If you're looking for a low carb chicken recipe, we've got you covered. This creamy lemon chicken is an easy gourmet recipe that can be proudly served to your family in under one hour.
Love eating chicken for dinner? Try our Southern smothered chicken and our chicken fricassee.
Ingredients
The ingredients for our creamy lemon chicken take pantry staples that are easy to find at any large grocery store. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Meat: We used skinless, boneless chicken breast.
- Lemons: We used freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest for the creamy sauce, and lemon slices for garnish.
- Dairy: We used cream, butter and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Spices: We used salt and black pepper for seasoning the chicken breast and the creamy sauce.
- Capers: We used capers in the sauce to bring a bold salty savory flavor.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for our creamy lemon chicken recipe. Zest, juice, and slice lemons. Measure out the liquid ingredients. Mince the garlic, grate the Parmesan cheese, chop the parsley, and cut up the butter into cubes.
- Pat dry the two large breasts. Cut the meat in half horizontally, cover with plastic wrap, and pound thin with meat mallet. Transfer to two plates and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
2. Saute the garlic until fragrant, then deglaze the pan with stock, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden turner.
3. Make the beurre manié (pronounced burr man-YAY) by combining equal parts softened butter with flour. Mix together with a fork.
4. Decrease the heat to medium and add the cream, juice, capers, and cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a few minutes, whisking occasionally.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the chicken for 5 minutes each side. Transfer it to clean plates and set aside.
6. Add the beurre manié to the sauce, one small spoonful at a time. Whisk and repeat until it is the desired thickness.
7. Whisk in the zest and juices left from the plate of chicken. Return the meat to the skillet to heat through.
8. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh parsley and lemon slices. Creamy lemon chicken is a simple recipe that is very low in carbs. It's quick and company worthy. Try it tonight!
Recipe FAQs
Lemon helps add flavor and tenderizes the meat. Remember to zest your lemons first before squeezing.
Our simple lemon sauce is made of garlic, stock, heavy cream, butter, flour, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and juice, capers and spices.
From one large lemon, you can get 4 to 5 tablespoons or ¼ cup. To maximize the amount you can squeeze out of a lemon start with room temperature lemons that have been rolled on the counter then microwave for 10 seconds before slicing and squeezing.
Lemon chicken sauce tastes great on top of chicken, pasta, rice or mashed potatoes. If you're on a low carb diet, serve it over mashed cauliflower or zucchini noodles.
If you are looking for other recipe ideas to round out your meal,try one of these side dish recipes: roasted carrots, asparagus, sauteed kale, roasted acorn squash, or mashed potatoes.
Store
Make Ahead: Yes and no. It tastes best if it is cooked just before eating. But to speed things up, everything can be prepped the night before and the sauce can be made.
Leftovers: Allow the meat and sauce to cool then cover and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: Heat up the sauce over medium heat.
Freeze: The cooked meat would freeze, but the sauce wouldn't thaw and reheat well.
Expert Tips
- Want the best flavor for Parmesan? Use freshly grated.
- Like it extra lemony? Use lemon juice, zest, and slices to increase the lemon flavor.
- Have leftover lemon sauce? Cool before refrigerating and serve it later on pasta or mashed potatoes.
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Recipe
Creamy Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Sprinkle of salt and pepper
For the Creamy Sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons capers, drained
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
For the Garnish
- 4 thin lemon slices, cut in half (from one large lemon)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Equipment
Instructions
Cooking the Breasts
- Pat the breasts dry with a paper towel. Slice them in half horizontally with a sharp chef's knife to get four thin chicken breasts.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the meat on the cutting board. Pound the breast thin with the smooth side of a meat mallet. Start in the center and move outward, stopping when you have achieved your desired thickness.
- Place the breasts on two plates, then sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil starts shimmering, place the breasts in the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium and cook it for 6 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Turn down the heat to medium low if the oil starts spitting. Put the cooked chicken on two clean plates.
Making the Creamy Sauce
- Sauté the garlic over medium high heat for one minute in the leftover fat from the meat.
- Pour in the stock to deglaze the pan and scrape the bottom to loosen any browned bits.
- Decrease the heat to medium and add the cream, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and capers. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, whisking occasionally.
- While the sauce is simmering, make the beurre manié by mixing equal parts softened butter and flour. Add one small spoonful of the butter paste to the sauce at a time, whisking until it's incorporated. Keep adding it a spoonful at a time until the sauce is thickened. The beurre manié will add a nice shine and satiny texture to the sauce.
- Whisk in the zest and any juices on the plates from the meat. Add the breasts to the sauce and cook over a medium low heat for 4 minutes so the meat can heat through.
- Place the breasts on individual plates, and spoon the creamy sauce over each one. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley, and lemon slices. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use freshly grated Parmesan for the best flavor.
- Increase the lemon flavor by adding more lemon juice, zest, and slices.
- Leftover lemon sauce can be served later on pasta or mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Our creamy lemon chicken recipe was originally posted on September 28, 2018 and was republished on June 22, 2022 with updated content and resized photos.
Jami J
This was delicious! The sauce came together beautifully. Thanks for posting your recipe!
Emma
Jami, We are thrilled that you enjoyed this. Our family loves it too.