Weeknight Lemon Chicken Breasts
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So quick, so easy. And the garlicky lemon herb sauce is THE BEST. Serve with a light salad + crusty bread!
It’s all in the name. Weeknight chicken goodness. Yup, we can absolutely whip this out on those super busy weeknights when dinner just feels utterly impossible.
So thaw those chicken breasts and let’s get to it! It comes together fast – lightening fast.
The only time consuming part is letting those chicken breasts cook through completely. From there, you can melt some butter in those pan drippings alongside some garlic, fresh rosemary and lemon juice for all that saucy saucy goodness.
Serve with a light salad and crusty bread for a complete meal.
Weeknight Lemon Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/2 pounds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ medium shallot, diced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Heat canola oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet in a single layer and cook until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low. Using tongs, flip and cook, covered, until cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, an additional 8 minutes; set aside and keep warm.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic, shallot and rosemary, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon butter; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Return chicken to the skillet.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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So yum!
It was easy and delish!!!
Made as directed except 1.5x the sauce, delicious! Served with new potatoes and broccoli, the sauce went over everything, so good!
Delish!! Super easy and very tasty.
So so good!
Cleaning out the freezer and had chicken cutlets. Looked thru a bunch of other recipe sites and remembered D Delicious.
Make it, you won’t be disappointed!
Absolutely amazing. This dish was outstanding, can’t wait to make it over and over again.
Damn delicious!! Almost like a gravy. Very quick and simple. All 4 kids (9,7,6,4) and husband loved it. Is great with everything. Broccoli. baked or mashed potatoes. pasta.
Yet another winner!!! Thank you so much for sharing your culinary gifts with those of us who just “chef on the side”! My boys loved it and my husband who normally is not eager to share spoke up and said, “this is delicious.” Everyone cleared their plates! I doubled the sauce (because I doubled the amount of chicken since my boys eat like they won’t ever get another meal!) and used chicken thighs because that’s what I had on hand. I paired it with angel hair pasta and crispy broccoli (had to carbo load for all the sports tomorrow!) I have already shared this with at least 4 people…so that should say something about this recipe! Again…thank you for sharing! This family is grateful (and full to boot!)
I meant to leave 5 stars!!!
I am generally not a huge chicken fan but this recipe was really delicious and made boneless, skinless breasts not dull. The sauce was also great on my broccoli, which again, ain’t one of my favorite veggies.
This is ridiculously good. I did it with larger chicken breasts and just finished them off in the oven while the sauce cooked so they didn’t get too brown on the outside. I will make this again and again!
I have actually made this multiple times, without modification and always with good results. Tonight I followed another review’s comments and used half white wine and half chicken broth. I don’t know if I tasted a different but it was good. Another reviewer suggested serving with Angel Hair Pasta (SCORE!) so I did that as well, but I doubled the amount of sauce which was a good call. The other modification I made tonight was using fresh basil instead of rosemary because I was too lazy to go out in the rain to clip some rosemary :-). It was good. The basil provided just a hint of flavor along side the lemon.
Question for Chungah: my basil-flour mixture never browned. Is that because basil doesn’t brown like rosemary?
Easy to make and so yummy and tasty!! The lemon rounds out the flavors. I will definitely make this again!! Thank you for this recipe. 🙂
Yet again, we have another recipe from Damn Delicious on our rotation! So delicious and quick. Served just as you suggested with a light salad and some crusty bread, and dipping that bread in the delicious sauce was just.. well damn delicious. Thanks for another favorite!
This was fantastic. I doubled the sauce and served the whole thing over angel hair pasta with some chopped spinach mixed in. The fresh lemon flavor was so nice and the sauce was light and bright. Thank you so much for creating this.
This was just fantastic! Followed recipe exactly as written and it made a delicious Valentine’s day dinner.
This was a new hit in our house tonight! Even my picky eater 10 year old was scraping up every bit of the sauce from his plate. Delicious! Thank you!!
Loved this recipe! Am dairy-free and gluten-free so used vegan ghee for the butter and tapioca flour for the flour and it was a hit with the whole fam!
I made a gluten free version of this recipe and my husband loved it. It’s so easy yet very delicious! Thanks for sharing! I always enjoy your recipes.
Just made this tonight and doubled the sauce, because you can never have too much sauce! It’s so good. Serving with brown rice and veg for lunches this week. How decadent, right? This is on par with the teriyaki meatball recipe.
Made these for dinner and they were wonderful! So easy and delicious!!
I made this and was worried because I used gluten free flour but it turned out great. my husband is not a fan of chicken and he said “it’s ok” right as he was taking a second serving. LOL. I will be making this dish again!
