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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I had the same problem,when I added the lemon it curdled,threw it out and started again with out so much lemon and it kind of worked. What am I missing?
Jim, the only problem I can think of is that the heat source was set too high. The amount of lemon juice shouldn’t be the sauce of it to curdle/separate.
Gosh this woman can cook and post her recipes as well.
I am a retired widower and do most of my cooking in a countertop oven. I scaled down the ingredients and made a 1/2 recipe but I didn’t make any changes to it. I made some rice on the side to go with it.
This is a “restaurant quality” dish. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Lemon Butter Chicken recipe popped up on my Zite app today, and I made it tonight. My family LOVED it! We were fighting to have the last bit of the sauce… so delicious!! This recipe’s a keeper. I’ll be making it, again, and I might even try it with fish, next time. Thanks!!
If you make fish make a yummie flavoured rice to go..boil normal medium grain rice until cooked….take a pan and fry chopped onions, garlic and a grated carrot (2 for larger portions) and chopped green pepper fry all together with plenty butter (secret again is the butter) once nicely cooked (peppers soft) stir rice in with mixture now keep stirring to mix rice and you will notice rice turns yellow because of carrot. Once all mixed nicely serve with your fish and a lemon butter sauce (I just melt butter and add lemon to taste) and pour sauce over rice and fish. It is delicious.
how do you stop the cream from separating when you add the lemon juice? Chicken with lemons are a favorite of mine and I really would love to make this!
There shouldn’t be any separation happening here. Have you tried this recipe yet?
I followed this recipe and my sauce definitely curdled (just as I thought it would) when I added the lemon juice. And cooking at 400 for the recommended time would have boiled the pan dry and burnt the chicken to a crisp. Thankfully I checked the oven before the pan was totally dry, but it was a smoky, curdled mess.
I was excited to try this, and wanted to like this recipe, but it was a total bummer. Next time I will trust my own knowledge a bit more…
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
That being said, I worry that your heat source may have been set too high, causing the sauce to curdle. Also, 400 degrees F at 25-30 minutes should not be causing the chicken to burn. I cook chicken thighs on a weekly basis, if not more, all cooking at 400 degrees F at the same time frame and there are no indications of burntness.
It may be best to invest in an in-oven thermometer as your oven may not be calibrated appropriately.
I made this tonight, and my sauce was very thin, and not creamy at all. I think it may have separated, but did not curdle. Chicken was delicious, will make again, but may add some cornstarch to thicken??
Kathy, if this is not as creamy as you would like, please feel free to add in some cornstarch (mixed with water) until the desired consistency is reached.
Hi,
I’ve made this both with the cream, and with no dairy. It is good with no dairy in it, just mix a bit of cornstarch or flour with water and add it to the chicken broth when it’s hot…like making gravy. My lemon didn’t curdle, I fully expected it to! I added the lemon to the broth first, turned down the heat, and slowly mixed in the cream. I despise curdled milk/citrus stuff, that’s why I made it with no cream the first time.
Hi Heather,
The first time I made this dish, the cream curdled, but the dish was so delicious my family ate it anyway. The next time I made it, I doubled the liquid ingredients (we like lots of sauce), and after searing the chicken I added the liquid to the recipe — except the for cream. I simmered the chicken and liquid on the stovetop on low in a covered pan instead of putting it in the oven. Once the chicken had simmered in the liquid for 25-30 minutes, I removed the lid and stirred in some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce. Once the sauce was thick, I stirred in the heavy cream LAST. It came out perfectly and was delicious with Riesa-brand extra-wide home-style egg noodles. So for me, the curdling issue apparently came from cooking the cream too long rather than using too much lemon juice.
Thanks for a terrific recipe, Chunga!
If you’re getting separation in any recipe using citrus and milk or cream, quick fix is to add a tablespoon of butter, oil– any kind of cooking fat. It attaches itself to components in the dairy product and will prevent curdling.
What can I use in places of heavy cream.I have a Issues I have to substitute it. Thank you Dienna.
You can try substituting milk and/or half and half.
Lemon butter chicken is delicious. I served it with baked potato and oven roasted vegetables. DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!
This recipe looks yummy
Oh my this looks so delicious! I On my must-make list for sure.
I made this tonight and it was restaurant quality! Served it with part white rice and part wild and brown blend along with grilled veggies. The sauce went so well with the rice. I seasoned my grilled veggies with thyme, salt, pepper and lemon to match the chicken.WONDERFUL!
