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’ll make the Lemony butter chicken thighs tonight, and will substitute cauliflower for the spinach. Why? I have locally grown cauliflower in our fridge.
I made this last night and expected it to blow my socks off from the other reviews but it didn’t. It’s pretty good, but not off the chain good. The only changes I made were I did not discard the butter, etc from frying the chicken because that’s more flavor and I doubled the sauce as recommended. I also don’t care for spinach and didn’t have any so I added a pound of fresh sliced mushrooms. I did not have cream or milk so I added a small container of sour cream and little more butter for a grand total of 1 stick. I cooked some noodles to put this on top of. I also baked for 45-50 minutes at 350 instead of 20 at 400. I didn’t see any reason why this needs to be in a such a hot oven, other than expediency but I wanted the chicken to be really tender and absorb the flavors more so a slower oven is better. This makes more of a pan sauce, not a thicker sauce, being there is no roux so I don’t understand why people are surprised. I am a very experienced home cook. If you want a little more body to your sauce, I would suggesting dredging your chicken in seasoned flour prior to browning.
I just want to point out you weren’t 100% a fan of this recipe but then again very loosely followed it. Your 3 stars are not for their recipe but for yours.
If you make your own variation and it’s just so so that should not be a critique of the original recipe – which you did not make! Come on people!!
Thank goodness you guys said it because it was driving me nuts the whole review. I don’t care if you’re an experienced home cook or a professional chef, when you substitute half the ingredients and alter the cooking method, you did not cook this recipe and you can’t judge it as if you did. It’s ridiculous. This dish is a staple at our house and we made it for guests. It’s always a hit.
I agree, Clare. Your recipe doesn’t sound as tasty. I’ve made this one many times as written and it’s lovely. There’s nothing wrong with making a recipe your own, but it’s terribly unfair to rate the original when you didn’t make it.
This is a family favorite for us. I’ve made it as written and it’s great. We love subbing fresh thyme for dry and doubling the sauce, but neither of those changes are necessary. It’s fabulous as written!
So I seen a couple of people say they did it in the ip, how long did you set it for??
I’ve made this dish numerous times and had numerous requests for the recipe. It’s my picky 24 year olds favorite meal. I would suggest trying it one more time following the recipe and of course doubling the sauce.
WOW, Just Wow Clare! You modified the recipe in so many ways. Your most egregious act is using sour cream in place of heavy cream. Why did you even attempt this recipe at all?
I have made this recipe many times. Outside of doubling the amount of spinach, I did not change a thing. The recipe as written in 100%
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!
I love this recipe, just as Chungah makes it! Thanks so much Chungah, it is a firm family favourite! Adding flour to the chicken before browning the chicken results in the flour burning, giving a nasty burned bitter taste. Not recommended.
How can you give the recipe 3 stars when you changed almost the whole thing? Chicken thighs are already tender… Simmering the sauce for a few minutes longer and baking it at the temperature called for creates a thicker sauce. Your recipe is 3 stars lol.
Try following the recipe exactly, then leave a review. I’ve done the flour dredging and it ruined the recipe IMO.
Clare, please don’t rate a recipe that you didn’t make. Ridiculous!
you changed the recipe, swapped ingredients for other things, and instead of owning up to your mistake like an adult, you blame the recipe. you’re a “very experienced home cook”? i seriously doubt that. maybe try again, but put some actual Effort into following the recipe.
So the sauce is too thin and not flavorful enough. But you also doubled the sauce and put the oven lower so it won’t reduce very well. Mushrooms sweat a lot of fluid as well. You don’t sound like a “very experienced home cook” to me LOL
We loved this dish. So delicious. I added another half the liquid and added a cup of uncooked rice to the bottom of the pan and it was perfect. Just the perfect amount of liquid. We will make it weekly for sure!
My Wife’s fav IP dish I make. Have been making this for years.
Wanted to try this with boneless skinless thighs. Any recommendation on the cook time?
This recipe deserves more than 5 stars! It’s one of our household favs!! Absolutely delicious!!
This recipe was a winner in my household. The sauce also added incredible flavor to our mashed potato sides.
