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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After reading all the reviews on this recipe, I feel I’m the only one whose spinach turned an unappetizing dark brown, green when it came out of the oven! And my question is, why?
It could be because your spinach was not fresh, or had been overcooked. Spinach can get hard and too crispy if kept in the oven for too long. Maybe coat the spinach in some oil and salt and pepper in another bowl and add that in 7-10 minutes before taking the chicken out of the oven, this should do the trick! Please get back if it worked
Good! I did 4 thighs so there was a lot of juice in the pan, I decided to pour rice around the chicken and it was cooked perfectly in the 30 mins! Gotta figure out different seasoning, not crazy about thyme, overall good
We used Tarragon instead of thyme …it was awesome! Give it a try!
This should be called Chicken Crack!! This is so darn good! My husband has made it 4 times now and each time he tweaks it and it gets only BETTER! It’s great with rice but I’m going low carb so cauliflower mash or rice it is going to be tonight!! Simply the best chicken recipe. I’m so glad he was looking for new recipes and found this one!!
I made this dish for the 3rd time. This time the dish came out the best. I served it over rice & my family loved it!
Tonight was the sixth or seventh time I’ve made this dish. My ex boyfriend loves it so much that it’s a great way to get him to visit me. I never thought I could love spinach, but I could eat a pound of it in this lemon butter sauce. Mashed potatoes are our preferred side as they are perfection with the sauce. Between the sauce and the mashed potatoes, I’m pretty sure I used three sticks of butter in this dinner, but at least I got my green veggie in! Ha!
The absolute best! A monthly staple in our house. Everyone loves it
Made this today I had boneless chicken thighs, no skin. I used 1 tsp of paprika because we don’t like as much and changed the tyme to oregano because we do not like tyme. Over pasta and dinner rolls. Family wanted more. Next time I will double the liquid.
I have made so many Damn Delicious recipes and all of them are excellent. Love watching for new recipes. Wish Chunga had a regular tv program as she is beautiful and so inspiring for us cooks that have gotten tired of cooking the same things all the time. Thanks for featuring Damn Delicious.
Barbara
I made this dish four or five times, and it is always a hit.
Love it.
Perfect everytime.
Thank you so much
My husband love chicken but I was looking for a change and I came across that recipe so I made it last night … it was in saine !!! So good that my honey said is the best he ever had !!! I will definitely make it again . As we both love cheese I put a good half a cup of Parmesan instead of the 1/4 cup suggested . Was yummy
Like other reviewers on here, I adore this recipe and have made it four times. I’m writing this at 4 am with insomnia, while cheering myself up by planning to make it again tonight! I use only four thighs, but I don’t halve any of the other ingredients, and I always serve it over mashed potatoes. Heavenly!
This is to die for!! We are literally licking the pan every time I make it, which has been about 5 times so far. I have done both thighs and breasts and both turn out great. I do add more Parmesan cheese, cause I love it so much. I have served over jasmine rice and with near east roasted garlic and olive oil pearled couscous and it’s amazing! My husband usually saves leftover sauce to throw some shrimp in later and he loves it! Thank you so much for this recipe.
This is so delicious! I’ve made it several times before and it’s always such a big hit in our family. The only change I make to it is to double the spinach (because we love spinach). Yes, the sauce is saucy, not thick like a creamy pasta sauce, but that’s perfect for pasta or rice dishes. The flavour is amazing. This latest time, I served it with red potatoes oven roasted in butter, garlic, and lemon, and my husband and I practically licked our plates clean.
This recipe is a tasty, quick, weeknight must. I used thighs and would like to try breast next time, I was in the mood for a lighter chicken flavor/texture tonight. I will say, I used a cast iron skillet and it became too hot, and held heat too long, interfering with the sauce. The meat turned out perfectly, but after my sauce sat in the oven for 23 minutes, it reduced into a black goo. I remade the sauce on the stove and let it simmer 5 min or so, added the cooked chicken from the first try, and let it simmer another 5-10 min. Turned out yummy, but I’m sure if I’d been able to get it right the first time it would have been even better. I’ll have to try again! What is the best oven safe skillet??
Thanks
B
I had this recipe pop up on my yahoo page. Made it for my self . It was amazing. Then I tripled it for 12 added in all the chicken pieces.. Made extra sauce added extra spinach and served it over pasta for a family gathering. Now everybody asks for it when I visit. They ask what I call it .. Lemon butter chicken
We all loved this. I served it on a bed of fresh linguine, which I tossed with a little of the sauce. Yum! I will make this again for sure! Thank you
This was a terrific recipe! Used boneless skinless breasts and it turned out great. Both daughters liked it and were eating the leftover sauce. Definite keeper!
So delicious!! I prefer chicken breasts , cut in half. Thank you!
I absolutely love this dish. I follow it word for word, except for the fact that I use thighs for myself and my daughter and boneless breast for my husband and son, they don’t eat thighs. Crazy, I know! It is so very flavorful and the sauce is awesomeness!!! I always think reviewers that don’t follow the recipe shouldn’t complain when it doesn’t turn out as expected. You cooked a different dish! Geesh! This will always be in rotation at my house!
Well said Aly! I also modified the recipe due to the ingredients I had on hand exchanging for
smoked paprika, organic yogurt, grass fed cheddar instead
of parmesan and peas instead of spinach. Served over
leftover linguine …wow … fab… hubs asked what is this awesome dish I made and I told him it’s called “internet chicken”’LOL Five Star and versatile recipe!