Lemon Butter Chicken

Lemon Butter Chicken is a great way to prepare chicken breasts when you want something a little bit special. And, this is a great weeknight dinner idea because you only need 8 basic ingredients and 30 minutes prep time!

Note: this post was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2021 with new photos and improved instructions.

This Lemon Butter Chicken recipe is a great one to have in your back pocket when you need a fast and easy main course. You only need 8 ingredients, and a lot of them you probably already have in your pantry!

And even though this one pan lemon butter chicken recipe is easy and ready in 30 minutes, it's so beautiful and full of bright flavor! The lemon butter sauce is just the right thickness to coat the chicken breast. And there is enough to not only cover the chicken, but also drizzle over some veggies on the side. You can also customize the sauce to be as tart or mild as you like.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through the link, it won’t cost you more but I may earn a small commission. I only recommend products that I personally use and love!

Recipe ingredients

Ingredient notes

• Butter: I used unsalted, but if all you have is salted that will work just fine. Just be a little more sparing when salting the chicken, and make sure to taste your sauce before adding any additional salt at the end. (That's true for using unsalted or salted really!)

• Thin-cut chicken breasts: these are way faster to cook than full-size chicken breasts. Anything from about ⅓ to ½ inch thick is perfect. You can buy them in the store this way, or cut a regular-sized chicken breast into thinner slices horizontally. If you want more instructions on how to butterfly chicken breasts, I discuss it in this post for Chicken Caprese Sandwich!

• Chicken broth: you can also use beef or vegetable broth, whatever you have on hand. If you use beef broth though, just be aware the color of your sauce will come out darker.

• Heavy cream: just a couple tablespoons right at the end. This step is optional; the sauce tastes amazing without it, but the cream does provide an extra bit of richness if that's something you're into!

Step by step photos

1. Sauté the chicken breasts in 2 tablespoons of the butter (saving the last tablespoon for the end!).

2. Once the chicken breasts are cooked through, remove them to a plate and tent loosely with foil. Then, add the chopped onions into the pan.

There will be lots of little brown bits in the pan from the chicken, so make sure to scrape them up with your tongs or spatula (there is a ton of flavor there!). Cook the onions until they begin to soften.

3. Then, sprinkle the tablespoon of flour overtop the onions. Mix the flour in until there are no white bits remaining, as you can see from this before and after:

4. Next, pour in the chicken broth. Mix it in with the onions, again scraping up any bits stuck to the pan. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it thickens.

5. Now turn off the stove, and drop little chunks of the remaining tablespoon of butter into the sauce, mixing them in gradually.

6. Once the butter has been combined with the sauce, sprinkle in the lemon zest and half of the lemon juice. Stir the sauce and give it a taste, adding more lemon juice if you want the sauce more tart.

7. If you're using it, now is the time to drizzle in the heavy cream. Stir it in, and give the sauce one final taste; add in more salt and pepper if you like.

8. Finally, add the cooked chicken breasts, along with any juice that accumulated on the plate, back into the sauce. Turn the chicken pieces so both sides are coated in the sauce. Serve immediately, garnished with fresh herbs and lemon wedges if you like!

Tips and tricks

• When you are sautéing the chicken in butter, the butter should start to pick up some nice, deep brown color. However, if it's getting a bit too dark, don't be afraid to turn the heat down!

• I provided approximate cooking times for the chicken, but usually some pieces of chicken will be a little thicker than other pieces. Adjust your cook times accordingly, and if a smaller piece is done early, remove that piece while the others are finishing cooking. This will prevent the smaller piece from drying out.

• There are some opportunities to work ahead to save time. While the chicken breasts are sautéing, you can chop the onion. And while the onion is cooking, you can zest your lemon and cut it in half. This Microplane (affiliate link) is my absolute favorite thing to zest with!

Recipe FAQs

Related recipes

If you’ve tried this recipe, please leave a star rating and/or review in the comments section below, I would love to hear from you! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. And sign up for my weekly newsletter to get recipes delivered straight to you!

Print