I made this last night and it was delicious. I went back for leftovers tonight and it was even better I used organic chicken thighs and served roasted brussel sprouts (there may be a more complimentary veggie but I’m addicted to sprouts!) on the side and it was amazing. I’ve never been thigh fan but with the crispy skin…I think I’m hooked. Even my picky four year old thought it was good. This is the second recipe that tried from your site and thank you for posting such great tasting, affordable and not too difficult to make recipes!
Hi! I really love all your recipes! So delicious! I have a question about the oven proof skillet part of this one. Is there an alternative to what we can use if we do not have an oven proof skillet?? Thanks!
A baking dish can be used instead.
Would a cast iron skillet be okay? That’s the only oven proof one I have and I think it’ll just turn out better if I don’t switch pans!
Yes, that should work just fine.
Mmm… sounds delicious! I’ve made similar things before, but never thought of combining lemon and cream together. Adding this to my “must try” list. Happy New Year!
I made this tonight for my family and it was delicious! The sauce was incredible and not too lemony like I thought it might be. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs. Thank you so much for the new recipe.
How long did you bake it with chicken breasts? And what temp please?
Oh my yum. Totally making this. Pinned and printed.
Yum! We loved this! I made half the thighs but the whole sauce and served it over pasta. Great flavors and perfect seasoning. Thanks, Chungah! Looking forward to more great recipes!
I did the same (half the thighs and all the sauce) and served it over rice. It was wonderful!
Looks very yummy and can’t wait to try it. Thanks for adding the nutritional value. Makes it easier for those of us trying to follow weight watchers to calculate our points. 🙂
Perfectly healthy way to start 2015 for those of us on a low-carb diet. Who says healthy food has to be boring? Yummy!
Oh my! I cannot wait to try this. Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful recipes!
Made your one pot lasagna last night! Tasted yummy. I especially like the crushed red pepper kick!
Now for tonight, I want to try this recipe. Sounds equally as good
This looks amazing. I prefer chicken thighs to any other part of the chicken. I have tried 3 of your recipes using thighs. Honey mustard, sundried tomato cream sauce with thighs & I believe one more who’s name is not coming to me. If memory serves, you brown the thighs and transfer to oven. My question is about that. I read somewhere that if you double wrap the handle of your skillet with Tin foil, you can then use that skillet in a hot oven …… is that accurate? If it’s true that would save another pot.
Thank you so much for providing this site. Your recipes are fabulous. Tx, Happy New Year to you, Jason and Butters!!
I’m so glad you have tried so many of my chicken recipes! As for the tin foil wrapping – unfortunately, I have never tried this myself so I cannot answer with certainty if this is accurate or not. It is really best to use an oven-proof skillet but if you do not have one, an oven-safe baking dish will work just fine.
I don’t have an oven proof skillet, if I use a baking dish will I still need to prepare in skillet then switch to baking dish?
Yes, that’s exactly right!
I’m going to make this recipe for my family tonight. I know it’ll be delicious, as all your recipes are a slam dunk! I, personally, don’t let myself use my oven-proof skillet in the oven anymore after badly burning myself by grabbing the handle a few minutes after I pulled it from the oven. With three kids running around, a few dogs underfoot, and the fact that I’m a bit scatterbrained, it’s just too easy for me to forget and grab that handle. Having said that, I find it no trouble to prepare my ingredients stove-top, then transfer to a large or small baking dish, depending on how much I’m cooking.
A cast iron skillet is a good investment. You can take it from stovetop to oven without worry & it browns more evenly than anything else I’ve ever owned. Unlike chemical non-stick, cast iron becomes non-stick through a good seasoning prior to the first use. It’s also a breeze to clean & will last you a lifetime. Just a thought for you if you decide to purchase a pan that can go stovetop to oven as so many recipes in general call for this technique.
Cast iron skillets last more than a lifetime! I’m still using my grandmother’s pan!
My mother always used her cast iron skillets. I would LOVE to use them also but I have a glass top stove and was under the impression that cast iron could not be used on glass tops stoves…does anyone know if am I correct in assuming this?
I use my cast iron skillets on glass top stove. I have not had any problems doing so.
I use my cast iron on my glass cook top no problems. Just don’t slide it around and place it down gently… a friend’s husband shattered hers when he set it down too roughly!
I love my cast iron skillets. Everything cooks better in them. I use them on my glass top stove all the time and I have had no problems