Chicken Breasts With Lemon
Updated November 26, 2023
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cybelle Tondu.
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
½ cup flour for dredging
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup chicken broth, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons butter
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
16 grams carbs; 140 milligrams cholesterol; 396 calories; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 18 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 586 milligrams sodium; 41 grams protein; 1 gram sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Season flour with salt and pepper, and dredge the chicken all over. Remove the excess flour.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the chicken pieces in one layer. Add chicken and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Step 3
Flip the chicken and cook for 5 minutes more, or until cooked through. Carefully remove the oil from the skillet, leaving the chicken. Discard the oil.
- Step 4
Add the thyme, shallots and garlic, and cook for about a minute. Do not burn the garlic. Add the lemon rind, the lemon juice and the broth.
- Step 5
Scrape the skillet to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the bottom. Add the butter, and cook for 3 minutes longer. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
This looks really good, but I'm confused about something. After you brown the chicken on both sides, you discard the oil, add the broth, etc., how long do you continue to cook the chicken? It would have to be at least half an hour. I want to cook this. Any advice?
I like to brown the chicken and then remove from the pan. Pour off any excess oil and then cook the shallot and garlic and thyme leaves briefly and then add the liquid (wine, chicken broth) along with the lemon zest and juice. After it simmers for a few minutes to thicken a little add the butter to the sauce and return chicken to pan to finish cooking (five minutes)
Chris - I cooked as indicated, 5 mins one side (Step 2), flipped and cooked another 5 mins (Step 3), cooked another minute with thyme, shallots and garlic (Step 4) and finally an additional 3 mins (Step 5). Came out perfect!
Grabbed a package of chicken that I failed to notice only had 2 enormous pieces. this forced me to cook them longer (finished in air fryer to get to 165°F) and the sauce reduced too much unfortunately. Flavor is outstanding, however, despite forgetting to add the butter (will add next time, just to try).
I used bone-in chicken breasts so they took a bit longer to cook. Overall, I thought they were tasty and tender. My husband prefers stronger flavors and spicy food, so he was underwhelmed. If I make them for him again, I'll use more lemon and onion, and maybe add some pepperoncino or something a little hot.
Absolutely a stellar recipe. I used Chicken tenders instead of full chicken breasts and cooked 4 minutes per side. Everything else I did as per the recipe. It was marvelous.