Are you in a chicken rut? Cooking the same ol’ boring chicken breast week after week? Yeah, then you need to try this Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken ASAP. It’s savory, tart, and peppery, and has a delicious pan sauce that you’ll want to spoon over your entire plate! This one is so quick and flavorful, I know it’s going to go into your regular rotation. ;)
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What Kind of Chicken Should I Use?
This quick skillet cooking method requires thin chicken pieces that cook quickly, like boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into thinner pieces), chicken tenders, thin-cut chicken breast, or chicken thighs. This method is not suitable for bone-in chicken.
Do I Need Fresh Lemon?
Nope! While I did garnish this dish with some fresh lemon slices (I had those leftover from another dish), you actually don’t need fresh lemon to make this lemon pepper chicken! Most of the lemon flavor comes from the potent lemon pepper seasoning. The small amount of lemon juice added to the pan sauce can be bottled.
What Is Lemon Pepper Seasoning?
The lemon pepper seasoning I used to flavor this recipe is a mix of lemon zest, pepper, citric acid, and salt. Most major spice brands in the U.S. as well as many major generic store brands make their own lemon pepper seasoning, so it should be easy to find in just about any grocery store in the U.S. If you can’t find lemon pepper at your local store, there are plenty of recipes online for homemade lemon pepper seasoning.
Make sure to check if the lemon pepper seasoning you have contains salt. If it does not, you may need to add more salt to the recipe below.
What to Serve with Lemon Pepper Chicken
I went full-on lemon and served my Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon Parsley Pasta, but it would also go great with some Sautéed Vegetables, Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad, Roasted Broccoli, Lemon Garlic Roasted Asparagus, Spinach Rice with Feta, Spanish Chickpeas and Rice, or Pasta Primavera.
Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.3 lbs. total) ($6.79)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning ($0.30)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth ($0.07)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.14)
- 1 tsp lemon juice ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional) ($0.10)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
Instructions
- Use a sharp knife to carefully fillet the chicken breasts into two thinner peices (or use thin-cut chicken breasts).
- Combine the flour and lemon pepper seasoning in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of the chicken breast pieces and then rub it in until the chicken is fully coated.
- Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium. When the skillet and oil are very hot, add the chicken and cook on each side until golden brown (about 5 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.
- Add the butter and minced garlic to the skillet and sauté for about one minute.
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet and whisk to dissolve all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the lemon juice and allow the sauce to simmer in the skillet for 3-5 minutes, or until it has reduced slightly. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed (I did not add any).
- Finally, return the chicken to the skillet and spoon the sauce over top. Allow the chicken to heat through. Season with a little freshly cracked pepper and fresh chopped parsley (optional), then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken – Step by Step Photos
Use a sharp knife to carefully fillet two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into thinner pieces (or use thin-cut chicken breasts).
Combine 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of the chicken pieces.
Smear the flour mixture over both sides of the chicken until they’re evenly coated.
Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a skillet over medium. Once hot, add the chicken pieces and cook on both sides until golden brown (about 5 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.
Add 1 Tbsp butter and one minced clove of garlic to the skillet. Sauté the garlic for about one minute.
Pour ½ cup chicken broth into the skillet and whisk to dissolve all the browned bits off the bottom. Add 1 tsp lemon juice to the broth, then let the broth simmer in the skillet for 3-5 minutes, or until it has reduced just slightly. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed (I did not add any, but this will depend on the salt content of your lemon peppers seasoning and broth).
Return the chicken to the skillet and spoon the sauce over top. Allow the chicken to heat through (a few minutes).
Top the chicken off with some freshly cracked pepper and chopped parsley (optional), then serve!
The lemon helps keep the chicken extra tender, juicy, and flavorful! Enjoy!
Tastes amazing! Just what I have been looking for. Other recipes I have tried
Hi Beth! I’m impressed with your drive! Loved your lemon pepper chicken, it was delicious but I needed more sauce. Do you think I could double the sauce? Do you think that would work?
Amazing! This recipe is so delicious and perfect for a beginner like me. Thank you so much! This will be an easy staple moving forward for me.
was simple and tasty but the sauce was so watery and not creamy at all? if you like sauce like that then this is the recipe for you.
excellent recipe – clear concise instructions made from simple ingredients
easy to scale up a bit
Okay, this might be crazy- but what do you think about using white fish like cod or rock fish with this recipe? Adjusting the recipe for cook time…
I think that would be lovely!
This is delicious and easy. I used two teaspoons of lemon instead of one and put lemon slices on the chicken while it was cooking in the sauce. My son who gets really sick of all the chicken I make gobbled it up. Yum!
I had a lemon on hand, chopped up and added to the skillet.
Ended up needing to cook my chicken longer than called for, but turned out great!
I followed the recipe exactly and it was tasty, tender and juicy. I paired it with sautéed spinach/garlic/pine nuts and jasmine rice. I even poured some of the sauce over the rice. This was a definite hit!
Ooh! Pine nuts sound delicious! I added some Asian stir-fry vegetables and noodles! So good!
This was excellent. The sauce was delicious on the broccoli I made as a side. I’ve also made this with lime pepper and lime juice and it was a hit. Thank you for this recipe.
gas*
This shit ass frl!
This recipe is a favorite in my rotation. Everyone loves it! We use Kinder’s brand lemon pepper seasoning because I think it’s worth it for the depth of flavor with good seasoning. We make the noodles recipe with it that has garlic, butter and parsley. Heavenly!
This turned out amazing! At first I thought the chicken would be a bit dry but sauteeing in the butter/broth sauce makes it so juicy. This is definitely going into the dinner rotation!
I realized a bit too late that I was out of lemon pepper seasoning. But, I used Trader Joe’s citrusy garlic. This recipe was a huge hit with the family. Fairly easy to make, served it with angel hair pasta with parm cheese and steamed broccoli.