I love this dish! I wonder if you can prep it to the point of baking and hold in the refrigerator and bake it a day later for service?
OMG is this chicken yummy!!! I will be making this often. I did not have any thyme so for my first try it was without thyme and I used white pepper instead of black pepper. But let me tell you, it was so delicious!! This recipe is definitely a keeper!
I’ve made this twice—delicious. I don’t understand people’s problem with the sauce. It’s delightful as is. I serve it over jasmine rice to which I added some lemon peel during the last few minutes of cooking. Not every sauce needs to be a thick béchamel or gravy! This is like a pan sauce, and any thicker would not be appetizing with this dish.
Great recipe, we substituted the chicken thighs for breast and is just as tasty
Boy, you weren’t kidding. I could have a bowl of that sauce and been happy. The chicken, however, was delicious. This recipe is a keeper.
Could one substitute the cream for a heavy yoghurt?
Would the extra sauce work well on pasta as a side dish? I’ll be making this this week and can’t wait to try it!
I loved this recipe but after finishing it my first time I’m unsure how to not get the spinach burnt when it’s being baked for 30 minutes? Did anyone else have this problem. I only had it simmer for about 5’ so unsure what went wrong. Anyways I’ll probably try again to see if it comes out better. I can tell that when I perfect it, it will be delicious!
I move mine to a deep oven tray as my skillet has a plastic handle. We found the same but just covering the tray in alfoil stopped the problem
I don’t precook my spinach, (and I use more) I chop, and then I put it in the bottom of the pan, top with the cheese and put the sauce (minus cheese) next, then the chicken.
Always a big hit!
Damn delicious is an apt name! I actually add the spinach at the end…it wilts in residual heat of sauce and stays a nice vibrant green.
Delicious.. Simply perfect.. I made it literally just now and that sauce is to-die for! VERY well done!
My favorite chicken recipe!! I also love making this in the instant pot. The sauce is amazing and we serve over mashed potatoes. I always double the sauce because it so delicious! I like it off the plate soooo good! Highly recommend this!
I have made this dish twice before. I use it as a family time meal. My children enjoy coming in the kitchen and taking part in making this dish. We laugh…we talk. Love it. Great way to teach them how to cook once they are older and on their on.
Made this for dinner tonight. What can I say…. it’s was fab! We made it with 4 bone in chicken thighs and used the full sauce recipe. We serve it with capellini pasta and it has made our best of the best list. The only thing we changed was double the garlic and added red pepper flakes to give it a little heat. The lemon butter sauce was thin, but delish and worked perfectly with a half box (8oz) of pasta. We added a side salad and it feed two of us with one thigh each. We are looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow.
Great job DamnDelicious!!
This was SO yummy. It sounded good, but tasted even better. I followed the directions except: (1) I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts since one of my family members doesn’t like bones in their chicken and two others don’t like dark meat–it was awesome this way; (2) I doubled the sauce which I highly recommend–it is truly drinkable, and I took so many test sips while it was cooking that I’m glad I did double it; (3) I used 2 cups of fresh spinach even though I should have used 4 since I doubled the sauce. I don’t love spinach enough to have a ton in the recipe. Also, I chopped the spinach before measuring and throwing it in. It appears that Chungah had hers chopped before throwing it in as well from the video. In short, this was awesome and I will definitely make this again on a regular basis!
I will be using boneless, skinless too. Same cook time or less?
My family LOVED this dish! Everyone cleaned their plates, and it appealed to all five of us. It sounded good, but tasted even better. I followed the directions except: (1) I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts since one of my family members doesn’t like bones in their chicken and two others don’t like dark meat–it was awesome this way; (2) I doubled the sauce which I highly recommend–it is truly drinkable, and I took so many test sips while it was cooking that I’m glad I did double it; (3) I used 2 cups of fresh spinach even though I should have used 4 since I doubled the sauce. I don’t love spinach enough to have a ton in the recipe. Also, I chopped the spinach before measuring and throwing it in. It appears that Chungah had hers chopped before throwing it in as well from the video. In short, this was awesome and I will definitely make this again on a regular basis!