to please so the fact I think this recipe came out very good is saying something.
i made this tonight. It was wonderful, and I know the leftovers will
Be outstanding. The sauce was a bit lemony….I used a large lemon. It
Might be better to to use an exact amount measure. I put it
over brown rice, but next time I’m going to try egg noodles. I
might even double the sauce!
Made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit! I used flattened chicken breasts instead of the thighs. I also used white wine in place of the broth. Served the dish over orzo that was cooked in chicken broth. I couldn’t pull myself away from the table. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds and looks delicious. However, I never want to vary from a blogers recipe until I have followed it exactly. But, would I get the same results if I used all parts of the chicken. Each family member has a choice as to which piece of chicken they enjoy. Thanks!
It should be fine but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed to ensure that all the chicken parts have been completely cooked through.
Chungah, this chicken dish was damn delicious!! After making this I came back for more pins! You had me at, “so good you could just drink the sauce”! It was as delicious as you described. Thanks for sharing : ) I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
I just made this, and it was absolutely amazing. I did not think I would literally want to drink the sauce as you suggested I would. I may or may not have tipped my plate into my mouth at the end of the meal. Yeah okay I drank the sauce!
I did use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and it turned out perfectly (no adjustment in cooking time needed)
Thanks!
Looks delicious! Will be making for dinner tonight!
I had this recipe saved in my favs and was looking around for something to do with chicken thighs tonight. This is a keeper! I had to make a few little changes. I had boneless/skinless thighs. No heavy cream, only half and half. No spinach, just kale. Added rosemary as it’s my fav spice for chicken. Added the parm only as a topping just before popping it in the oven. My experience is that any recipe where you stir in parm you end up with more parm on the spoon and skillet than in the dish. Anyway, all done in an iron skillet and it was wonderful! Thanks! Next time I’ll try it with spinach. I agree with another poster…this is a restaurant quality dish!