Delish!!! Such an amazing, quick weeknight option that everyone loved. I made this with garlic sticks (which ended up being dipped in the sauce because it’s so awesome!) and a romaine salad with cucumbers and Italian dressing. Definitely will be a new addition to the weeknight recipe rotation!
Girl, I’m currently making this right now. My kitchen smells SO good. I was using a recipe similar to this. But THIS honey tops that other recipe. I’m using the rest of the gravy on some mashed potatoes. So excited to take my first bite! You’re the reason I know how to whip in the kitchen!!
This was amazing. Emphasis on using freshly squeezed lemon juice and I would double the lemon sauce next time because YUM!
Finally found the perfect recipe for this! Thank you so much! My family loved it!!
Sooo good! I meal prepped this for my lunch today at work and I wish I had more. I made with green beans, next time, I will add mashed potatoes.
Perfect amount of lemon taste in this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Easy and yummy. I had one thick chicken breast that was taking forever to cook all the way through so next time I will either slice thick pieces or pound them. I served the chicken with steamed broccoli and with couscous because that is what I had on hand. The lemon sauce spread over to the couscous and the broccoli which was fine with me.
Husband and I were both big fans! We’ll be making it on repeat.
This is our favourite dinner recipe! So easy and so delicious!
This was great! Sauce was flavorful and I had everything on hand. Will definitely make again
This recipe is amazing! My 1 year old and my 2 year old loved it!!
It was late and I wasn’t sure what to do for dinner. Turned to D Delicious and as always, great meal. Made it per the recipe and came out really good. Will try with chicken thighs next time. Thanks for another healthy yummy recipe!
This was sooooo good. I did not make any changes to the recipe and served over jasmine rice with fresh roasted veggies and a salad. So far every recipe that I’ve tried is delicious! Thank you
Can’t wait to try this! Any healthier substitute for canola oil? (please don’t say any seed oil! lol)
Since the canola oil is used to saute the aromatics, I have found that I can use chicken broth or vegetable broth to saute! It’s a pretty good substitute and saves calories. Use the same amount as the oil in the recipe.
I use coconut oil or butter for almost everything. I would never use canola oil.
This was damn delicious (For me) Damn Delicious has a reputation for making sauces good enough to drink, and this one did not fall short. It was so easy and so fast to make too. Definitely the perfect recipe for a school night meal!
Guilty because I did take as few sips of it at the End
My family and I love your recipes, but this one was a mega hit with the kids. My 7 year old said “this is the best meat I’ve ever tasted in my whole life.” I will definitely keep this recipe in my rotation. Thanks again!
Can i substitute chicken thighs? My family prefers the thighs over the breasts.
No it has to be breast or it won’t work
Who told you that? Why won’t it work? I would think you can just adjust the baking time?
Debra, I’m sure you can use thighs, Dave was messing with you.
Lol I get where you were getting at! We used tenderloins
This was so DELICIOUS! One of my new favorites I’ll add to my recipe book. Thank you and I am a huge fan of your recipes!
Fabulous and easy. My teenage sons gobbled it up. Will make again for sure.
I can’t wait to make this, it sounds so delish!
Would I be able to bake in oven with thinner chicken breast fillets? If so, how long do you think?
Thanks, for so many awesome recipes!
I made this last night. It was delicious . I made one change, instead of one cup chicken stock I used a half cup white wine and half cup chicken stock. This will be a regular for us. Quick and easy.
Fast, easy, and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe. I will use it often.
I would love to have made it, but am diabetic and can’t have flour. Can you suggest a substitute?
almond flour, chickpea flour, any other flours?
Judy, cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot are good thickening substitutions. Just mix with a bit of cold water and add after the chicken broth.
Cornstarch, tapioca & arrowroot flours are great thickeners, but not for diabetics who need to count carbs. The carb count in a tablespoon of flour is 5.8 grams. Corn starch is 7 grams per tablespoon, tapioca flour is 8, and arrowroot is a wopping 13 grams per tablespoon. I haven’t tried using almond or chickpea flour as thickeners or for rue bases, but they are both better options at 3 grams of carbohydrates per tablespoon.
I too am diabetic & try to stay under 20 carbs per meal – this one works great, 1 tablespoon of flour converts to 1.45 carbs per serving & keeps me well in goal with some grilled asparagus or steamed broccoli (both are delish with the lemon garlic sauce). Or you can leave the flour out entirely and simmer it a little longer to reduce it down.
This was delicious. My husband said “you can make this again.”
This is a great recipe! I made no changes!
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